Austin bores, ‘Tadpole’ scores, ‘K-19’ snores

Film more ‘Oh, behave’ than ‘Groovy, baby’

The International Man of Mystery is back again. Without having

seen the original Austin Powers movie and its sequel, I only had the

previews for encouragement to see the newest film in the series,

“Austin Powers in Goldmember.” I was very curious to see what all the

hype was about and if the humor could sustain Mike Myers for another

installment.

“Goldmember” wasn’t all I hoped it would be. The characters and

plot were all very clear, but they tried to stretch the film too far.

I found something that can thwart Austin Powers: depth.

When “Goldmember” spends too much time on conflict, the movie

falls apart. Austin and Dr. Evil manage to put it back together

enough to limp to the end, but the film loses something vital. I was

bored -- big yawn. And it was very disheartening.

“Goldmember” starts out well. The cameos are fabulous. They’re

heavy at the beginning of the movie, and I won’t be the one to spoil

the fun and tell who pops up. And as a wonderful bonus, Britney

Spears is not in the movie as much as I had feared -- and she gets

dispatched in a vastly amusing way.

Mike Myers has his hands full and does an excellent job of keeping

all the characters balanced. Beyonce Knowles as Foxy Cleopatra is

upbeat, bouncy and full of power. Austin Powers should thank his

lucky stars he had her around.

Michael Caine is properly annoying as Austin’s father, Nigel. It’s

good he’s not in the film all that much. Fred Savage does an

excellent job of being a mere vehicle for a large mole on his face.

“Austin Powers in Goldmember” is funny and goofy for the most

part, but it has deep holes that were very boring. “Goldmember” hits

its high note early and never quite makes it back up the hill again.

It’s a good romp for a while but should have been much shorter.

Unfortunately, it would be better to see “Goldmember” with a

fast-forward button than on the big screen. “Goldmember” is, sadly,

more “Oh, behave!” than “Groovy, baby!”

“Austin Powers in Goldmember” is rated PG-13 for sexual innuendo,

crude humor and language.

* MELISSA RICHARDSON is a Costa Mesa resident and attends UC

Irvine.

‘Tadpole’ themes swim against the mainstream

“Tadpole” is a small, funny, coming-of-age movie. It isn’t a

masterpiece, but it is a decent effort at a witty, character-driven,

independent film.

Oscar “Tadpole” Grubman (Aaron Stanford) is not a typical

15-year-old American boy in most respects. He speaks French fluently,

enjoys discussing philosophy and has a passion for Voltaire. He is

uninterested in girls his own age, claiming they haven’t lived enough

to have any experience.

Oscar goes home to New York from prep school to spend Thanksgiving

with his father (John Ritter) and stepmother (Sigourney Weaver).

During this visit, he plans to reveal his feelings of love to the

object of his affections. But his visit home ends up being far more

complicated than either he or his family expected.

Oscar thinks he is mature and sophisticated beyond other people of

his own age. He is more comfortable with people who are almost three

decades older than himself, like his father, stepmother and their

circle of friends. But it is precisely his interactions with these

older people on this visit that finally teach Oscar that he is an

inexperienced teen who still has quite a bit of maturing to do after

all.

The best feature of “Tadpole” is the wonderful acting of the whole

cast. Stanford, who is actually in his 20s, is fully believable as a

15-year-old. Weaver and Ritter bring the right mix of intelligence

and warmth to their roles. As the stepmother’s best friend, Bebe

Neuwirth is vibrant and humorously amoral.

There are some problems in the story. It seems as though some

scenes that should be there are missing. And sometimes some of the

characters behave in ways that just don’t seem entirely believable.

These issues don’t detract, however, from enjoying the witty dialogue

delivered by talented actors.

If you are tired of the summer blockbusters and want to see a

movie that spends time developing interesting characters, “Tadpole”

might be the film for you.

“Tadpole” is rated PG-13 for sexual content, mature thematic

elements and language.

* TRICIA BEHLE lives in Newport Beach and works as a software

validator.

Even with Ford and Neeson, ‘K-19’ sinks

The crew of the K-19 Soviet submarine was sworn to secrecy after

the ill-fated maiden voyage that cost 21 lives and almost turned into

a nuclear disaster. Unfortunately, the cast and crew of the movie

“K-19: The Widowmaker” took no such oath and brought one of the

dullest maritime movies in recent memory to the big screen.

As a general rule, I tend to stay away from movies based on a true

story for just that reason. But with the recent group of successful

military movies -- “U-571” and “Black Hawk Down” -- “K-19” advertised

itself as being another exciting movie about submarines and a nearly

averted nuclear war. It may sound exciting, but as I’ve learned over

the years, trailers tend to be misleading.

The story is about Capt. Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), who sees

his crew as a family and takes every precaution to ensure their

safety. It’s 1961, and the Soviet Union, in the middle of an arms

race with the United States, cares only about getting its nuclear

submarine out to sea so the Americans will think that it is still

equal in military power. The government considers Polenin’s behavior

to be weak.

To make sure that the half-finished submarine leaves dry-dock on

time and that the sea tests progress regardless of any safety issues,

they bring in Capt. Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) to take command

of the ship.

With two captains on board and Vostrikov being extremely strict

and running the crew through constant drills, it causes a lot of

tension and split loyalties for the crew. Things are made worse as

the new captain continues to push the submarine beyond the limits of

safety and sanity. The entire movie you are waiting for some kind of

confrontation between the two captains that never comes.

The most interesting part of the movie occurs toward the end, when

one of the on-board nuclear reactors breaks down and they have no way

to cool the core temperature. Members of the crew end up volunteering

to go into the reactor core and physically repair the damage. Armed

with chemical suits instead of radiation suits and going in pairs,

the men sacrifice their lives to save the lives of their fellow crew

members.

While the men are brave and heroic for willingly sacrificing their

lives, it makes for an incredibly dull movie unless you are

interested in watching the submarine drills and equipment repairs

that take up most of the film.

The movie has no exciting moments and just plods along with no new

interesting visuals or any great dialogue. The two veteran actors,

Ford and Neeson, do not contribute to the movie with any shows of

acting prowess. Their Russian accents are barely noticeable and seem

to come and go at will.

The most compelling thing about the movie is when you think about

the concept in today’s world. It’s scary to know how the Soviet Union

mishandled nuclear energy with everything that they knew.

“K-19: The Widowmaker” is rated PG-13 for disturbing images.

* TODD KARELLA is an intern at the Daily Pilot.