If you liked highly successful "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" on television, you'll love this movie. It's brought to you by the same people, many of the same personality traits peep through the new performers, the budget is bigger, and the ending is the same.
Holly Hunter, as someone said, is cute as a button -- and she's petite and sexy too, a lot more so than Mary Tyler Moore, who was raised in a nunnery. Would Mary Tyler Moore try to seduce a handsome stranger and, when that fails, rip off her pantyhose and fling them away in frustration. No. No, Mary Tyler Moore would not do that, whereas Holly Hunter would and does.
The males that figure in the story are both attracted to Holly Hunter for obvious reasons. William Hurt is handsome, pleasant, but a bit vacuous. Albert Brooks is plain, neurotic, and brainy. Brooks has a hilarious scene. The threat of mass firings hangs in the air and he wants to anchor the news for the first time in years. As the moment approaches he turns into a neural shambles, and as he proceeds his carefully prepared clothing becomes soaked through with sweat. "Is this normal?", he asks the crew, opening his jacket to show a shirt that suggests he just climbed out of a swimming pool.
As in the TV show, the humor and the slight drama are based on interactional nuances. There's a brief but keenly perceived argument about whether a rebel should remove his boot if the TV crew prompt him to do so. There are a couple of cuss words -- this being a feature film and not a TV episode -- and Hurt cops a smooth feel of one of Hunter's appealing breasts, but there's nothing coarse about the humor, and the drama hints at disappointment, never at tragedy.
It's a gentle story, but it's contrived too. It's impossible to believe that producer Holly Hunter, who has been in the business for years, will break off her budding relationship with William Hurt just because he faked a tear during an interview with a rape victim. Hell, any moron glued to the nightly news must assume that something like that goes on all the time.
There are a few minor structural weaknesses. Near the beginning, when a tape is need at once for broadcast during the news, Joan Cusack grabs it and runs a long obstacle course to get it to the control room just in time for a staff member to whip it out of her hand and insert it into the slot so it plays immediately. Cusack is panting and almost collapses with relief but the audience hasn't been properly set up for the scene. It comes too early, before we have a chance to begin rooting for the team's success.
That's carping though. It's an entertaining film. It ought to amuse everyone with its everyday familiarity and it should offend no one. That's entertainment, right? Just like the news.
Holly Hunter, as someone said, is cute as a button -- and she's petite and sexy too, a lot more so than Mary Tyler Moore, who was raised in a nunnery. Would Mary Tyler Moore try to seduce a handsome stranger and, when that fails, rip off her pantyhose and fling them away in frustration. No. No, Mary Tyler Moore would not do that, whereas Holly Hunter would and does.
The males that figure in the story are both attracted to Holly Hunter for obvious reasons. William Hurt is handsome, pleasant, but a bit vacuous. Albert Brooks is plain, neurotic, and brainy. Brooks has a hilarious scene. The threat of mass firings hangs in the air and he wants to anchor the news for the first time in years. As the moment approaches he turns into a neural shambles, and as he proceeds his carefully prepared clothing becomes soaked through with sweat. "Is this normal?", he asks the crew, opening his jacket to show a shirt that suggests he just climbed out of a swimming pool.
As in the TV show, the humor and the slight drama are based on interactional nuances. There's a brief but keenly perceived argument about whether a rebel should remove his boot if the TV crew prompt him to do so. There are a couple of cuss words -- this being a feature film and not a TV episode -- and Hurt cops a smooth feel of one of Hunter's appealing breasts, but there's nothing coarse about the humor, and the drama hints at disappointment, never at tragedy.
It's a gentle story, but it's contrived too. It's impossible to believe that producer Holly Hunter, who has been in the business for years, will break off her budding relationship with William Hurt just because he faked a tear during an interview with a rape victim. Hell, any moron glued to the nightly news must assume that something like that goes on all the time.
There are a few minor structural weaknesses. Near the beginning, when a tape is need at once for broadcast during the news, Joan Cusack grabs it and runs a long obstacle course to get it to the control room just in time for a staff member to whip it out of her hand and insert it into the slot so it plays immediately. Cusack is panting and almost collapses with relief but the audience hasn't been properly set up for the scene. It comes too early, before we have a chance to begin rooting for the team's success.
That's carping though. It's an entertaining film. It ought to amuse everyone with its everyday familiarity and it should offend no one. That's entertainment, right? Just like the news.