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On the Line (2001)
On the Line may not be the 'N Synch movie, but we know what audience it caters to.
On the Line is the greatest film to star a musician since Blue Hawaii. Don't remember Blue Hawaii? Exactly. This film may not revolve around the music of the insanely popular boy band, but it caters to the same audience. In this story, Lance Bass (of 'N Synch) is Kevin Gibbons, the chronically date-impaired ex-rocker turned corporate adman. Kevin is now mocked daily by his friends for being the guy who blew it with his dream girl back in high school. Kevin, now 27, is about to get another chance. Kevin meets Abbey (Emmanuelle Chriqui, Detroit Rock City) on the `L' train in Chicago, and they mesh like... two cute people meshing. Kevin, the dweeb, fails to get her name and number before they part. It's an abused plot of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy comes up with ludicrous way of winning girl back.
After Kevin's slip-up on the L, he decides to flyer the city of Chicago. A newspaper gets a hold of Kevin's story, and takes an active role in spreading to the city just how pathetic Kevin is. It works magnificently and, soon enough, Kevin is inundated by calls from girls claiming to be `the one.' Meanwhile, at work, Kevin is under the gun for a Reebok ad that his partner steals the credit for. A slip-up leads to a tongue lashing from his boss Higgins (Dave Foley, News Radio). While responding to Higgins' rant, Kevin accidentally gives his friends the go ahead to turn his love life into a dating game. Kevin's friends Rod (Joey Fatone), Eric and Randy proceed to take the impostor L train girls out on dates, most of which end catastrophically.
New acting talents Gregory Qaiyum and James Bulliard play Eric and Randy, the ghetto boy and the preppy kid. Qaiyum (who prefers to be called GQ), gives the most enthusiastic performance of the crew, but loses points for interrupting Al Green in the credits. Bulliard, who looks like James Spader's younger Swiss brother, loses no points for not singing, but fails to make anything of his deadpan dialogue. Joey Fatone lends a strong comedic presence to the film, and sings some decent rock covers too. Bass' character doesn't have the slapstick to fall back on, and the character of Kevin often falls flat. It's the willingness of the 'N Synch boys to poke fun at themselves that makes On the Line bearable to watch. Rod falls a lot, and Kevin leads such an embarrassing life that you can't help but smile. If they had been playing athletes or Casanovas, they would have seemed laughably out of place.
With a PG rating, we know what kind of crowd this film was written for. When asked about his predictions for the public's response Bass states, `oh yeah, this is going to be known as the 'N Synch movie,' but he feels that it's not just for the fans. In fact, 'N Synch fans may be disappointed to discover that only two songs on the soundtrack are by the boy band. Relief may come from the other contributing musicians, which include BBMak, Vitamin C, Al Green, and Richie Sambora. A new solo song by Fatone, Ready to Fall, is also on the soundtrack. On the Line is a film starring musicians, who play characters that used to be musicians. While this may have been a safe play for the singers' movie debut, they didn't try very hard to avoid being typecast. This movie was built around the music.
You've got to give Bass and Fatone a hand for their diligence. On the Line was filmed in both Chicago and Toronto, during the recording of their platinum album Celebrity. And it only took 32 days, which is the sign of a truly efficient filmmaker. As a producer, Bass roped in a few special guests. And yes, in case you were wondering, Chris and Justin have a cameo. Their ability to portray effeminate hairdressers is uncanny. As for JC, he must have been busy working on a solo album. That's not inside news, just wishful thinking. Directed by Eric Bross. Rated PG for fart jokes and beer.
Tortilla Soup (2001)
Tortilla Soup Leave Moviegoers Hungry
You've got to wonder about a film that pitches its food as the star. Not that the dishes, prepared by the `Too Hot Tamales' Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, fall short of expectations. Tortilla Soup is rife with cooking and dinner scenes that feature both classic Mexican and Mexican fusion dishes. But nobody eats film, so the magnitude of the food's presen ce distracts from the story line. Or maybe the story line distracts from the story line.
Lying beneath it all, is a story about a family of Mexican-Americans and their abruptly changing lives. Hector Elizondo (Chicago Hope) is Martin Naranjo, a semi-retired chef and the father of three young women. Every Sunday his three daughters are required to join him for a grand meal, which he spends the day preparing. His eldest daughter Leticia, played by Elizabeth Pena, is a devout Christian and a schoolteacher. She's the daddy's girl. The middle child Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) is a successful executive, with an eccentric style of cooking that aggravates her father. The youngest daughter Maribel (Tamara Mello, She's All That) is a fun loving high school student that longs to see the world. Soon Leticia starts receiving love letters, Carmen gets offered a job in Barcelona, and Maribel decides to run off with her new boyfriend. Nothing is as it once was. People begin to miss Sunday dinner, which aggravates Martin, whose taste is dead and health may be failing. Martin decides to fill his new free time with the courtship of the mother of a family friend. Hortensia (Raquel Welch) seeks Martin as her fourth husband.
The dining scenes are extensive, acting as segues into the major conversations in the film. The cooking scenes battle the dialogue for time on the screen. The soundtrack, most audible when food is either being prepared or being eaten, turns out to be the hidden star of Tortilla Soup. It's light Latino fare, showcasing `Si En Un Final' by Eliades Ochoa of the Buena Vista Social Club and a Spanglish version of `Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps,' by Lila Downs. It's a warm fuzzy moment when the girls sing a song together during post-dinner KP duty. That's what sisterhood is all about. It's about the love, the support, and the cleaning.
Everything seems to work out for the characters, as they often do in movies. I'm not going to give anything away, but I will say that it involves both `living happily' and `forever after.' There's a twist, which the written documents sponsored by the film all boast as unpredictable, and this can be attributed to its lack of support throughout the film. The cast, despite a high level of talent, fails to perk up dialogue that teeters on the edge of cheesy. In one scene, Leticia and Carmen discuss their father's disdain for Christianity. Martin, a Catholic, feels that Christians worship Christ, rather than Christianity as a whole. Carmen mentions that Christ was a Christian, and both girls are surprised when the hairdresser reminds them that Christ was a Jew. Wouldn't the `devout' Leticia have known that?
One of the more tactfully placed cultural snippets is the persistent use of Spanglish, the Spanish/English hybrid, which Martin shuns. His demands for either English or Spanish to be spoken in his household serves the character well, reinforcing the juxtaposition of Martin's loyalty to tradition and his Americanization of the daughters. A great deal of Tortilla Soup seeks to enrich the audience with factual knowledge about Hispanic culture and religion, but most of it is presented it so conspicuously as to make it appear forced and excessive.
The film's saving grace is the relationships between the characters. While the characters as individuals are peppered with stereotyping, the entire Naranjo family and their friends blend together nicely. Through thick and thin, sisters are sisters, and offer each other unwavering support. Their father, who struggles with his own faults, seeks to find the line between helping and suffocating his children. As his family changes, so must he, and for a man seeped in tradition, change comes slowly. Martin is aided through this transition by the hand of a young girl, a daughter of a friend, whom he visits at school daily to bring a home cooked lunch. The young girl quells Martin's empty nest syndrome and also plays a roll in the `surprise' ending. And that's the best hint you'll get the whole movie.
It's difficult to say whom Tortilla Soup was written for. It's rated PG-13 for sexual content, but it leans toward PG. It's really a family movie, a daytime matinee. Maybe something to do in the afternoon before having a nice sociable dinner. Then again, the food in the film looks so good, dinner will probably be a disappointment. Directed by Maria Ripoll. 102 Min. Rated PG-13.