PAGE 6 SEPTEMBER 9, 1986 THE RETRIEVER ENTERTAINMENT mixes gore and comedy by David Proglasky tries to iron out her problems with "Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid," him, Brundle becomes jealous and Or so says the promotion poster of gets drunk. He then proceeds to David Cronenberg's The Fly . teleport himself with a fly in the However, the fear it generates is the telepod. fear of tossing your cookies on your Brundle, unaware of the fusion, neighboring movie goer, for The at first experiences a manic sense of Fly is an exercise in stomach- euphoria, resembling someone on a wrenching, gross-out special effects several-week long cocaine high, and makeup, which is not to say superhuman strength and stamina, that it isn't a good film. hyperbolic metabolism, elevated In fact, The Fly is a taut and self-image, and an exaggerated sex clever balance between drama and drive. Veronica becomes frightened nausea. The grossities, though at by the changes, suspecting that times gratuitous, actually serve to something went wrong with his ex- enhance the film's storyline, which perience in the telepod. Only after is understandable considering that witnessing some hideous acne the main thrust of the narrative is growth on his face, and seeing his concerned with the metamorphosis fingernails fall out does Brundle that a young scientist undergoes come to the same realization. Vero- when he is genetically fused with an nica then learns that she is pregnant ordinary household insect. with his/its child, which could set This young scientist is Seth the abortion argument back a few Brundle, an eccentric genius who hundred years. has invented a means of transpor ta As Brundle, de- tion by way of molecular recons- livers an excellent performance. truction, which is similar to the With his bulging eyes, gangly phy- transporter room in Star Trek, ex- siology and twitchy mannerisms, cept that Brundle uses two telepods Goldblum makes a perfect mad adjoined by cables. scientist, and he still manages to While attending a party for make his character live and breathe scientists, Brundle, as played by Jeff behind all the makeup during the Goldblum, meets Veronica (Geena mutation sequences. Noted mostly Davis), a writer for a science pulp for his comic acting, he is able to Jeff Goldblum and as the doomed lovers in The Fly. journal called Particle magazine. deftly juggle the heftier dramatic She is at the party looking for any moments and the frequent glimpses interesting scientific developments, of comic relief. This is probably his and when Brundle becomes at- best feature performance in film. John Getz is also particularly berg. respect to its blending of narrative, of the past ten years, and opens up tracted to her, he tells her of his Geena Davis' performance as good as Veronica's psychopathic Though the movie is sometimes character development, effects, and the story so that the gradual secret project. Veronica then goes Veronica is very appealing and ex-boyfriend Stathis. Because the glutted with special effects, Pogue situational humor. progression of Brundle to fly be- over to his lab, observes his inven- wisely understated, for though role contains some antagonistic and Cronenberg do not cut corners The director, David Cronenberg, comes a welcome part of the nar- tion, and is impressed enough to much of her role consists of characterization, it could have been in terms of characterizations. In- modernizes the story to pleasing rative. continue seeing Brundle, all the frightened reactions to Brundle's very easily overplayed, like many of stead of the usual one-dimensional effect. This particular version of The special effects are all excep- while getting an exclusive for her disfigurements, she shows a maturi- the villanous caricatures found in cardboard cutout characters found The Fly is a remake of the 1958 tional, though often queasy. One book. While Brundle proceeds to ty that is exceptional for a film some television movies. Getz, in many of the fast-action films, release of the same name. The Fly of should take into account Cronen- perfect his invention, he and Vero- actress in her first feature role. In though, keeps Stathis as real as Pogue and Cronenberg create three 1958 was one of those 50's sci-fi berg's sick sense of humor before nica fall in love. However, compli- fact, she and Goldblum achieve a possible, letting both the bad and very different but very real people. classics which were long on ideals taking the gross outs seriously. cations ensue when Veronica's very striking chemistry together, the good of his character show. Part There are no clearcut villains, he- but short on special effects. Cronen- Overall the film is a gripping and former boyfriend, Stathis, who also one which surpasses most on-screen of this credit is also due to the roes, or stereotypes, just individuals berg, though, takes advantage of entertaining flight of fantasy, with happens to be her boss, begins to romances, and can rarely be found screenplay, written by Charles Ed- reacting to a very unusual situation. the meteoric advances in makeup enough wit and substance to harass and follow her, arid while she in science-fiction films. ward Pogue and David Cronen- The script is also well crafted with artistry and special effects wizardry out-weigh the carnage.

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