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tuesday, September 1 1981 page 8 daily nebraskan aoteoiiiiDOiiOTiDcgraG Movie 's saving grace is coincidence with reality By Pat Higgins The people involved in making First Monday in October should be extremely grateful that President Reagan has nominated Sandra O'Connor to the Supreme Court. It is this fluke of timeliness that makes First Day in October worthy of note. The movie itself is basically mediocre and probably would have sunk without a trace if reality hadn't imitated the movie. reuisvj J (' . J Walter Matthau an4 Jill Gayburgh are the stars of the t ' I I v show. Matthau gives one of his standard performances as f an irascible old coot who - surprise! - has a heart of gold r under that flinty exterior. Matthau benefits from the script, as he has the better lines throughout, while Clay-burgh- 's character is too pompous to develop much sympa- thetic rapport. Although Matthau probably could have f Dii phoned in his part, it doesn't differ one iota from his other recent movies like Hopscotch and House Calls. Matthau is Justice Dan Snow, who is obviously based on the late Justice William 0. Douglas. He is a civil libertarian individualist who climbs mountains for fun. He has photographs of FDR, Harry Truman, and John on his office wall to show the audience where he L Kennedy Photo courtesy of Paramount zLPictures is coming from. His law clerk, Mason, is played by James Stephens from the Paper Chase TV show, which is a nice Walter Matthau plays a crusty veteran Supreme Court justice, and Jill Gayburgh plays the first woman appointed touch. The other justices are basically nonentities in black to the Supreme Court in First Monday in October. robes, although one of them is a dead ringer for Tip O'Neill. Snow and the black each other Also, justice give Once the court is in session, First Monday in October is to spew out a lot of bland legalese concerning their re- fives instead of which is a cute touch. high shaking hands, concerned with two major cases. The first is a First spective philosophies. Snow has the wittier lines, which Jill is Loomis from Gayburgh Judge Orange County, Amendment pornography issue concerning the merits of a gives him the advantage on screen. The other are California home of the Loomis is justices - John Wayne Airport. movie called The Naked Nymphomaniac which the state too conscious of the fact that Loomis is a woman to the first female but she is closer in to get justice style Phyllis of Nebraska is prosecuting. The Nebraska lawyer has a into serious arguments with her, while Snow has no such than to Sandra O'Connor, as she is a hard core Schlatly Southern accent for no apparent reason. qualms. right-win- g However, she calls Snow a male ideologue. The other important case concerns corporate giant First Monday in October was originally a Broadway hit chauvinist pig which seems rather incongruous from her. Omnitech, which is owned by a Howard Hughes-styl-e re- with Fonda, and the movie still feels like a be- The silliest scene shows the Senate committee Henry play hearings, cluse. Omnitech is accused oT buying up all the patents cause of its static nature as Gayburgh and Matthau stand in which the senators take turns with con- coming up that could allow cars to run on non-gasoli- ne power, which around exchanging comments. First Monday in October descending questions to which Loomis replies with a lot is a great conspiracy theory. should be given points for trying to address serious topics, of pretentious rhetoric. These two decisions enable Justices Loomis and Snow but the final results do not live up to its promise. Film offers total escape through millionaire 's life By Chuck Lieurance winds up, inevitable emptiness follows. There is nothing any disadvantages circumvent any statements about true left of this movie when it is over except a dull recollection values. The movie has found a genre that seemed lost to It looks as though wealth without guilt is in vogue of a few good scenes. simpler times, when people needed very little aside from in films these days. The pervasive attitude such as Arthur No moral judgments are passed, and if theje are clearly sticky situations, clever solutions and slapstick to relieve and Mel Brooks' good natured, if forgettable, History of bad snobs and good snobs in the movie, the fact that them from oppressive situations. This movie fills that the World, Part I is one of blissful, affluent abandon. This Arthur finally believes the advantages of wealth outweigh role quite well sort of fantasy wealth also became the rage before the Depression, exhibiting itself in the screwball comedies of directors such as Frank Capra. Arthur would have fit into ' 7 Tv7 7 the rash of these Depression era escapist films with incredible ease. II " o i r II ujp ;i'o 11 As the movie begins, the, expectations of the viewer run Hi ( 3 lines-- n along the of Hal Ashby's underrated masterpiece, f'j Harold and Maude. One expects to uncover the shallow- ness of wealth and the eccentric neuroticism that this gilded life produces. But instead one finds a complete aloofness about social ft and psychological concerns that renders sociological criticism futile. The difference between a film like Harold 1 and Maude and Arthur is the difference between the '70s and the '80s. Dudley Moore plays Arthur, an alcoholic heir to $75 million with a feverish, exhaustive pace that suggests his J Art character will eventually burn out violently. Arthur is completely out of touch with common realities; he sings Christmas carols all year round, his major enterprises are bathing and manic sexual encounters. Sophomoric pranks - 8 seem to be the closest thing he has to a career. The movie fl S) VfJ itself seems to suffer from the same economic and social 1 TOM detachment, making it frighteningly absurdist at times. y ' John Gielgud, as Arthur's companion, nursemaid, I W f ; 1 i . nil - I butler and father figure, is wonderful with his subtle, re- tk h fined sarcasm, constantly baiting everyone but flimsily 'k concealing deep compassion. In the screwball comedy tradition, though, Gielgud, Liza Minelli (as Arthur's love from the wrong side of the tracks) and the rest of the quirky cast are never allowed to come down to earth, or even come near the ground. The movie floats entirely on I : ..i" I clouds of escapist fancy, which is not necessarily a bad place for a movie to float. whether this sort of is or Hie question of thing good r L. bad becomes disarrningly irrelevant. If you find yourself toughing, it has achieved its purpose. The shotgun style of Photo courtesy of Orion Pictures humor at work here until the last half hour or so, makes it Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli star in guaranteed entertainment, but when the flight of fancy Arthur..

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