The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 108

4 Friday, May 18, 1990 I ZZ The Philadelphia Inquirer Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn in a comic caper, 'Bird on a Wire' MOVIE REVIEW BIRD ON A WIRE Produced by Rob Cohen; directed by John Badham; written by David Seltzer, Louis Venosta and Eric Lerner; photography by Robert Primes; music by Ted Field and Robert W. Cort; distributed by Universal Pictures. Running time: 1 hour, 51 mins. Rick Jarmin Mel Gibson Marianne Graves Goldie Hawn Eugene Sorenson David Carradine Albert Diggs Bill Duke Joe Weyburn Stephen Tobolowsky Parent's guide: PG-13 (posterior nudity, profanity, sexual suggestion) Showing at: area theaters protected by the Feds because his would-be assassins have had his file spiked. And that the assassins have framed him for murder.

Only one man can prove Rick's identity and Innocence. Unfortunately, he might have Alzheimer's disease. For reasons known only to those familiar with Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Rick and Marianne elude the police by hopping into or onto every motor vehicle ever invented. Where Cary Grant was attacked by a cropduster in the Hitchcock movie, Gibson and Hawn make their getaway in a cropduster in this John Badham film that also shows them astride motorcycles and inside a variety of cars, including those of the railway variety. The successful director of such gadget movies as WarGames and Short Circuit, Badham is more intrigued with the mechanics of his film's various vehicles than he is with the mechanics of its script.

As a result, the machines purr and the plot clunks. Those who don't enjoy high-speed chases will find Bird on a Wire diverting for the presences (one dare not dignify them as performances) of Gibson and Hawn, both of whom are appealing. Individually, they are sexy. Together, they are steamy. (While there is no sexual nudity, there is a shot of the bare-rumped Gibson.

It is not the scene his fans By Carrie Rickey Inquirer Movie Critic What do you call a movie starring Mel Gibson as a daredevil whose temper is shorter than his endurance, and Goldie Hawn as a princess whose fingernails are longer than her skirts? Lethal Benjamin? Try again. Private Weapon? Try, try again. Which is exactly what Bird on a Wire does. Observing the Hollywood philosophy that "if at first you do succeed, try it again," Bird splices together Gibson's Lethal Weapon action with Hawn's Private Benjamin comedy. The results might not be a complete waste of its genial performers, but putting Gibson and Hawn into Bird on a Wire is a little like putting high-test fuel into a junker.

Is it symbolic that in this misguided romance stolen from their previous vehicles, Gibson and Hawn spend most of their screen time speeding the wrong way down oneway streets in a stolen car? In Bird on a Wire, Gibson and Hawn play former hippies and lovers who haven't seen each other for IS years. Marianne (Hawn) figured that Rick (Gibson) ditched her at the altar. Supposedly this explains why she has become a corporate lawyer. It seems that on the way to their wedding, Rick tried to score some Hawn and Gibson re-ignite a romance while running for their lives. dope in Mexico, realized that drug-enforcement agents were dealing instead of busting, and squealed on those agents to the Feds.

For 15 years, the Witness Protection Program secured Rick new identities and jobs. Supposedly this explains why he remained a hippie. Marianne and Rick re-meet by accident in Detroit, at a garage where he toils and where she visiting on a business trip has come to gas up. Coincidentally, the drug agents whom Rick fingered have just been released from prison and are about to execute him when Marianne bumbles by and helps him get away. They soon learn that Rick is no longer male co-star is cast as of the same age, it is a regressive sign that she has to play it frail and helpless so that he can play macho hero.

The good news is that a Hollywood actress besides Sigourney Weaver has gotten herself cast in an action movie; the bad news is that to get herself into an action movie, Hawn has to play the dumb blonde. Well, at least there's one date movie this summer. have been waiting for. Personally, I would prefer Gibson's buttocks without the buckshot.) Admittedly, Bird on a Wire is diverting. But not so much so that I couldn't fully concentrate on it while free-associating the following: Goldie Hawn looks darn good for 44, in better shape than Mel Gibson at 34.

While it is a progressive sign that an actress 10 years older than her NEIGHBORHOOD MOVIE DIRECTORY IMP PHTTUMV 1 M7-0744 Park Free PIDITII 5Jndo GR 3-2255 UArl I HI Girard CONT 12 NOON DEADLY COP STEVEN SEAGAL HARD TO KILL 6 ,5 Hllll UNIlilHI IRI 207 olExpwv.) DRIVING MISS DAISY IPG) Fri. (5:00 fa) S3 PRETTY WOMAN (R) 501-7 I 5-9 30-1V30 THE COOKTHE THIEF, HIS WIFE HER LOVER (NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED) Fri (4-45 S3 501-7-00-9-15-11 30 800 OUINN REVENGE (Ri ERIC 4 FEASTERVILLE fK CONTINUOUS SHOWS DAILY On Two Screens, Your Choice Of Times; BIRD ON A WIRE CADILLAC MAN (r) TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE ir) 1 10-3 00-5 00-7 30-9-40-IMS ERIC IMONTGOMERYVIILE 1312 xdm CONTINUOUS SHOWS DAILY On Two Screens, Your Choice Of Times: CADILLAC MAN (R) 1 500-6 CLASS OF 1999 (R) 1 10-3 04AIR: 100-700 MOUNTAINS OF THE MOONIRI4 00-I000 THE GUARDIAN IR) 30 9 40-11-30 I LOVE YOU TO DEATH (R) 1.00-3 50-10 00 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) AMC THEATRES "There Is A Difference" Cfl (TWI-LITE) SHOW DAILY irJ.JU Seniors Child Ai AH Timet SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS Denotes NO PASSES'COUPONS CHRISTIAN CINEMA FORMER "AMBLER THEATRE" FREE PARK. FREE ADM. DEVIL'S COACH 7 45 AMC 309 CINEMAS AVZL N. End of 309 Ekpwv, Montoomeryville ADVANCE TICKET SALES CASH OR CREDIT CREDIT PHONE SALES ONLY: 646-1590 BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) (ON TWO SCREENS) Fri.

S3.S0)-7:15-7:45-9:40 10. TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE IR) Fri. (5 45 fa1 S3 50)-8 THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE HER LOVER (NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED) Fri. 53 SHORT TIME (PG-13) Fri, (500 S3.S0)-7:l5-9:30-ll:45PM MIAMI BLUES (RJ Fri. Only 15-45 3.50) PRETTY WOMAlN (R) Fri 14 55 fa S3 501-7 00-1? 15AM AMC ORLEANS 8 ADVANCE TICKET SALES CASH OR CREDIT CREDIT PHONE SALES ONLY: 728-7576 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) Fri THE GUARDIAN (R) Fri.

S3.5O)-7:45-10:15 CADILLAC MAN (R) Fri 45 fa! S3.50)-7:30-9:55 PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri CRAZY PEOPLE (R) Fri 45 (S S3 SPACED INVADERS (PG) Fri 0A(R) Fri, 1 S3 45 THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE HER LOVER (NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED) Fri 1 fa) S3 501-740-10-00 AMC GRANITE RUN 8 Located on Bai'im re Pk bet Rls 352 S. 452 BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) Fri. 1:15 5 00 3 S3 PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri. 1:30 S3 BECAUSE WE CARE. OUR POPCORN IS OEyONLcVW' All NOW POPPED FRESH IN CANOLA OIL WITH 0 CHOLESTEROL I 04.

AIR) Fn lflO-715-1030 WILLIAM HURT I LOVE YOU TO DEATH ONLY SEPARATE ADMISSION LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS THE FIRST POWER ONLY ERIC TWIN FRAZER waffR CAOILLAC MAN IR) 30 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (PG) SHORT TIME (PG-13) Fri Only (4 30 (S- S3 50) SPACED INVADERS (PG) ERIC 3 PENN JERSEY Lr MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON IR) 35 OA A (RI 700 THE GUARDIAN (R) 930 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) 00 Fn.Onlv 1:15 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (PG) TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) THE FIRST POWER IR) IMC ANDORRA 6 ItrW-Xh ADVANCE TICKET SALES CASH OR CREDIT CREDIT PHONE SALES ONLY: 4W-94I6 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) Fri. (5:30 S3 501-8 THE HUNTJFOR RED OCTOBER (PG) Fri. (S IS to S3 501-7 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) Fri 15:15 feU PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri (5 00 (5' 53 501-7 30-9 45 ERIC TWIN HORSHAM PRFTTV HinUAU IDI OA-7 IA Aft Fn. (4.51 la SJ.S0) DRIVING MISS DAISY IPG) Fri. (530 (a 53 Fri.

130-15 15 fa S3 50 -7 4 2.40 ERIC THEATRES (Excluding Center Cilv) VOU -SSI SR'Hii BEFORE PW SEN CZENS CHtlDIEN ALL TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) SPACED INVADERS (PG) Fri. (4 15(0) S3 CHILDREN MUST BE 5 YRS. TO BE ADMITTED INTO THEATRE. EXCEPT FOR (G) RATED FEATURES. AND TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG).

TURTLES (PG) Fn 8 15AM Fri 500(0113 50 -7: :45 ERIC TWIN PLAZA roS5 CADILLAC MAN (RI THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER IPG) 7 00-9 4 5 CRAZY PEOPLE (R) roip tuiiu ivv Dinrr pom La Fri MS-IS: IS 101 13 501-800-10 )5 intu initi ii i ntuuL 8370 BIRO ON A WIRE IPG-13) 30-10 00 THE GUARDIAN (R) Fri. (5 30 fa S3 501-7-45-10 00- 15 AMC WALNUT MALI 3 WT ERIC TWIN ARDMORE BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) 5 00 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (PG) 0 AIR) 700-9 30 ERIC 3 ON CAMPUS 't THE COOKTHE THIEF, HIS WIFE 4 CADILLAC MAN IR) Fri. (5:30 S3 SO) Installation ol New Seats In Theatre 1 new LOVER (NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED) m-i irn STUDENTS AT ALL limts cn lO.jU IWilh Valid I.D iiM AMC ANTHONY WAYNE 2 CRAZY PEOPLE (R) Fri. (5 30 S3 501-7 30-9 30 MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON (R) Fri 14 30 (S- S3 501-7 15-9 55 ERIC KINGS QUEENS Fn. HXH4 30 (g1 S3 501-7 00-9 45-12 15 VALLEY FORGE SHOPPING CENTER I Mi.

ol Schuylkill Exowv on Rt 202 CONTINUOUS SHOWS DAILY IN STEREO SURROUND SOUND ERIC TWIN BAEDERWQOO SSET Rte 611 to Fairway Rd East, Jenkintown BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13 5 00-7 30-9 SO 244-1200 AMC LEO MALI 2 Rmttftnn-5nrTwtnn 1 (DM n. itllaiM AMC WOOOHAVEN MALI I UP DIDil 343-2088 Free Parking CADILLAC MAN IR) 4 35-700-9 35 I-9S at Woodhaven Road-Route 13 CRAZY PEOPLE (R) BIRDONAWIRE (PG-13) Fri 14 30fa' 13 501-7 15-944-12 00 t-n. 53 501-7-15-9 45 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA On Two Screens, Your Choice 01 Times: CLASS OF 1999 IR1 530-7 30-930 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) 1 20 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE IR) TFENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES IPG) 130-3 THE GUARDIAN IR) 1030 CADILLAC MAN (R) You get to much more out of big screen drama; teeamovie of your choke tonight. UKILfcS IPG) ERIC TWIN BARCLAY SQUARE SKSJ CLASS OF 1999 (R) 30-9 30 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) 45 ION IWOSCHtENSI Fri (5O0(gl3 50)-7 30-10fl0 Fri. (ft 13.501-7:00-7:45-930 Ri'ib wwn ti i wy.uvisiwn., xttn BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) Fri (4:40 S3 5010-7 20-10-00 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) Fri (4 30ffiS3 CADILLAC MAN (R) Fri 1510(3 S3 501-7 40-10 10 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) Fri (5 00 fa 13 PRETTY WOMAN (Rl Fri (450 g3 501-730-950 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) ERIC TWIN CHESTNUT HILL THE MOVIE IR) ERIC TWIN WEST GOSHEN 1020 BIRDON A WIRE (PG-13) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA Fri (445i S3 501-7 45 On Two Screens, Your Choice 01 Times: QtA(R) 700-9 30 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA UlUtLLAlMANIK) Your family dMrvt big saMn adventure.

See a good movie tonight. 15 TURTLES 7 00-9 00 nil I 157 BaH Ave. 461-4695 BALA Off City Av. Since 1927 TURTLES (PG) 5flO-7 X-9i ERICWYNNEWOOO 252 ERIC TWIN CLIFTON HEIGHTS fX7, Baltimqre Pike at BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) PRETTY WOMAN (R) 10-1030 Special Engagement This Week Onlv CADILLAC MAN IR) 5 10-7 20-9 30 ERIC TWIN IAWRFNPF P1BK AMC BRYN MAWR 2 "8ST Lancaster Pike W. of Bom Mawr Ave.

PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri (5:00 ft 13 DRIVING MISS DAISY (PG) Fri I5I5S3 50)-H)0-K))S Oscar Winner Spectacular Bream-Taking OA AIR) 4 30-7 00-9 30 AMC PALACE CRAZY PEOPLE (R) AMC MIOTOWN 2 pinny 9O0Only ulUKI(R) EVERYDAY SEPARATE ADMISSION ERIC4C0NC0RDVILLE uTh On Two Screens, Your Choice 01 Time TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG) 5 ERIC THEATRES (Center Citv) first Snow CNv Deity Saw Cituens CMdren At All Tim Fn. 13 50) THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER IPG) Fn 130-14 15(0)0 TEENAGE MUTANT NINIA TURTLES $3.50 SPACED INVADERS (PG) CADILLAC MAN (R) MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON (R) Fri ll- 5 15 (W S3 50) AMC PREMIERE 2 fl NtKtuiminv Man at (sin ERIC LINCOLN PLJlZA'HneHwv Outlet Mall. Next to Oxford valley Man BIRD ON A WIRE IPG-13) 7 40- ma THE FIRST POWER (R) AMC CITY LINE 2 THE GUARDIAN (R) Fri (4 30 fa S3 501-7 WILD ORCHID (R) Fri SPACED INVADERS (PG) Sal. Sun Only 100 Fri 7 30-945 MONDAY FRIDAY: SAT (12.30-3:-S:15)-7.OO Reduced Admission Always Before 6:00 SPECIAL KIDS MAT SAT. 4 SUN.

12:30 FUN, GAMES. PRIZES LIKE ALWAYS ERIC'S PLACE i5.9L?hSs.. CLASS OF 1999 (R) THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (PG) CLASS Of 1999 (R) 7 PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri. (4-45ft)s3 THE HUNTJFOR RED OCTOBER (PG) tw-r-w-itnju nr ai nr nmi 627-5966 12 25-2 50-5 10-7 25-940 UnkVUIlUlllSimom SI. Walkway: rn.

M(a S3 50)-7 45-Kn5 ERIC 3 AIRLESS HILLS 943 MM LEONARDO Levittown Pkwv OirK Blwd ERIC RITTENH0USE3 i del t-ronl 4 2nd ADVANCE TICKET SALES CASH OR CREDIT CREDIT PHONE SALES ONLY 627-4134 ERIC 4 MacDADE MALL CADILLAC MAN IR) 5 15 7 30-945 CLASS OF 1999 (RI 5 30 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (RI 5 30-7 45-10 00 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA His Final Weekend Don't Miss Him Slam Ni Friday xdusivelv AMC SPRINGFIELD 2 ttSl THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (PG) Fri. S3 SOW CADILLAC MAN IR) On Two Screens Your Choice Times: BIRD ON A WIRE (PG-13) AMCEXT0N2 Rls 304 100 PRETTY WOMAN (R) Fri (5 15 fa 13 CRAZY PEOPLE (R) Fri. (4:45 feU CADILLAC MAN IR) 50 TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE THE MOVIE (R) 7 10-9 30 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER IPG) PRETTY WOMAN IR) Fri Sun 130 (515 S3 15 12 30-2 00-2 50-4 35-5. 10-7: BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (PG) WILD ORCHID IR) Installation ol New Seats In Theatre Ady. Tickets, Party Res Call 664-4178 Fri.

15 10 (a. S3 50) TltOTl ipr. i m-T J.ID-iiU-BUO-IOi5.