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From: leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: PRIZZI'S HONOR
Message-ID: <854@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 18-Jun-85 12:07:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.854
Posted: Tue Jun 18 12:07:07 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 30-Jun-85 06:38:43 EDT
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ
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                               PRIZZI'S HONOR
                      A film review by Mark R. Leeper

     One of the classic names of American cinema is John Huston.  He has
worked in the cinema since he worked on the screenplay of the 1932 MURDERS
IN THE RUE MORGUE.  Besides being a familiar face in the films like
CHINATOWN, he has directed such classics as TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE,
KEY LARGO, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING.  He is still
out there making films of some seriousness for the viewer over 30.  In the
middle of the summer's fluff films, he has released PRIZZI'S HONOR, a comedy
that turns out to be more than a comedy.

     The ads for PRIZZI'S HONOR indicate that it is a light comedy about two
people who fall in love without realizing that each is a hired killer.  That
seems like an odd premise for a comedy, though the comedies PAIN IN THE
A..and its American remake BUDDY, BUDDY have also attempted to be light
comedies involving hired killers as main characters.  Well, don't believe
the ads.  The first hour of PRIZZI'S HONOR certainly has a fair amount of
comedy, but by the second half the fun is abandoned and we are left with a
serious story of crime family politics and back-stabbing like out of some
sort of co-operation between Lillian Hellman and Mario Puzo.

     The lovers are played by Kathleen Turner and Jack Nicholson, and an
odder couple it is difficult to imagine.  It is never really clear what the
appealing Miss Turner sees in the fat, balding, New-York-accented Nicholson.
The Nicholson character is so unappealing that the viewer tends to assume
that Turner is pulling some sort of a scam.  There is absolutely no
chemistry between the characters on the screen.  In fact, the most engaging
character on the screen is William Hickey as the Patrone of the crime
family.  It isn't easy taking Hickey seriously in the role, as he usually
plays a young man with a funny voice.  Still, as the wizened head of a crime
family, he is the most charismatic character in the film.  The character's
failing exterior causes the viewer to vastly underrate the keen mind of the
character, who deftly pulls the strings for the entire family.  Huston's
daughter, Anjelica Huston, plays Nicholson's former girlfriend, who after a
disagreement with her gangster father is trying to work her way back into
the good graces of the crime family.

     In reality, PRIZZI'S HONOR will disappoint some with its uneven tone.
Those who expect to rest their minds with a farce will find themselves lured
by the second half into a complex film of some intrigue and a fair dose of
violence.  Even fans of the "Godfather" films may find themselves taxed to
keep track of who is doing what to whom, or even just who is who.  On the -4
to +4 scale, PRIZZI'S HONOR is a high +1.

					Mark R. Leeper
					...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper