The Real Cancun
by Lauren Spitzer
Didn’t get enough sex and alcohol on spring break? Miss the warm weather and intense action of a tropical location? Have no fear. The producers of MTV’s “The Real World” packed enough sex, drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll into their 97-minute ‘real’ spring break video, to last you well through finals and into the summer.
Director Rick De Olivereira visited college campuses in search of 16 students entertaining enough for a feature film. MTV provided rooms in a luxury hotel, access to the hottest clubs and enough alcohol to assure an interesting time. The movie takes the audience for a ride through the drama, melodrama and exploits of the student’s personalities.
Being spring break, the number one priority throughout the ‘real house’ seemed to be who could hook up with the most people. Twins, a male model, a ‘player’ and other horny college students competed in wet T-shirt contests, hot body contests and more.
While the movie was exactly what you’d expect from a spring break trip in Cancun (we’ve either seen it or been there ourselves), there were plenty of laughs and jaw dropping comments.
Alan, who by his freshman year in college has never taken a sip of alcohol, hopes that by the end of the trip he is “still the good kid” even after he decides to let loose with the aid of some tequila.
As the six camera crews filmed hundreds of minutes of footage of the entire cast, some cast members stood out more than others. As the house members start pairing up, their real personalities begin to show and drama begins to erupt.
The Real Cancun is MTV’s spring break without the constraints of TV censors. For guys, it may just be everything you’ve hoped for and more. Girls, it hits you with a bit of ‘reality’ about how to avoid being the victim of a used and abused ‘relationship.’
Anything can happen on spring break-Cancun just goes to show that it does.
It Runs in the Family
by Jesse Stanzhak
About halfway through It Runs in the Family, an exasperated Asher Gromberg (Cameron Douglas) turns to his father, Alex (Michael Douglas) and says, “Stop trying to make everyone cry with you all the time.” In a movie filled with clumsy sentimental moments, one has to wonder why screenwriter Jesse Wigutow didn’t take his own advice.
The hook to It Runs in the Family’s intergenerational tale is that it stars the real life Douglas family, who use their considerable expertise and undeniable chemistry to flesh out otherwise limp roles. Alex Gromberg is an overworked lawyer worried that he has failed his sons Asher and Eli (Rory Caulkin) as a father. Alex has never gotten along with his own father, Mitchell (Kirk Douglas) leading him to wonder if alienating offspring (you guessed it) runs in the family.
It’s a simple, if sentimental premise that gets cluttered with subplots about drugs, politics, adultery and a sixth-grade school dance. As if convinced that the father-son conflicts would grow tiresome in a hurry, screenwriter Jesse Wigutow pads the movie with secondary characters and situations.
Of all of the secondary characters, it’s no surprise that the only worthwhile one of the whole lot is Evelyn (Diana Douglas) the family matriarch whose subtlety and charm is just what the movie needed. Her twilight love for crotchety, unpleasant Mitchell brings heart to the film. Watching Diana and Kirk Douglas’ convincing portrayal of old love on screen, it’s hard to believe they’ve been divorced since 1951.
Kirk Douglas gives a surprisingly strong performance, only his second feature role since suffering a stroke in 1995, upstaging his Oscar-winning son left and right.
Directed with consistent thoughtfulness by Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation) the film changes tones when it switches generations. It moves easily from frantic indecision when centered on Asher, to the sequences anchored by Mitchell, which have the distant feel of a distant memory. Unfortunately, Schepisi is unable to anchor the movie, so that the viewer comes away feeling unsure of who’s story they’ve just watched and the end result is less than satisfying.
The movie is never sure if it wants our sympathy or our laughter. It is that pandering to the audience’s sympathy that drags the movie down. It’s funny and charming when it wants to be, but all too often wallows in self pity. It gets to the point where the audience just becomes fed up with the Grombergs, and wishes they’d keep their family problems in the family.
