Date: Fri 09-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Kline-Playing-Branaugh-West

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING : "West" Needs More, More Sincerity

While it is safe to say that Titanic soared to box office history on the

strength of "DiCaprio worship" and a following willing to make many a return

trip to a tale about an ill-fated ocean journey, it is also important to note

the blockbuster epic succeeded while striking an unconventional reliance on

straight and melodrama in an age marked by Tarantino-styled irony and pop

culture referencing. Today, very little in movies (particularly mainstream

stuff) is to be taken seriously; there is usually some kind of wink and nod to

the audience.

Wild Wild West , the blockbuster hopeful battling bad buzz, is a "wink, wink,

nod, nod" type of movie. Ultimately, it could have done with a bit more

Titanic earnestness. Less levity, more sobriety and greater considerations

regarding character and tone would have done Wild Wild West loads, loads of

good.

As a television show, Wild Wild West ran on CBS from 1965 to 1970 and featured

a cool animated opening sequence and rousing theme (which, disappointingly, is

heard only once, fleetingly, in the new film). It starred Robert Conrad and

Ross Martin as two government agents, James West and Artemis Gordon, out to

foil eccentric villains in the Old West. What was striking about the show --

aside from its odd but engaging mix of the western, spy and sci-fi genres --

was the contrast in styles between the leads. West (Conrad), despite the

series' play on words, was not the wild one, but was deadly serious, almost

dour; Gordon (Martin), on the other hand, was lively, charming, and, as a

master of disguises and accents, got to ham it up each week.

As a movie, Wild Wild West has Will Smith in the lead as James West and Kevin

Kline as Artemis Gordon. This is clever, potentially exciting casting,

particularly if the two main characters hold their respective roles: Kline can

be a scene-stealing ham (as witnessed by his Oscar-winning turn in A Fish

Called Wanda ) and Smith would stretch (an ability he has shown in Six Degrees

of Separation and Enemy of the State ) by taking the more grave part. This

would especially make sense because director Barry Sonnenfeld -- now with

Smith as the hero -- has reconfigured James West as a black man in 1869,

fighting crime and bigotry, less than a decade removed from the Emancipation

Proclamation. West would thus have every reason to be dour and solemn.

However, Smith remains his smooth, flippant (albeit ingratiating) self, and

the film is less effective for it.

Aside from Smith and Kline, Wild Wild West also boasts Kenneth Branagh (laying

it on thick, yet appropriately wicked, with a Southern-fried accent) as the

legless Dr Arliss Loveless, a Confederate villain with a bone to pick with

President Ulysses S. Grant. Dr Loveless is kidnapping scientists in a plot to

take over leadership of the United States. It is up to agents West and Gordon,

along with an ambiguous tag-along (an under-developed "entertainer" played by

Salma Hayek), to band together and foil this madman's conspiracy.

Director Sonnenfeld, the man behind the hits The Addams Family , Men in Black

and Get Shorty , has the look of the film right. As a former cinematographer,

he always has Wild Wild West a treat to the eyes in terms of its design and

appearance, but it is not much fun to watch, despite (or maybe because of) his

wry sense of humor. Certainly if Sonnenfeld and Smith wanted to address the

issue of race, even if fleetingly, there should have been more sincerity to

the whole proceedings.

Instead, too much of this PG-13 rated film's time is devoted to double

entendres, sexual innuendoes and whimsy, when it might more effectively have

been spent on pure action and adventure. To quote another reviewer, "In a

movie full of intentional anachronisms, the racist barbs and crass sexual

humor still seem out of place." Too bad, because this could have been a real

summer treat.