PAGE B26 • ARTS & LIFESTYLES • JUNE 9, 2022
Tom Cruise still has the need for speed in Top Gun: Maverick REVIEWED BY JEFFREY SANZEL
The cast of 'The Golden Girls.' Photo courtesy of Fathom Events
‘Forever Golden! A Celebration of the Golden Girls’ heads to the big screen Fathom Events has announced the return of the Emmy Award-winning television sitcom, The Golden Girls, to select theaters nationwide for the second consecutive year. Forever Golden! A Celebration of the Golden Girls hits movie theaters on June 14 at 7 p.m The series stars Bea Arthur (Dorothy Zbornak), Betty White (Rose Nylund), Rue McClanahan (Blanche Devereaux), and Estelle Getty (Sophia Petrillo) as four women in their golden years who share both a home and a friendship in Miami, Florida. This special event will feature some of the most memorable episodes from the series. “We’re excited to bring this beloved show back to the big screen this summer,’” said Ray Nutt, Fathom Events CEO. “The storyline and the friendships between these very different women have stood the test of time. Fans love it just as much now as they did when it first aired on television back in the 80’s.” The episodes featured include The Competition, Season 1, Episode 7; It’s a Miserable Life, Season Two, Episode 4; The Sisters, Season 2, Episode 12; Scared Straight, Season 4, Episode 9; Sisters of the Bride, Season 6, Episode 14; and The Case of the Libertine Belle, Season 7, Episode 2. Locally the film will be screened at Regal Deer Park 16, 455 Commack Road, Deer Park; Island 16 Cinema de Lux, 185 Morris Ave., Holtsville; and Farmingdale Multiplex, 1001 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale. Up next, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Thing, and The Fifth Element head to the big screen in June. To order tickets in advance, visit www.fathomevents.com.
In 1986, 24-year-old, pre-couchjumping Tom Cruise was featured in a string of high-profile films: The Outsiders (1983), Risky Business (1983), All the Right Moves (1983), and Legend (1985). Poised for a breakthrough, his performance as rebellious Naval Aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun secured his stardom. The highest-grossing film of the year, it made over 350 million dollars worldwide. Many critics found little to love outside of the aerial dynamics, but it became a pop culture hit, winning the Academy Award for Best Song, “Take My Breath Away” (music by Giorgio Moroder; lyrics by Tom Whitlock). Inspired by Ehud Yonay’s article “Top Guns,” the film’s screenplay (by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr.) combined endless flight jargon with dialogue lifted from the lesser After School specials. Peppered with clichés like “he’s a wild card” and “it’s not your flying, it’s your attitude,” the film lacked depth, subtlety, and even basic tension. The insufferably smarmy Maverick is not so much a character but the smirk of one. Outside of one “steamy” scene between Cruise and co-star Kelly McGillis, the homoerotic movie is populated by men in towels talking about the need to shower. Both misogynistic and juvenile, Top Gun made Risky Business seem emotionally sophisticated. As early as 2010, a Top Sequel was in development. Finally, after years of delays, Top Gun: Maverick arrives 36 years after the original’s release. Instead of a clumsy sequel, the creators have forged a smart, entertaining, well-made film that is visually stunning. If the screenplay (by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie) is not exactly Citizen Kane, the storytelling is defined. The characters are simply drawn but true to the situation. There is an honesty and a general earnestness that harkens back to the better war movies of the 1940s. Joseph Kosinski has directed his actors to play the characters straight down the middle. There are not a lot of surprises, but the can-do spirit works. Cruise’s Maverick is a muchdecorated pilot but still a captain. For every commendation he has received, overstepping has prevented him from receiving a promotion. While his skills are never in doubt, his problematic behavior towards authority has not so much stalled
MOVIE REVIEW
Tom Cruise as test pilot Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
his career but buried it. At the end of the cleared of the responsibility for his pal’s first film, Maverick requested a position as death, Maverick still carries guilt, and he a Top Gun trainer. He reveals that he only reveals that at the request of Goose’s widow lasted two months. (now dead—Meg Ryan in the earlier film), he The older Maverick is low-key but still has done everything to prevent Rooster from rebellious, rankling his superiors. Rear flying. Eventually, Maverick and Rooster Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain (Ed come to terms with their joined histories. Harris) tells him, “The future is coming. A minor romantic subplot involves And you’re not in it.” Maverick and a bar owner, Penny Benjamin Maverick’s formal rival, “Iceman” (Val (Jennifer Connelly), but it generates little Kilmer), now commander of the U.S. Pacific heat or interest. Fleet, has called Maverick film’s two driving forces Instead of a clumsy areThe back to Top Gun. (Except Cruise and the mission. for Cruise, Kilmer is the only sequel, the creators Both Cruise and Maverick holdover from the first film. have forged a smart, have aged well, and the general He has a single scene where lack of arrogance makes for entertaining, well- a watchable experience. As he mostly communicates by typing as the admiral has the writing is focused, the made film that is throat cancer.) The mission technical details are clear. The visually stunning. actors lean into the physical is to take out a rogue state’s uranium enrichment plant demands and challenges of before it opens. Surface-to-air missiles and the flying and the mantra that “It’s not the skilled fighter pilots protect the canyon. plane. It’s the pilot.” The cavalier comment The only way to bomb the plant is to in Top Gun—“A need for speed”—here literally fly under the radar in a demanding, actually makes sense. Everything builds up dangerous mission. to a spectacular final act, with the operation Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson beautifully orchestrated with the right (John Hamm) and Rear Admiral Solomon amount of suspense and a couple of twists “Warlock” Bates (Charles Parnell) have that help keep it interesting. The faceless, but gathered an elite group of fighter pilots for ominous enemy, is smartly handled. Maverick to train. Top Gun: Maverick’s major song, Lady The plot is simple, with the sole Gaga’s “Hold My Hand,” plays over the complication that one of the pilots, Lt. credits. It is an appropriate metaphor for Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, is the son of the film. A bit schmaltzy but also effective, Maverick’s former radar intercept officer honest, and wholly satisfying. and best friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw Rated PG-13, the film is now playing in (Anthony Edwards in Top Gun). While local theaters.
