'Arizona' Dreamin' Of a Hipper Movie

"Arizona Dream"

directed by Emir Kusturica

starring Faye Dunaway, Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Paulina Porizkova

at the Harvard Film Archive

March 10-19 (see Listings for times), tickets $6.50

An all-star extravaganza, "Arizona Dream" combines, or rather collects, such disparate talents as Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis, Johnny Depp, Paulina Porizkova and Iggy Pop. It's initial attraction is its big names, but--as is sometimes the case with films where extras are supermodels and even the walk-ons are famous--the story becomes convoluted.

The stream-of-consciousness storyline of "Dream" suits its hypnopompic aims; and some roundtable discussions between the actors are hilarious, even memorable. But often the film becomes smug in its silliness and parades its characters in unattractive ways.

Johnny Depp plays Axel, an orphaned fishmonger from New York City. The film opens with what we eventually learn are Axel's favorite dreams of Eskimo fishmongers. Soon, Axel's Uncle Leo (Jerry Lewis) sends his mafia punk son, Paul (Vincent Calo), to fetch Axel from the city to attend Leo's wedding in Arizona. Here, the film leaps into the surreal skies and endless planes of the midwest.

Axel quickly falls for a wealthy widow named Elaine (Faye Dunaway). Like Daedalus escaping from Crete, Axel builds endless air machines at her insistence. The numerous crash scenes range from dumb to dumber. Though there's hardly a wrinkle on Dunaway's face and her figure is curvaceous, her Elaine clutches beauty like an iron mask, with quickly spoken words and twitchy mannerisms.

Elaine's suicidal daughter, Grace (Lili Taylor), is a bizarre amalgamation of hobbies. Chain-smoking and accordion-wielding, Grace spends half her time playing with her transcendental turtles and the rest trying to seduce Axel. Whe finally succeeds, to tragic consequences, it's as if the two women are rifting on a sequel to "Mommie Dearest."

Depp relies on voice-overs to convey his introspection. He is convincing as a big-eyed innocent (his tattoos hidden beneath a tee-shirt), but there are rebellious moments when the iconic Johnny ("I trashed a Mark Hotel room") Depp comes through. He swills liquor and sucks on cigarettes like a practiced bad boy, greeting Dunaway's flickering tongue and Taylor's open mouth with different types of kisses. But when his character tries to make decisions about love and life, his choices feel scripted.

When Axel and Elaine break up, their fighting is filmed obscurely from outside and the pouring rain renders their screams indecipherable. The scene is frustrating in its escape of the challenges of acting and dialogue.

The other works of Bosnian director Emir Kusturica include the acclaimed "Time of the Gypsies" and "When Father Was Away on Business." Made in 1992, "Arizona Dream," has the potential to be a hip dissection of American pop culture. But Kusturica is more interested in exploiting the film's visceral visual power. His shots of the American Southwest achieve the finesse of Gus Van Sant's landscapes. Iggy Pop's musical score enlivens the hazy atmosphere.

"Arizona Dream" recalls the current musical "Sunset Boulevard": Dunaway's aging beauty seduces Depp's innocence, only to be duped by him later. Though "Dream" predates Dunaway's dismissal from the New York production of "Sunset," her Elaine gives us insight into her much-discussed potential as screen-diva Norma Desmond. Dunaway's Elaine is stronger than Norma, escaping into her Hollywood fantasies, ever could be. She conceals a murderous tendency behind her spitfire facade.

While "Dream" aims at black comedy, it alternates shizophrenically between fits of wild absurdity and tearful sadness. Next to the antics, the film's serious moments could be scenes from a different work. Most of its characters are one-sided, unconscious extensions of their Hollywood personalities. Part of "Dream's" joke is that they are type-cast, but they either don't know or don't care.

When Uncle Leo makes a deathbed request to Axel, Depp's tears are over-acted, hearkening back to his "21 Jump Street" days.

In a tense scene, Grace and Axel play Russian roulette. Taylor's character is eerily suicidal. When she softly says, "You don't say no to this game," and, after Axel refuses to play, "Okay, then, my turn," her self-destructiveness acquires a pathetically sweet tone. Even though the scene is emotionally effective, it remains incongruous in the context of the mostly humorous film.

Jerry Lewis' character owns a carnivalesque Cadillac dealership. It's been a while since Lewis last hammed it up in a French film, but he obviously still thinks his behavior appropriate and funny. He even gets to call his new bride, Minnie (Paulina Porizkova), his "polish cupcake." The cast cannot muffle their laughs. They practically wink at the camera to show they are having a good time.

Uncle Leo's son, Paul, apes the crop-dusting sequence from Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" far too many times. Elaine tries to run him over in her airplane, milking the circling plane and fleeing victim sequence for its last drop of emotion. The scene exemplifies one of "Arizona Dream's" largest problems: it dwells too long on its once-witty gags.

"Arizona Dream" suffers from a common problem of films ranging from "Cannonball Run" to "Pret-a-Porter"--it looks like it was more fun to make than it is to watch.