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DOUBLE TEAM

The latest in a series of Jean-Claude Van Damme action films that puts a slight twist on the usual bullets-and-badmen formula. This time the main gimmick - and the focus of all publicity - is the feature film debut of eccentric professional basketball player Dennis Rodman, who essays the role of an eccentric arms dealer with a strange penchant for making basketball jokes. Thus, modern journalism being what it is, most of the critical attention drawn by this film has really been a critique of Rodman's acting ability (or lack of same). In truth, Rodman's purpose in the film is to provide some color to the film at a point when it could really use some.

Expanding on the European flavor and setting of his previous film (the equally ill-titled Maximum Risk), Van Damme actually gets a part where thay don't have to explain away his accent. Here he plays an anti-terrorism expert secret agent who, upon failing to catch evil mercenary Mickey Roarke, is sent to The Colony - a "retirement" village for secret agents which should be familiar to fans of the old TV series The Prisoner (the main difference here is that Colony residents are still expected to work as a top secret think tank advising on terrorist incidents). Understandably miffed, J-C becomes extra anxious to escape when Roarke - who blames our hero for the deaths of his family - begins to make coded threats against his wife and unborn son. After making a quite daring escape, Van Damme looks up Rodman for help. They form a quick bond with each other (thus giving the film some reason for the otherwise ill-fitting title), and proceed to hunt down the wily Roarke and save the day.

Forget Rodman, who is serviceable at best and only intelligible do to careful dubbing. What makes Double Team significant is the fact that it continues Van Damme's trend of recruiting directors from the vital ranks of Hong Kong cinema. Just as the German masters fled the Nazis to forever change the face of American cinema in the 1930s, the Chinese invasion of the '90s has the potential to transform the Hollywood films of the next century. This time the director is the prolific and multi-talented Hong Kong legend Tsui Hark, who was responsible for the hit Once Upon a Time in China and Chinese Ghost Story series, as well as having a hand in most of what is thought of as innovative modern HK film. Though some of Tsui's work has suffered from derivative repitition of late, his opportunity to work in an Anglo environment seems to have energized him, and Double Team benefits from his enthusiasm with a slick look and dynamic camerawork. Also, Tsui has been able to use a lot of his own people, and much of the excitement in the film can be directly attributed to the work of fight choreographer Xin Xin Xiong, who shows up to wreck a Rome hotel room in an explosive battle ballet with Van Damme late in the film.

Although I believe he's grown as an actor and I'd like to see him try his hand at a supporting role in a straight drama sometime soon, for the time being Jean-Claude Van Damme continues to mine a rich vein of entertaining, above average but relatively unambitious action romps. Bang for the buck is what they're all about, and Double Team delivers the goods. ½

FEMALE PERVERSIONS

In the film debut of director Susan Streitfield (which she co-wrote with Julie Hebert, inspired by the book by Louise J. Kaplan), she asks the question: Can modern a woman only function in the modern world as a perversion of her true self?

Tilda Swinton (so breathtaking in the magical Orlando) stars as Eve, a successful and attractive attorney on the brink of securing an appointment as a Judge, but plagued by nightmares and neuroses. Is she good enough for the new job? Why can't any of the men in her life share her excitement? Will she be pushed aside when a younger, more attractive attorney (Paulina Poritzkova) arrives to take her place? What role is she supposed to play in her affair with the pretty doctor (Karen Sillas) who moved in down the hall?

Compounding her problem while mirroring her situation is her sister (Amy Madigan), whose impending doctorate is threatened by her growing problem with kleptomania. As if to mock them, the two sisters are mirrored themselves by Madigan's old fashioned landlady Laila Robins (who sews wedding dresses for a living and relies on her unseen boyfriend to provide her self-worth) and her stripper sister Frances Fisher (who prefers to use her sexuality to dominate and manipulate men). In the midst of her confusion, can the modern woman change her role in society from within, or can she only reach out desperately for love?

This is a (sadly) unusual film, with an almost entirely female cast and crew (aren't there any good roles for men anymore?) which dives deep into those areas that need to be explored, and only explored by women themselves. While occasionally wallowing in tiresomely artsy nightmare sequences, Streitfeld and Hebert mainly stick to the prickly subjects at hand, and do an excellent job of exploring uncomfortable territory, while thankfully keeping a solid eye on the bigger picture (unlike films like The First Wives Club which lean heavily on the crutch of blaming so-called Male Dominated Society for all their troubles). They ask a lot of interesting questions and, by necessity, rely on the viewers to come up with their own answers.

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