Word: chameleon
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Some detractors describe Gates as a "chameleon" who, like Magnus Pym, the sociopathic protagonist of John le Carre's The Perfect Spy, finds it easy to match his coloration to whomever he needs to please. And while his friends disagree, they add wryly that it's better to have Gates as an employee than as a boss...
...this unfettered ambition, which, along with his right-wing politics, is about the worst trait anyone pins on him. He made some enemies when he took over National Lampoon. "He went from combat boots to two-tones over a weekend," says former Lampooner Sean Kelly, who calls him a chameleon. But even Kelly concedes a grudging respect for O'Rourke's success. Although Koreans are still smarting from his essay that described them as "hardheaded, hard-drinking, tough little bastards, 'the Irish of Asia,' " O'Rourke bristles at charges of racism and sexism, claiming he spares no group, including...
...Kazan and director Barbet Schroeder have woven a cunningly old-fashioned artifice -- a drawing-room comedy with a toxic tinge ^ -- told from three points of view. Alan (Ron Silver) is the detective, groping for a truth he may never know or, knowing, accept. Claus (Jeremy Irons) is the cagey chameleon, resigned to a notoriety he also enjoys. "I'm wondering," Alan muses, "who you are," and Claus replies, "Who would you like me to be?" And Sunny (Glenn Close) relates her own version from the hospital bed where she vegetates -- the most audacious narrative device since Sunset Blvd.' s story...
...thief pocketing his severed fingertips. The actors too come at their roles energetically, not condescendingly. Baldwin plays Junior with a goofy grin and the scheming intensity of a small mind spinning its wheels and getting nowhere. Ward finds Hoke's integrity down at his heels. And Leigh, a gifted chameleon who deserves stardom, can wring pathos just by reading a recipe for vinegar pie or walking up the path to a house she will never own. Handsomely made, wonderfully acted, Miami Blues is the kind of picture Hollywood ought to be making more of. If only...
...Costner: flinty, rural, resourceful. Baldwin, so far, has enjoyed playing a broad range of roles that engage audiences' interest but not always their sympathy. Decent husband, psycho killer, corporate meanie, hero spy. Like a superior salesman, Baldwin displays his wares without revealing himself. Several directors have called him a chameleon, but McTiernan stresses that "Alec goes further. He gets his freedom by keeping you guessing about who he is. It's a function of his intelligence. Give him a toehold, and he'll scamper up the mountain by himself...