Word: deftly
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...Deng is singularly adept at accommodating his opponents without ever letting them escape his control. In particular, he has deployed some deft dialectical sleight of hand to dismantle Maoism without entirely discrediting Mao. He can hardly afford to denounce the former leader too vehemently: 50 years ago, after all, Deng was a participant in Mao's epochal Long March, and some 25 years ago he was helping Mao administer brutal punishment to hundreds of thousands of intellectuals. But since he assumed power, Deng has published his belief that "every Chinese knows that without Chairman Mao there would...
...about death and telephones and a shaggy-dog story about an old woman's discovery that her 70-year marriage was founded on a sly joke. But they too are marked by Linney's singular talent for stating wild ideas with high, simplifying intelligence and for drawing deft portraits of the half mad in which not a line is misplaced or wasted...
...popular incumbent playing footsie with Third World crises, playing hardball with the Soviets, and playing around with ethics behind closed doors. The Democrats, as in 1972, are tearing themselves to shreds in the nomination fight. The incumbent will play off Democratic discord and win handily through some deft international diplomacy and a thinly disguised call for a return to a pre-polymorphic America...
...needs to be more careful about prosody: misplaced accents make some lines sound as if they were translated from Czech. He also overuses the device of building scenes from a solo or duet into a chorus. But MacDermot's invention, which puts unexpected topspin on his melodies, his deft handling of a small pit orchestra and, at bottom, his appealing portrayal of homey virtues all add up to an evening that stubbornly sticks in the memory's ear. Which, of course, is what real operas are supposed to do. -By Michael Walsh
...cast. As Annie (a role Meryl Streep declined), Close, in maroon hair and Anthea Sylbert's rummage-sale wardrobe, has the reckless high spirits of an aging cheerleader when she should be the anchor to Henry's fervor. Like the rest of the cast except for the deft, sexy Gallagher, Close serves the script honorably rather than meeting it eye to eye. Nonetheless, The Real Thing is likely to make a star too of Close (who played Sarah in The Big Chill). Even in previews, Close relates, she and Irons were getting fan mail - with a twist...