Word: plot
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Maybe Lightman will write such a novel, one that conveys, in the enchanting prose of Einstein's Dreams, the strange culture of all-too-human physicists--a difficult task, since Lightman's style has so far shown itself much better suited to fanciful speculation than to plot and character. But the seeds are there; they just don't bear fruit in Good Benito...
...plot revolves around the complex relations surrounding Dolores, Selena and the death of Joe. Through a series of vibrantly photographed and seamlessly edited flashbacks, we watch a thirtyish Dolores deal with Joe's abuse and alcoholism, her new job as Vera's housekeeper and the erratic behavior of teen-aged Selena (over-acted by the newcomer Ellen Muth). Meanwhile, in the present, the pill-popping Selena tries to negotiate some sort of relationship with her mother while protecting her from the nasty detective. As the movie progress, we learn the vaguely shocking and not terribly original truth about the deaths...
...Tank Girl, whose major pursuits include drinking too much beer, smoking cigarettes and snogging any kangaroo that comes her way. Occasionally in the comic books, she's sent on missions such as delivering colostomy bags to the President, but Hewlett and Martin merely flirt with the concept of plot, reveling instead in irrelevant violence and super-cool style...
...that Talalay seems obliged to package these scenes of glorious heat lightning in the same ol', same ol', bad guy/good guy, action-movie plot. Although spoofing the conventional action movie is hardly original, Talalay's failure to comment on or corrupt the form seems naive, and betrays Tank Girl, forcing upon her the burden of morals. It's ironic that the three dimensional characters of the comic book become flat, at least in their simplistic division between good and evil, in the medium of film...
Although the plot skeleton is ancient and predictable, the flesh of the movie is as firm and bouncy as Tank Girl's own. Talalay effectively juxtaposes the live action with short segments of animation, computerized effects, puppet animation and arty close-ups of Hewlett's drawings which rightly communicate the KAPOW! of comics. There is an extravagant Busby Berkeley dance number to Cole Porter's "Let's Fall in Love," and several other scenes totally unnecessary to the plot. It is these scenes which make the movie great...