Word: stretch
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...then, to stretch a talent best suited to the five-minute sketch to fit a full-length film? Until now, the answer has been either to have Murphy simulate a variety of roles while actually playing a single character, as in his cop/action flicks, or, perversely, to have him appear onscreen as little as possible, as in Trading Places. The first answer has proved inadequate to sustain an entire movie--else guns and flash would not be necessary--and the second defeats the purpose of a film serving as the vehicle for a particular actor...
...Roger Rabbit is big business. The film cost about a zillion simoleons (well, $35 million) and carries a humongous 739 names on the credits (not including Kathleen Turner, who lends her voice to Jessica). Something got lost in the move from storyboard to screen, and in the stretch from seven minutes to 103. From sad experience, Disney and Spielberg should know the perils of paying huge homage to modest genres, yet Roger Rabbit has the odor of a Toontown Tron, a 1941 for 1988. Zemeckis deserves credit for his will and wit, but he must have been handcuffed...
...since been charged with helping to defraud the S and L he headed of $40 million. Nonetheless, Wright has a defense unavailable to Meese. As a top White House aide and later as Attorney General, Meese had no constituents; he "represents" the entire nation. By no stretch of the imagination could his attempts to help Wallach push the building of an Iraqi oil pipeline and win Government contracts for the scandal-scarred Wedtech company be considered part of his duty...
Duberstein's backers say his promotion will be a wake-up call for a drowsy White House. "They're entering the final stretch now, and they need a little adrenaline," says Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "He can energize the President in a way Baker couldn't." Others say that Duberstein's hard-driving style can be alienating. "Kenny's got a strong will and a strong set of convictions," says Tom Griscom, Reagan's communications director, who is leaving the White House with Baker. "He can be tough, determined. He knows when to put his foot down...
...upshot: many critics fear that, for all Carlucci's vows, the necessary cutbacks will once more be accomplished largely by the tried-and-untrue methods of stretch-out and reductions in readiness. Says Lawrence Korb, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense: "Already the Air Force and Navy are flying less and steaming fewer training hours than necessary, and already there are cutbacks in necessary operations and maintenance...