Word: wordplays
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...sharply written, penetrating chapters, Solomon also treats the fondness Mozart had for riddles, wordplay and bathroom humor; his passionate involvement in Freemasonry; and even, in a short chapter called "Adam," his private, symbolic use of a name that was previously regarded as a misprint of "Amada," the most common form of his middle name. If the author sometimes relies too heavily on Freudian interpretations of symbols-" ... the adoption of the name Adam also has the ancillary effect of canceling God's direct presence-Theophilus [one of Mozart's middle names]"-it is a small fault when measured against the book...
...probably. But wordplay soon swamps a vigorous plot. Much traditional writing is, you might say, in this book linguistically taboo, a vast anomaly calling for a radical, slightly wacky approach to put things right. To wit, this famous soliloquy that a world-class playwright wrought for a moody Scandinavian scion: "Living or not living: that is what I ask." Or an alcoholic bard's notoriously rhythmical night thoughts: "'Twas upon a midnight tristful I sat poring, wan and wistful/ Through many a quaint and curious list full of my consorts slain." A mournful coda follows: "Quoth that Black Bird...
...talented cast (including Beverly D'Angelo as the woman who left Vinnie for Carter and James Gammon as the disgraced racing official) huffs and puffs but can't blow any life into these windy three hours. Shepard's wordplay lacks the wit and profane poetry of more accomplished practitioners like David Mamet. Simpatico is both coy and lazy: it invites the audience to fill in the gaps, to look for meanings. No thanks...
...Flintstones fares better than Maverick. In Bedrock the finest restaurant is the Cavern on the Green. Down at the drive-in they're playing Tar Wars. People talk about spending a relaxing week in Rocapulco. Puns may be the lowest form of humor, but in this movie such wordplay is the only possible accompaniment for the pictureplay that runs throughout this merry story of "a modern Stone Age fam-il-ee": newspapers carved in stone; cars powered by feet; prehistoric creatures employed as primitive, parodic versions of contemporary labor-saving devices (dinosaurs are adapted to be lawn mowers, garbage disposals...
...which he had never opened. Now, he says, "it suddenly struck me, the message could be here!" And lo, it was; and conveniently specific too: the child would be found "to the north in the east of a land of snow ((Tibet))/ A country where divine thunder spontaneously blazes ((wordplay indicating a town))/ In a beautiful nomad's place with the sign of a cow./ The method ((father)) is Dondrub and the wisdom ((mother)) is Lolaga...