Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 55

Gfe Arizona Beila Ctor im mum Tucson, Friday, June 29, 1984 Comlct 6F TV8F The Mission' examines a fanatic's humanization By Jacql Tully Tha Arizona Dally Star Review Political thrillers tend to blow a heavy didactic whistle, but Parviz Sayyad, an Iranian emigre, has written, produced, directed, edited and starred in a low-budget drama in which kindness detours fanaticism. Remarkably, "The Mission," about a zealot who comes to New York with orders to murder an anti-Khomeini leader, is less concerned with winning its audience over to one ideology than it is in character development. Made quickly and cheaply, "The Mission" looks primitive but is as smartly conceived as some of Costa-Gavras' high-voltage dramas. It's smarter, Sayyad has succeeded in making his audiences think about the subtleties behind religious and political fanaticism. You can't leave this movie rooting for just one side.

Simplistic as it is in style, the movie is too complicated for heroes and bad guys, white and black. It's gray, through and through. Daoud (Houshang Touzie), a silent and darkly handsome assassin working for Khomeini's secret police, arrives in New York with orders to eliminate a high-ranking anti-Khomeini leader. When the man is suddenly killed, Daoud's orders change: get rid of an exiled colonel who once worked for SAVAK (the Shah's police). Late at night, Daoud watches television in his roach-infested flat and waits for his contact to call.

He also prays avidly on his small rag he's a religious man and listens to the radio. The rest of the time, he follows the colonel (Sayyad) jogging in the park near his modest home, taking the subway, hurrying to a large midtown Office building, late at night. This routine continues for several days until the colonel is held up by muggers in the subway and Daoud is forced to help the man escape. In gratitude, the colonel insists that Daoud come to his house for dinner or at least a drink. Daoud arrives the next night, intending to kill the man in his house.

But upon entering the house, he discovers that the colonel's two small children are with him. One series of events links the next: the harder it is for Daoud to extricate himself from the colonel's hospitality, the more agonizing it is for Daoud to justify murdering the man. What's more, every time he screws up the courage to commit the deed, a jogger runs into his path, a car blocks his "vision, or worse, a nice woman (the colonel's sister-' in-law played by Mary Apick) invites him to dinner. The behavior of a zealot has been humanized in "The Mission." Told from Daoud's point, of view, we follow the man on a path of enlightenment. His radical and simplistic political attitudes are deeply rooted convictions, but the colonel and his sister-in-law show the man that absolutism breeds moral rigidity.

Daoud is angry, then confused, and then relieved people are not simply innocent or guilty. Yet the ending to "The Mission" offers an ironic and even cynical twist. The political awakening of Daoud is at the heart of "The Mission" and Sayyad illuminates the man's struggle through the colonel and his sister-in-law. The colonel is likable, cheerful and bright, a teddy bear of a man, and when he explains to Daoud what he used to do in Iran, under the Shah, the assassin listens, though at this point he doesn't believe in the colonel's essential decency. Later, when they have dinner with his sister-in-law, Daoud gets into a huge argument with her because she dares to challenge his facile notions about how a government should be run.

It's an especially effective scene because it sifts dogma through the channels of human frailty. Sayyad, Apick and Touzie give tersely compelling performances here. Apick, as the sister-in-law, a music student who questions Daoud about his inflexible beliefs, is an intelligent actress and a fine balance between Sayyad's graciousness and Touzie's intensity. "The Mission," which was originally made in 16mm in only five weeks, is a thoughtfully articulate examination of fanaticism. At a time when the hostile pitches in Iran (and Iraq) are increasingly high, Sayyad's picture is a welcome means of understanding some of the nuances of an unfamiliar culture.

"The Mission" is at the Showcase theater. 3 '() Dom DeLuise, left, and Burt Reynolds star in "Cannonball Run II" 'Cannonball II' another dud from Needham, Reynolds Review Iran more restrictive how, says one be self-effacing. In fact, if self-effacement is good, having the characters 'debase themselves is even better. So in "Cannonball Run II" we see Davis mince about cooing lines like "The Candyman can," and uttering one of the most racist on-screen remarks in some time. Meanwhile, Martin mixes cocktails and sings, "Everybody loves somebody sometime." Reynolds leers and cackles.

De- Luise mugs. Bach and Anton wig- gle. It's amazing what some people will do for a buck. And bucks are what this is all about. By shooting for the lowest common denominator and baiting the trap with scads of near-celebrities, "Cannonball Run II" will doubtless snare an audience and make money.

Some people might even smile once or twice, they'll hate themselves in the morning for that. There is a school of thought, subscribed to by Needham and other folks of his ilk, that if a movie is popular, it must be good. Nonsense. This attitude is little more than a muddy excuse for mediocrity offered by folks lazy enough to live happily within their limitations. "Cannonball Run II," rated PG, is playing at El Con 6 and Foothills theaters and De Anza Drive-in.

filmmaker By Robert S. Cauthorn Tha Ariiona Dally Star Hal Needham is sure, deep down in his heart, that the way to make this country really happy is to give it fast cars and shapely women who yearn to be treated as sex objects. And yes, the cars do come first in the list of priorities. So, putting his money where his mouth is, Needham made a string of movies starring Burt Reynolds, natch and used his premise of high octane and low comedy. With each, the plots, such as they were, grew fainter and fainter while the stupidity simply grew.

It wasn't good, creative stupid- ity based on a comedy of manners, but crude, mean-spirited stupidity that reached its height in "Cannonball Run." Oh, yes, the money rolled in. Now Needham, Reynolds and company have returned to the. well and made "Cannonball Run II," shot almost entirely in Tucson. This "Cannonball" accomplishes the difficult feat of being more obnoxious and mindless than the first; It's as much fun as going to your mechanic for a tuneup and being told that you need an engine overhaul. Besides Reynolds; other cast members from the first movie reappear: Dom DeLuise, Sammy Davis Dean Martin and Jamie Fair.

Newcomers to this tripe are Shirley MacLaine and Marilu Henner, who should know better. Along with them is a long list of near-celebrities none dare call them actors in the movie. Notable among these are Susan Anton and Catherine Bach, who have the dubious honor of being the skintight-jumpsuit-clad bookends whose principal job is to wiggle and wink. The movie's concept no plot, just concept also makes a repeat appearance. Based on the real-life Cannonball Run, the idea is to drive a car from one coast to another, stopping only to gas up, eat, ogle women and offend decent folks.

Simply stated, "Cannonball Run II" is as bad as it could be. Besides directing the movie, Needham co-wrote it in crayon, no doubt and thus bears full responsibility for this. He comes from the school of thought that says if a little of something works well, pile on a lot more. One of Reynolds' alleged charms is his self-effacing quality. Needham evidently decided that it would be even more charming to have almost every I 6 it A i) It By Jacqi Tully The Arizona Dally Star Filmmaker Parviz Sayyad used to be famous.

In Iran, before the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah, he made movies (21 in all), was a theater director, and a television comedy star. His friend, Mary Apick, who is featured with him in "The Mission," was also well-known in her homeland and won a best actress award at the Moscow film festival fn 1976 for a Sayyad film, "Dead End." "The Mission," which Sayyad worte, directed, produced and edited all in New York is about an Iranain terrorist sent to kill an ex-colonel who had served in the Shah's secret police. Quietly, with little money and with no censorship problems hanging over him, Sayyad has made a finely wrought anti-Shah, anti-Khomeini film that he wasn't able to release until his wife and two children finally got out of Iran. and Sayyad were in Tucson last week on a brief promotional stop for the film. They are Philly's Finest cheesesteak is authentic taste of the East Parviz Sayyad and Mary Apick during their recent visit Dining Out review brought it to several film festivals.

Now it has a distributor. Maybe after one or two years it will recoup its money. I don't, know. It 1s doing well in New York and London now." Sayyad and Apick both say they can never return to Iran. Apick's mother recently got out of the country and so, now, both are focused on their stage work in Los Angeles and in re-creating their lives there (though Sayyad would rather live in New York and Apick in San Francisco).

"I'm not attached geographically to Iran, or to a place, but I miss people; I am missing people By Judith Ratliff Tha Arizona Dally Star I've mentioned before how serious gastronomic research can enrich one's life. Fools who would suggest "you're making an absolute pig of yourself can be dismissed easily when in your heart you know you're getting to the bottom of something important. After much hard work, for example, I've discovered that Birrieria de Guadalajara serves the best tongue tacos in Tucson. Further, there is no doubt in my mind that the grilled bratwurst sandwich served at Rodger's Deli-Restaurant is beyond compare. And I am absolutely sure that the lobster with papaya served at Janos is the most exquisite seafood preparation available locally.

Having spent valuable time poking around the Philaddphia-cheesesteak-sandwich terrain hereabouts with disappointing results, it was with interest that I received the news: "Philly's Finest makes great cheesesteaks." This was definitely a topic that needed to be researched. Having now, on several occasions, researched both the cheesesteak and the mushroom cheesesteak served at the sandwich shop at the comer of Broadway and Rosemont, I can only agree totally with my simply indulge in said food so freely that spots on ties make clear to visitors what is going on? Tim Hibsman, who owns Philly's Finest and who for years ran a sandwich-and-pizza place in Philadelphia, swears that everybody he knew in Philly had a cheesesteak instead of a dinner at least twice a week. What they did for lunch was their own business as long at least a couple of cheesesteaks were consumed. I asked the pivotal question. Can you get a perfectionist's cheesesteak outside Philadelphia? It emerges that Hibsman is something of a perfectionist no matter what city he's in.

He recently gave up a lucrative pizza-parlor chain franchise because he wasn't happy with the product he produced. Determined to be proud of the sandwiches at the new restaurant, Hibsman went to great lengths to ensure authenticity, including ordering his cheese from Philadelphia and his sweet peppers from New Jersey. The worthiness of the gentleman's efforts is attested to by the lines at his business. (There is free delivery offered Monday through Friday from 11 a jn. to 2 p.m.) For the record, Philly's Finest serves breakfast (from 7 to 19 a jn.) and does, in fact, also serve other sandwiches, including hearty, tasty hoagies which also warn cret for inventing.

Everything I've tried has been good to excellent and it's all quite inexpensive (the top sandwich price is WS). rjeriary pieasiag. in adtioa to Cat knockout mushroom cheesesteaks are the club sandwiches. See RALLY'S, rU? we learned to get around things to say what we wanted," said Sayyad with a trace of humor. Apick and Sayyad had a show for many years in Iran, which they desdbed as being like "Saturday Night Live." "We had to hide," Apick said, "make certain gestures that indicated what we were actually saying especially about the gov eminent." Sayyad's first reaction to the Shah's overthrow was guarded optimism.

Under the Shah, 75 to 108 movies a year were made. But his last one had been totally censored. "It got worse every day. Now Khomeini he sounds like something from die Stone Age. He talks about a man's wife as his slave," Sayyad said.

raise money, Sayyad finally began "The Mission." He shot it for $3,0 over five weeks. By the time all was said and done, the film cost C3.C3 (the rest of the funds raid far prints, editing, gstacca ana lasorj, "No one wanted to Catribute ta Eas but I -towed it to Los Azzlz andjH CI wc3. Ve tJsa intelligent, sensitive people who left family, economic comfort and professional success in order to pursue a freer, more sane life. -r Sayyad was in West Germany during the Iranian revolution; when he discovered that his theater had been closed, he realized he could not return. So he went to New York, worked at the Columbia University information desk, lived in a tiny apartment and worked toward the release of his family.

And he managed to raise a small amount of money to get "The Mission" made. From there, he moved to Los Angeles, wrote a play On Farsi) about the revolution and got it produced in that city. v'v For Apick, the decision to leave came when "Khomeini arrived and toll women to put their veils back on. I knew I would have to leave. Now, more than ever, it is a b's country." According to both, making films that mid mmtthmgia Iran was Eke "playing mesndeert wick censorf-lp." "In art, if you want to say soraetking, you don't say it I CxtsZy fcecasrt it's prexiy.

II scours i Apick and Sayyad are both involved in the Hollywood Theatre, which a group of investors has leased and refurbished. Iranian productions are being produced there, and Apick plans on directing a play with Sayyad in the feature wis. "It's a 7-seat theater wta a garden and a large avocado tree." Apick said. "And Chart Chaplin used to stay gays there. It Is a resl ccter far Persian and we km tea rcrica far last five yeas.

Ffcta ts wKl bring us tsst." The sandwiches taste great thin-sliced rib eye is quickly seared to seal in Juiciness with a hint of pink and served on an KaXan roil with fried onions, sweet-and-hot peters, wttte American cheese, tomatoes and other garnbteents. And they have the added cachet of fcik myth about mem. While munching, the diner can mull over a tow etensl questions. How doeaadty become identified with a certain food, like Kansas City with barbecue? Does the mayor make a proclamation? Or does every resident.