Search and Destroy

An October Films release of a New Image production in association with October and Autumn Pictures. Produced by Ruth Charny, Dan Lupovitz, Elie Cohn. Executive producers, Martin Scorsese, Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort. Directed by David Salle. Screenplay, Michael Almereyda, based on Howard Korder's play.

Martin Mirkhein - Griffin Dunne
Marie Davenport - Illeana Douglas
Dr. Waxling - Dennis Hopper
Kim Ulander - Christopher Walken
Ron - John Turturro
Lauren Mirkhein - Rosanna Arquette
Roger - Ethan Hawke
The accountant - Martin Scorsese

Visual artist David Salle's eagerly awaited premiere, "Search and Destroy," aspires to be an inventive black comedy of the absurd with sharp social commentary, but instead is a disappointing film with few bright moments and many more tedious ones. Major talent behind the cameras and a dream cast of eccentric actors only partially overcome the trappings of a misconceived film that is poorly directed. October needs all the help it can get in marketing an overhyped pic that is likely to get mixed reviews and have lukewarm to negative word of mouth.

Inevitable comparisons will be made with the far superior 1985 angst comedy "After Hours," directed by Martin Scorsese, who executive produced this one. There are similarities in the cast, with Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette appearing in both films, and some thematic resemblances, as both focus on an ordinary guy exposed to a series of comic nightmares in an alien world. But that's as far as it goes.

Here Dunne plays Martin Mirkhein, an ambitious Florida businessman sought by the IRS for tax evasion. When a government accountant (Scorsese) tells Martin he owes $ 147,956, his excuse is rather simple: Taxes are outside my main focus. With the IRS threatening to repossess his condominium, bankruptcy seems the only viable strategy as Martin's previous ventures as a showbiz promoter have been ill-fated.

Things at home are not much rosier. Hearing the tax news for the first time, Martin's attractive wife, Lauren (Arquette), fed up with his chronic lying and abominable conduct, demands a separation.

Determined not to let his life fall apart, Martin miraculously stumbles on the philosophy of Dr. Luther Waxling (Dennis Hopper), a self-help guru whose popular cable TV show seems to be on the air whenever he turns on his tube. Waxling has written an all-American novel, "Daniel Strong," with gruesome twists that vividly expose his message of hope through four rules of success, such as "Strength needs no excuse" and "The past is pointless."

Embracing this philosophy wholeheartedly, Martin flies to Dallas, where Waxling's show is on the road, to propose making a movie outof his bestseller. But his initial attempts to meet the guru are rebuffed by Waxling's assistant, Roger (Ethan Hawke), and Marie (Illeana Douglas), his sexy receptionist. Undeterred, he talks Marie into a dinner date only to realize she is Waxling's mistress -- and a closeted writer working on a script for a horror pic.

Martin finally meets Waxling, who's initially intrigued, but when the latter learns Martin has no money, he kicks him out of the office. Martin and Marie then elope to New York to pursue his obsessive dream. From then on, pic is structured as a madcap fantasy (with horror and violence) that throws Martin in one catastrophic encounter after another until he literally hits bottom.

Adapting Howard Korder's stage play to the screen, scripter Michael Almereyda , whose own film "Nadja" is in the dramatic competition at Sundance this year, divides the tale into two chapters --"Search" and "Destroy"-- while drawing parallels between Martin's adventures and those described in "Daniel Strong." Cute title cards -- like "Daniel Strong tests himself against the power of beauty"-- that periodically punctuate the narrative become wearisome after a while.

Pic's ideas might have seemed more promising on the page, though they are by no means novel. Biting satires of average guys who don't know their places and who claim they want to change people's lives have been done before. The changing moral context also presents a problem: A sharp commentary about the greedy culture of the 1980s is not that timely -- or relevant -- at present.

The script's shortcomings would have been tolerated if pic were better directed, but first-time helmer Salle exhibits severe problems with tone and rhythm, resulting in a film that seldom finds its right tempo or proper mood. Salle loses his grip over the material as the story gets darker and darker.

The humor often is forced, preventing the film from realizing its intent as a madcap fantasy-adventure. The only element that indicates the radical changes of mood and wild twists is Elmer Bernstein's resourceful music.

Under these circumstances, the best -- and most amusing -- thing that keeps the film alive is the glorious acting by its stellar cast. Dunne is well-cast as the obnoxious busi-nessman, and Hopper has some wonderful moments as the preaching guru. Douglas' idiosyncratic charm as the slasher screenwriter proves she can hold center stage and move into bigger roles. But the two shining performers who rise above the film's mediocrity are Christopher Walken and John Turturro. Walken is hilarious as the mysterious market analyst who asserts with a characteristic blank expression:"Blessed are the businessmen, they're our angels." A bit over the top, Turturro (wearing a wig) also hits his mark, particularly in a negotiations scene with a Latino drug dealer.

Tech credits, most notably Bobby Bukowski and Michael Spiller's Big Apple lensing, are impressive, though final cut looks as if it had been tempered by various hands in post-production (especially the cutting) in an effort to make a more coherent and engaging film.

An opportunity to make a quirky, offbeat, quintessentially New York indie clearly has been missed, though "Search and Destroy" is not a total disaster, as the naysayers are predicting.

Camera (Technicolor), Bobby Bukowski, Michael Spiller; editor, Michelle Gorchow; music, Elmer Bernstein; production design, Robin Standefer; art direction, Stephen Alesch; set decoration, Amy Tapper; costume design, Donna Zakowska; sound (Dolby), Pawel Wdowczak; associate producers, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Mark Blum; assistant director, Richard Rosser; casting, Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Barden. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (noncompeting), Park City, Jan. 23, 1995. Running time: 90 MIN.

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