From: Sarah_M._Elkins.Wbst139@xerox.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Summary: r.a.m.r. #01550
Keywords: author=Elkins
Date: 29 Sep 92 13:42:44 GMT
Reply-To: Sarah_M._Elkins.Wbst139@xerox.com
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Organization: Xerox Corp.


			   THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
		       A film review by Sarah M. Elkins
			Copyright 1992 Sarah M. Elkins

*THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS*:  Michael ("Miami Vice") Mann's tightened-up,
speeded-up version of the James Fenimore Cooper early U.S. adventure
classic, also partly based on a previous movie version's screenplay.

PLOT/KICK-OFF:	In 1757, Hawkeye, a hunter/trapper raised by Mohicans, gets
caught up in the French and Indian wars in upstate New York.  He and his
adoptive father and brother rescue (from Huron raiders) an English
officer and the two women being escorting to their father's fort.

CHARACTERS/ACTING: Daniel Day-Lewis, who won an Oscar for his
performance in MY LEFT FOOT, looks natural in his role as Hawkeye,
though unfortunately the script or director seems to have called for
overplaying a scene or two.  Madeline Stowe, recently of UNLAWFUL
ENTRY turns in a respectable performance as Cora, the intelligent,
courageous daughter of a British officer.  I liked the lesser-known
players better, particularly Jodhi May's portrayal of Alice, Cora's
younger, timid sister, and Eric Schweig played Hawkeye's adoptive
Mohican brother Uncas.  These two had hardly any lines, but they almost
stole the show regardless.  I would love to see what either could do
with a speaking role.

CINEMATOGRAPHY/FX:  Beautiful mountain wilderness scenes (filmed in
North Carolina), not as awe-striking as BLACK ROBE, but still mighty
restful to the eyes.  Parts of some fights in slo-mo.  Some rather
contrived shots (I can almost hear Michael Mann:  "Okay, now let's put
them in a cavern so they can kiss in front of a waterfall!").  On the
other hand, there were a couple of scenes that I thought were very well
done, which I will remember.  One in particular is a long shot of
Alice's face during a crucial moment, which I won't spoil, but it was
riveting.  That one scene raised the whole level of the movie for me.

SCORE/SOUND:  One of the things I liked about this movie was that we got
to figure out most things for ourselves, and yet, some of the dialog was
muffled and hard to make out, muting that same pleasure.  This didn't
happen too much, but enough to irritate.  Another problem I had (maybe
it's just me) is that I often find swelling symphonic music during
battle scenes to be in questionable taste, as well as a bit of a cliche.
But at least there were no Bryan Adams theme songs or other similarly
jarring anachronisms.

VIOLENCE/GORE/LANGUAGE:  Hardly any blood or gore, considering, but
plenty of musket balls flying and bodies dropping, plus a scalping or
two.  A couple of mysteriously bloodless hand-to-hand combats with
knives and axes.  No profanity.

SKIN/SITUATIONS:  Kissing.

ANALYSIS:  In some ways a disappointment, but a pleasant surprise in
others (especially the interesting sub-plots and non-lead characters).
The pacing was good; it kept moving, but wasn't rushed.  Overall a
pretty good movie.

- Sarah
elkins.wbst139@xerox.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews