Movie Guys: Post-‘Titanic’ Winslet sinks in ‘Hideous Kinky’

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Hideous Kinky

Grades: Jeff, C; Dave, C.

Starring: Kate Winslet, Said Taghmaouli, Bella Riza and Carrie Millan.

Screenplay: Billy MacKinnon.

Director: Gillies MacKinnon.

Rated: R for profanity, brief nudity and sexual themes.

Running time: 98 minutes.

Synopsis: Julia (Kate Winslet) and her daughters, Lucy and Bea, have left the gray outline of London for the colorful promises of Morocco. Since her former lover (and the girl's father) has moved on to other lovers (and other children), Julia seeks some greater horizon for herself, and to enrich her daughters with a fearless curiosity and taste for adventure.

Jeff: The year is 1972 and Julia, embracing flower power and hippie culture, effectively tunes out and drops out as she embarks on a quest for spiritual enlightenment in, of all places, the city of Marrakech in Morocco. Her journey isn't a solo one: In tow are her children, Lucy and Bea, who run amok in the streets of Marrakech. Prostitutes steal from their mother's laundry in the D'Jemma el Fna, an open-air market with street performers and vendors selling fruits and spices.

To make ends meet, Julia sells homage dolls and anxiously awaits a monthly check from London, the only support from her ex-lover. Even Christmas is gloomy as the ragged family receives the wrong parcel, a parcel that was meant for their father's other children. Life is hard and uncomfortable -- a life expected for a woman on a soul-searching journey, but not for her 5- and 6-year-old daughters.

Dave: With that said, one should have an idea of the contempt you have for Julia, an interesting choice of roles for star Kate Winslet after having "Titanic"-sized success. As innocent as her naive intentions might be, thoughts of her children's health, safety and education never cross her priority list. Instead, she is on a spiritual journey seeking truth at their expense. Granted, it was the Age of Aquarius and the times were a-changin,' yada, yada, yada, but this bit of semi-autobiographical adventure, based on the childhood experiences of novelist Esther Freud, is almost ludicrous.

Along for the ride is a friendly, yet mysterious native named Bilal (a charismatic performance by Said Taghmaoui), who strikes up a romance with Julia and acts as Lucy and Bea's surrogate father.

Jeff: The film proves slow at times and you keep asking yourself just how much punishment Julia can inflict on herself and her kids. They never have enough to eat and are always broke and the kids get sick from cans of spoiled sardines. Bea, the eldest child, is the only one with any kind of sense about the whole matter. She confronts her mother by insisting that she wants to attend school. When Julia takes off to find her spiritual leader, Bea wants to be left behind with a Frenchman they met (Pierre Clementi), so she can live amid some kind of normalcy.

Bea ends up in an orphanage and when her mother returns to claim her, she doesn't want to leave. She has found what she has always wanted -- peace and a chance to be normal. The performances by the children, Bella Riza and Carrie Mullan, are truly remarkable for their first feature. They are articulate, highly emotional and complete naturals. Winslet gives a strong performance as Julia, but the actions she takes while on her odyssey are questionable and downright unfair to her children. The film does have a happy ending, but an ending that should have happened long before its time.

Dave: No argument on this end. Filmmaker Gillies MacKinnon (1994's "A Simple Twist of Fate") exposes a beautifully unique culture with an evocative touch. Cinematographer John de Borman ("The Full Monty") takes complete advantage of the film's exotic locale, capturing both the rich colors and dry landscape of an old, traditional world. In addition, the film's soundtrack is interwoven with the tunes of with Crosby, Stills & Nash and Jefferson Airplane, as well as Moroccan music -- an interesting combination that translates into, so it seems, Julia's emotional perspective.

Let's not leave without describing the film's peculiar title: It's taken from a child's game that involved combining words that made no sense yet made a whimsical sound when put together, which was like music to a child's ears. Too bad "Hideous Kinky" contradicts its own title.

Movie BuzzPenny, Drew and "Boys": Director Penny Marshall is in talks to helm the dramedy "Riding In Cars With Boys," for Columbia Pictures. "Never Been Kissed" star Drew Barrymore is the front-runner for the starring role. The film marks Marshall's return to Columbia, who made "A League of Their Own" and "Awakenings" there. It also marks the reteaming of the director with "Big" producer James L. Brooks, who will co-produce the film. Based on a novel, "Boys" focuses on the lifelong relationship between a single mother and the son she gave birth to at age of 15 in 1968.

Actors "Under Suspicion": Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman are set to begin filming "Under Suspicion," a remake of the French murder mystery "Garde a Vue." In the film, Freeman will play a police chief who investigates the case of a woman murdered during a street festival. Hackman plays the prominent attorney who finds the woman's body. The original French film was based on the 1972 novel "Brainwashed" by John Wainright.

Fifth time's the lucky charm: Because you asked for it (and we have no idea why), there will be a fifth movie in the "Leprechaun" franchise. In previous entries, the little fella with the pot o' gold has gone to outer space and, yes, even Las Vegas. According to the man behind the film's title character, actor Warwick Davis, the latest installment of the horror series will be called (drum roll please ...) "Leprechaun In the Hood." No, we're not kidding. Not only that, but the diminutive actor said the movie could possibly co-star rapper-actor Ice-T. Watch for this masterpiece to grace video store shelves early next year.

Name That Flick"That's no moon. It's a space station." Was this too easy? Well, we wanted to get into the "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" spirit, and Joe Nesbitt was the first to call and identify the quote spoken by Sir Alec Guinness in "Star Wars." Way to go, Joe!

For this week, give us call if you know who said this quote and in what film: "I'm not gonna waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch." If you think you know, call the Movie Guys Hotline at 225-9026 or e-mail us at the movieguys.com website. Be sure to spell your name and leave your daytime phone number and if you're the first correct caller/e-mailer, we will print your name right here in our column for the entire Las Vegas Valley to read.

Be sure to check out our special interview with Liam Neeson, star of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" in Las Vegas Weekly. See you next week.

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