Comic nostalgia alive and well in `Flinstones'

By Jim Plouffe

JAKARTA (JP): Some have criticized The Flintstones for being too simple and some have complained about the lack of plot or any real action, but they have all missed the fact that the film is simply a nostalgic look at everyone's favorite stone age family.

From the beginning, you realize that the movie will be true to the cartoon that you grew up with. As Fred (John Goodman) bundles everyone into the familiar car and drives them off to the drive- in theater and Dino pokes his head through the car roof for Pebbles and Bambam to sit on, it is evident that this is the original stuff.

Steven Spielberg, or "Spielrock" as he is called in the credits, handily breaches the gap from animation to the live action movie by ingeniously having the cast sit and watch a movie about themselves as living breathing people.

As the B-52's updated version of the theme song fades away, we meet Barney (Rick Moranis) and Fred on their customary ride home from the quarry. The movie then cleverly and appropriately follows the original, basic story line of Fred wanting to get ahead, Barney helping him, Fred becoming too big for his boots, fighting with the Rubbles and the inevitable make-up orchestrated by the faithful wives, Wilma (Elizabeth Perkins) and Betty (Rosie O'Donnell).

If the film has any lasting contribution to pop culture, which is doubtful, it will be to immortalize the "Bedrock plot" like Wayne's World did to the now infamous "Scoobie ending".

The traditional story line is moved along by the uncanny likeness of the characters to the original cartoon figures. Rick Moranis is the perfect Barney while Goodman's is very believable as "old twinkle-toes". The guest appearance of Elizabeth Taylor as the mother-in-law is almost perfect. Her busy body, aggressive nature fits in perfectly although she may be a little too sexy to be the butch mother-in-law of the cartoon.

The only real deviation from the original, is that "The Royal Order of Water Buffaloes" are made out to be a beer drinking, bowling mad society, not the civic minded, bowling mad organization in the cartoon. Mr. Slate could have also had a bigger role.

What makes the characters all the more believable is the uncanny similarity of their voices to the original. Betty's and Wilma's conspiratorial giggle, Dino's bark and Fred's "let me tell you," sound as if they were lifted straight from the strip.

Special effects

Not only the characters are identical, but also the wonderful "modern" appliances. The movie cleverly uses the mammoth shower, the bird record player, the pig garbage disposal, the crab lawn mower and the clam electric shaver. New inventions, like the very important parrot Dictaphone, are also introduced.

The special effects used for the appliances allows those in the audience who have never seen the original to also share in the fun. The most obvious being the ample use of "Spielbergian" dinosaurs to win the hearts of the dinosaur mad children. However, there is a tendency to overplay the foot powered car with every character complaining of sore and dirty feet.

The Flintstones is a have-fun-movie which brings the viewer down memory lane. Throughout the movie you can sense how they had fun with adapting the cartoon to the screen and even give the original creators, Hannah and Barbara, cameo parts as directors of Slate's quarry. Although, at times, it seems as if it is just one prehistoric gag come to life after another.

The naive moviegoer will dismiss it as just one huge marketing tool to sell the barrage of film related paraphernalia during the school holidays. Of course it is, but so are most of the movies on the market.

After having a car toppling feed of ribs, Fred brings the family home for the night. A warm feeling fills the theater as we all wonder if the cat will ever stay out for the night.

The Flintstones is certainly not a masterpiece but it achieves its aim of bringing alive the cartoon that an entire generation grew up rushing home from school to watch. Will we be graced with The Simpsons in 20 years?