Stone stars in 'conventional' 'Gloria' from Sidney Lumet

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Dog Day Afternoon. Network. Serpico. Murder on the Orient Express. The Verdict. These are some landmarks of 1970s and early 1980s American cinema. And they all came out of the able hands of veteran director Sidney Lumet.

In the last decade of the 20th century, however, Lumet's name has, unfortunately, been associated with some mediocre films he directed, such as Family Business (a caper movie with Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman), Guilty as Sin (a Don Johnson- Rebecca De Mornay thriller vehicle), and the infamous A Stranger Among Us (in which Melanie Griffith plays a cop who infiltrates a Jewish community. Don't ask).

But Lumet is back in top form. After the much-praised courtroom drama Night Falls on Manhattan (1996), the 75-year-old filmmaker has emerged with his latest work: a remake of Gloria, a 1980 movie made by another American master, the late John Cassavetes.

Lumet's new film opens as the title character walks out of a Florida penitentiary, released on parole after doing three years. Gloria (Sharon Stone) returns to New York City to see her hoodlum boyfriend, Kevin (Jeremy Northam), for whose crime she had actually been jailed.

Infuriated by his rejection and unapologetic demeanor, she leaves. But on her way out sees a little boy sitting in Kevin's office and overhears Kevin's thugs planning to kill the child.

Instinctively, Gloria grabs 7-year-old Nicky Nunez (Jean-Luke Figueroa) and flees, only realizing later on that she has put her own life on the line.

Nicky is wanted by Kevin's gang because he holds a disk stolen by his father containing information that would be harmful for the underworld organization Kevin belongs to if it were to reach the authorities. This is all explained in the film's early scene, depicting the cold-blooded massacre of Nicky's entire family, which Lumet presents in an taut, suspenseful way.

The film proceeds with a familiar child-in-peril formula, a recipe recycled by the likes of Witness and the more recent Mercury Rising, with a grownup character -- be it Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis -- running along on the dangerous trek.

In Gloria's case, however, Gena Rowlands played the feminine child protector in the 1980 version. And Sigourney Weaver copied it for Aliens, in which the image of her battling evil creatures with a huge machine gun in one arm while carrying a little orphan girl in the other made her a much-celebrated female icon of the late 1980s.

Stone obviously tries to fill Rowland's shoes, as she did Simone Signoret's for the remade Diabolique (1996). She mostly gives a fine portrayal as an impulsive, vulnerable woman with survival instincts. But, sadly, in scenes that demand more depth, she only responds with a superficial performance. Struggling to consistently sound New Yawk and look as teary eyed as possible, her Gloria appears as a character but never a believable, complete person.

Stone's costars complement her sufficiently, though not impressively. Newcomer Figueroa is a cute, pouty face with the talent for abrasive talk, but is never engaging enough for us to feel deep sympathy for his character. British actor Northam (Emma, The Net, Mimic) does a better New York accent than Stone, and with his goatee and overall Bruce Springsteen look, is a dapper, menacing villain. Nevertheless, his whole appearance in the film is not as arresting as the brief turn by George C. Scott as the mob big boss. In fact, the momentary presence of Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull) as a husky-voiced madame and Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard) as Gloria's estranged sister leave more impression than the lead stars.

Steven Antin's screenplay combines thriller (Gloria and the boy being chased by murderous bandits) and melodrama (the two fugitives gradually becoming fond of each other). It may disappoint a thrill-seeking audience who expects the usual bloody climax found in most suspenseful flicks, but Antin's work is, in fact, a well-written, narrative-driven piece.

And Lumet is just the right man for the director's chair. He is never tempted to give the film a 1990s flair. Retaining Cassavetes' low-profile essence, this Gloria does not have smart dialog, avant garde storytelling or diabolical, ingenious characters. It's just a story conventionally told, with conventionally drawn people, forming a conventional-looking film. Watching it is like watching one of those ordinary films from the 1970s and 1980s. But hey, it works just fine. Sometimes it's all we need.