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1 April 1999 Edition

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Cinema: Biting the big one

Blast from the Past is an enjoyable piece of American popcorn.

Christopher Walken is masterful as eccentric scientific genius Calvin Webber, a man obsessed with the cold war and the threat from the Rooskies of atomic annihilation, and Sissy Spacek is wonderfully offbeat as his long-suffering suburban wife, Helen.

The plot moves into gear when the anxiety caused by the Cuban Missile Crisis coincides with a plane crashing on their home. Under the mistaken belief that they are facing the big one, Walken's carefully prepared and elaborate underground fallout shelter comes into play. Locked in on a 35-year timer, the pair and their newborn son, Adam, played by Brendan Fraser, live underground in a fossilized 1960s world of Perry Como records and tasteless furniture until finally, Adam is sent above ground to search for survivors and find himself a mate, preferably not a mutant, however. His encounter with 1990s Los Angeles girl Eve, played by Alicia Silverstone, has predictable results, but the juxtaposition of `60s and `90s culture and values are a good engine to drive the plot, and Walken and Spacek do all they can to steal the film from their youthful leads. All in all, an unchallenging but highly entertaining weekend movie.

BY MARTIN SPAIN

An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland