MOVIE NEWS
& REVIEWS
May 21, 1999
Cannes Report
A Pair of Cannes-Do Guys
They seem a little out of place at this cinema carnival: One
just wants to party; the other, in his first visit, is promoting an indie movie in which
he stars.
By AMY WALLACE, Times Staff Writer
CANNES, France--Hugh M. Hefner was on the deck of
his rented 176-foot yacht,sipping Jack Daniels and cola and surveying the scene: a
smashing party of 80 guests--among them actors Jeff Goldblum (a Cannes Film Festival
juror) and Mario Van Peebles--who ate caviar, gulped fine champagne and frolicked with a
stunning array of women, several who had appeared in the pages of Hefner's magazine,
Playboy.
The night was cool, which was probably good, since many of the female
revelers looked as if certain parts of their anatomy might melt if exposed to extreme
heat. Draped around the 73-year-old Hefner were his four girlfriends, three of whose names
rhyme--Brande, Sandy and Mandy (21-year-old twins) and Jessica.
Meanwhile, a short stroll down the Croissette from the Old Port,
another American icon was holding court, but instead of Bunnies, William Shatner was
surrounded by Trekkies. Like Hefner, the man better known since 1966 as Starfleet
commander Capt. James T. Kirk carries himself like a ladies' man (though it's been a few
years since Shatner, 66, bedded an alien seductress on "Star Trek"). Here,
though, he was wooing not women but film distributors, promoting a low-budget film in
which he plays one of his most challenging roles ever: himself.
That this duo--the one with the world's most recognized single-syllable
nickname and the other one, who used to save the galaxy from Klingons--would both be here
during the 52nd annual film festival may seem, at first, odd. But Cannes in May is rife
with such juxtapositions. When this city celebrates cinema, it also creates its own
surreal theater.
Over and above the thousands of people who come here each year to take
part in the official festivals or the frenzied behind-the-scenes dealings, hundreds more
flock to the Cote d'Azur to take part in the surrounding scene. Would-be starlets stroll
topless down the crowded beaches. Normal people turn out to ogle the rich and famous. And
the rich and famous (along with the formerly famous and even some not so famous) turn out,
sometimes, to try to ensure that they'll keep their place in the spotlight.
Why else would Michael Flatley, the clog-donning, headband-wearing
creator of the popular revue "Lord of the Dance," be here? Or comedian Pauly
Shore, who claims to be making a documentary about his trip?
But for sheer camp, there's no beating two 'ners, as in Shat and Hef.
Shatner, at least, is here to work, promoting Regent Entertainment's "Free
Enterprise," a comedy about two rabid "Star Trek" fans (Eric McCormack of
TV's "Will & Grace" and Robert Weigel) who idolize Shatner until they meet
him. International distribution rights for the film, which will be released in Los Angeles
on June 4, are for sale here. (Coincidentally, "Trekkies," a documentary
released by Paramount about rabid "Star Trek" fans, opens today.)
"I am part of the bait. They're trolling me," Shatner said
good-humoredly of the job that gave him the excuse to attend the Cannes festival for the
first time. Sipping an espresso at a beach cafe, he compared the experience to that of
"an actor finally going to the Oscars.
I'm enthralled."
Hefner, by contrast, doesn't seem to feel he needs an excuse to come to
Cannes. Unless you count the fact that 1999 is the Year of the Rabbit and that, as Hefner
puts it, "my dreams come from the movies--'Tarzan and His Mate' had a major influence
on me," he recalls--Hefner has absolutely no reason to be here.
"As good as my life may appear from outside, I have to tell you
very honestly, it's better," he said at a press conference where he introduced his
five traveling companions: Heather Kozar, Playboy's Playmate of the Year, and his four
girlfriends.
When asked the obvious question--"Do you use Viagra?"--the
septuagenarian grinned. "Viagra? They wouldn't be in business without me."
Only as an afterthought did Hefner reveal something that is actually
connected to real Hollywood news: Within a few weeks, if final negotiations go as he
expects, Playboy's founder will likely announce plans for a feature film about his life.
No such plans are underway to chronicle Shatner's life, but the actor
admits that "Free Enterprise" does capture some real aspects of his existence.
Like when "Star Trek" fans seek him out, hoping that, like Capt. Kirk, he can
help solve any problem. Shatner would like to go on the record to clear this up: He can't.
And he says he urged the film's writers, Mark A. Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett, to
emphasize that.
"They'd written [an early] script in which William Shatner
answered all their needs. It was too worshiping: Shatner as God. I wouldn't do it,"
said Shatner, who insisted that his character be mortal. The writers complied, and then
some: Shatner plays a boozy, inept womanizer whose proudest moment is when he performs a
rap song with Rated R, a former associate of Tupac Shakur.
Regent Entertainment, which produced the Oscar-winning "Gods
and Monsters" and is releasing "Free Enterprise" in the U.S., hopes the
movie will get a boost from the frenzy over "Star Wars:
Episode I The Phantom Menace." It plans to distribute 10,000 "Free Enterprise
Survival Kits" to people waiting in line for the "Star Wars"
prequel--goodie bags stocked with items that are featured in the film, from MAC lipstick
to Evian water.
But they know that Shatner is their biggest draw. And so does he.
"How someone is successful in selling something that is not driven
by a $20-million star, I don't know," he admitted. "All I do know is that I and
many people like me have striven for years to put together independent films. And I'm now
in one done by two young men who've never done it before. It's kind of humiliating and
disconcerting at the same time."
Hey, it got him to Cannes, right?
"It's an ironic twist," he said. "And I see it,
totally."
Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved
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