Grant stammers not in `Big Adventure'

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RATING: * * * 1/2

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by Maisie Chou

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Mike Newell's An Awfully Big Adventure starts off like a British version of Bullets over Broadway .But it ends, I dare say, just on the verge of actually having An Awfully Big Adventure . I make the Woody Allen movie comparison because of the subject matter -- a theatre troupe composed mainly of middle-aged actors past their prime who, under the watchful eye of their conniving director Meredith Potter (Hugh Grant), hurl at each other a succession of snide little comments.

Hugh Grant may be the most publicized star of the cast and duly deserves some recognition for having chosen a role that does not constantly require him to blink, stutter and act bashful. Here, Grant convincingly portrays a total bastard, who also happens to be homosexual.

In any case, his supporting cast certainly does not undermine his performance. Georgina Cates puts herself in the spotlight, even if her character, the naive but eager wannabe starlet Stella Bradshaw, fails to do so. One can't help sympathizing with this little girl -- she feels excluded from the decadent crowd that she would sell her soul to join.

Alan Rickman enters late as P.L. O'Hara, who saves the troupe from dramatic mediocrity. His rendition of Captain Hook in Peter Pan is incomparable. Newell can't help himself when it comes to marring characters, however, and P.L.'s story, not unlike the overall plot of the film, takes a turn for the rather unexpected. Newell succeeds in creating An Awfully Big Adventure in the second, not-so-facetious part of the movie. It does hurt and touch and move you, but it is not original.

An Awfully Big Adventure makes its Houston debut at the Rice Media Center tomorrow. $4 with a Rice ID; at 7:30 or 9 p.m.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the February 2, 1996 issue.

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