03/28/97
MOVIE REVIEW: B.A.P.S.
Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle are princesses charming in B.A.P.S.

By JIM SEAVOR
Journal-Bulletin Arts Writer

***1/2 (out of five)
Starring Halle Berry, Martin Landau, Natalie Desselle, Ian Richardson, Jonathan Fried. A New Line Cinema release written by Troy Beyer and directed by Robert Townsend. Rated PG-13. Running time: 95 minutes.

B.A.P.S. is slick, superficial and thoroughly predictable. It also is often very funny and its two stars are so likable I wouldn't be surprised to see a sequel.

B.A.P.S., for Black American Princesses, is a fish-out-of-water tale of Nisi (Halle Berry) and Mickey (Natalie Desselle), two waitresses in a Decatur, Ga., diner.

While putting up with annoying customers and a heavy-handed boss, they dream of a future in which they can open their own soul-food restaurant and hair salon.

That dream seems to come closer when Nisi sees an ad for auditions seeking a dancer in a video by rapper Heavy D. The winner will get $10,000, and Nisi convinces Mickey to take what money they have and head to Los Angeles.

Well, Nisi doesn't win the audition, but the two are spotted by a chauffeur and brought to the home of Mr. Blakemore (Martin Landau) -- an oh-so-fancy, and stuffy, mansion. There, Nisi is asked to pose as the granddaughter of the dying Blakemore's true love -- the former housekeeper on the family estate. The masquerade, they're told, is to make Blakemore's remaining days happy ones.

The result is culture clash as Nisi and Mickey, with their massive hairstyles and three-inch nails, bring life to a stodgy mansion and, of course, foil a plot to take over the old man's riches. Along the way, their rough edges are smoothed -- without losing their spirit -- and the snobs learn to live a little.

B.A.P.S. is a film about dreams, pipe and otherwise.

Nisi and Mickey have theirs. Blakemore holds onto his dream of past love. Nisi and Mickey's boyfriends have their dreams, although they're mostly of the pipe variety. And Blakemore's nephew Isaac (Trinity Rep's Jonathan Fried) has his dreams of getting his hands on his uncle's loot.

That's all there, but you're reaching for meaning in what is basically a topflight date movie.

At times director Robert Townsend goes for the easy gag: The gold in Niso and Mickey's teeth sets off metal detectors; their mile-high hairdos block the inflight movie and when they're faced with a bidet, the result is slapstick out of the old Lucy and Ethel school.

But everyone's spirit is so high, the people so likable, you sit there willing to go along with just about everything.

Berry and Desselle have the kind of rapport that makes you believe -- not only that they are fast friends, but that these two women are real. They may never face a major threat in B.A.P.S. -- the film is too interested in just plain fun for that -- but they will win you over. Berry, with her piled high blond hair and bright gold teeth, is someone you'd like to know -- even if you wouldn't want to sit behind her in a theater. Desselle is just as effective and, together, they form a winning couple.

Landau goes from dour to free-spirited as the old millionaire. It's no stretch for him, but it works.

Ian Richardson steals a lot of the film as the stereotyped English butler and much fun is made with his dealing with what, for him, is a foreign culture. Want some laughs? Send him to Tower Records to buy rap CDs. Have him act as telephone go-between between Berry and her Decatur boyfriend. Through it all, Richardson is the good sport and can reveal more with just a slightly arched brow than many can by screaming.

As for Fried, last seen at Trinity in Winter's Tale during the 1994-95 season, he smoothly carries off the semi-syrupy nephew with the ulterior motive.

B.A.P.S. does get a bit sticky as the fish begin taking to the waters of Beverly Hills and, as sentiment raises its head, the laughs slow.

But they continue to follow their dreams and in this make-believe world, dreams can even come true.