Even though, it’s called “Shag” (1989) it’s not some kind of Austin Powers prequel. Instead, it’s a celebration of white privilege and unlawful sexual conduct in 1960s South Carolina. It tries to capture the vibe of a 1960s teenybopper flick. It achieves the goal in that it’s just as awful as they were. There’s implausible whirlwind romance, dopey characters, lousy dialogue and the inevitably climactic dance contest. I suspect Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda and Annabeth Gish sometimes gather in the woods late at night to sip wine and burn VHS copies of this film. Maybe they shag around the bonfire.
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As you watch “City Hall” (1996), there’s a feeling this plane is on autopilot. Al Pacino is the mayor of New York. He plays it like pretty much every speechifying New York Guy character he’s ever played. John Cusack is deputy mayor. His Louisiana accent and backwoods backstory are more a distraction than a distinction. (Former South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings has a cameo, BTW.) The tired plot’s a retelling of the young idealist learning the hard way that political morality is painted in shades of gray, not black and white. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t have any soul.
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