Fake-Out

By Frank Rich

CAPRICORN ONE

Directed and Written by Peter Hyams

Now that June is here, junk movies are busting out all over. Capricorn One is the first decent one of the lot: it kills two hours with a breathless progression of incredible plot twists and daredevil aerial stunts. Even at its silliest--which is quite silly--this thriller makes The Greek Tycoon seem like a slow yacht to China. At its best, Capricorn One almost matches the trashy highs of Coma, the junk movie of the year to date.

The film's title refers to a NASA mission to send a trio of astronauts (James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, Sam Waterston --don't you love it?) to Mars. Unfortunately for the astronauts, NASA is headed by a devilish schemer (Hal Holbrook) who decides to fake the Mars landing in a TV studio rather than risk failure and a cutoff of appropriations. Predictably, the mad scientist's plans go wrong, wrong, wrong. Capricorn One turns into a vivid chase involving NASA henchmen, an investigative reporter (Elliott Gould), a crop-dusting pilot (Telly Savalas) and a couple of bloodsucking desert reptiles.

Director Peter Hyams' script does its best to exploit the latest fashions in paranoia. There are interwoven conspiracies and cover-ups; every U.S. Government official on view is a venal scoundrel. Hyams' cynical fantasies about the space program are an especially amusing treat. He suggests, with malicious wit, that NASA'S space walks could actually have taken place on Earth: indeed, he demonstrates that for the price of a video camera and a few buckets of sand, any American can take a giant step for mankind in the privacy of his own home.

It's too bad Hyams did not push himself harder, for Capricorn One could be better. If the film had a few fewer plot holes, a bit more narrative depth and far less signposting dialogue, it might even have been a space-age Manchurian Candidate. A classier cast would also have helped. Gould, Holbrook and Waterston are all in fine, easygoing form, but Brolin and Simpson are useless heroes: they are not big enough stars or good enough actors to make us care about their fates.

Even so, the failings of films like Capricorn One are part of the special charm of pulpy summer movies. They should have saggy sections so that moviegoers can engage in such seasonal activities as smooching, scratching sunburn and relieving themselves of beer. For that reason, Capricorn One must be savored before Labor Day -- at which point its brief shelf life will run out.

-- Frank Rich

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