Producer Frederick Zollo (Mississippi Burning) brought the project to Reiner, who'd long wanted to make a movie about the civil rights movement but, ''being white, never felt [I had] the right to do it.'' But he saw that Bobby DeLaughter, the white assistant DA who ultimately brought the case to justice, ''could be my way into the subject.'' Adds Baldwin, who plays DeLaughter, ''Bob was an innocent. Others said, 'Why bring all this up again?' But Bob understood that the criminal justice system is a great linchpin of a lot of civil rights problems in this country.''
Obsessed with accuracy, Reiner and his cast, including Goldberg as Evers' widow, Myrlie, worked closely with the family. Evers' sons, Darrell and Van, play themselves, while his daughter Reena opted to play a juror. (Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Yolanda plays Reena.) Myrlie even offered the director such personal effects as the wallet, still coated with dried blood, that Evers was carrying the night he was murdered.
But when Hollywood authenticity collided with real emotions, the results were troubling. When Woods first met Evers' widow, he was in full makeup. ''We were having lunch with Rob,'' he explains. ''Reena had gotten so used to me, she'd forgotten [I was in makeup]. 'Mama, I want you to meet Jimmy,' she said. Myrlie turned around, put out her hand, and froze. I said, 'Mrs. Evers, I'm here with you on this.' But it took her about half an hour to get over it.'' ''It was tough,'' she later told the actor, ''because of everything we went through with that man.'' (Dec. 20)
Buzz Expectations are high; if the film is as powerful as its subject matter, Reiner will finally have his ticket to the Oscars.
Beavis and Butt-head Do America
Starring Beavis, Butt-head
Directed by Mike Judge
Director Judge sums it up thusly: ''It's a buddy picture. And that's spelled with two ts.'' Okay. This ''butty'' movie showcasing MTV's two spotty-faced cartoon morons follows the mini-metalheads as they take to the road in search of their stolen television. Though the film should have been a no-brainer, its trip to the big screen was actually way too complicated for anything involving the word butt-head: Back in 1993, mogul David Geffen bought the rights and wanted to do a live-action version of the film, an idea Judge apparently thought sucked. (SNL alums Adam Sandler and David Spade were possible leads.) Finally, Paramount wrestled the rights away from Geffen, reportedly by winning a coin toss. In its final cartoon form, this addition to the growing genre of Idiot Flicks promises to be loaded with as-yet-unannounced cameos as well as songs from Red Hot Chili Peppers and White Zombie. (Dec. 20)
Buzz Hard to know whether B&B mania peaked too soon for this movie. (Huh-huh. We said hard.)
Daylight
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Stan Shaw, Viggo Mortensen, Claire Bloom, Renoly Santiago, Marcello Thedford, Sage Stallone
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