MOVIE REVIEWS : ‘Roses’: Loving Valentine to Movie Palaces

As the credits of “Coming Up Roses” (at the Nuart today through Wednesday) unroll, the camera pans over a series of abandoned movie palaces, settling at last on a puddle of water in which we can read a neon reflection: R E X.

Alas, it’s no use taking heart, for it’s the last night for the Rex, a crumbling Art Deco pile in the Welsh mining town of Aberdare. Once Aberdare boasted six movie theaters, but they have died off just like its mines.

The situation may be sad, but “Coming Up Roses” is a warm, gentle little comedy in the Ealing tradition. Its language is Welsh, and there’s no denying that the film has an added appeal for those of us who are of Welsh descent and not only have never seen a Welsh movie before but also have never even heard our ancestral language spoken. In any event, the English subtitles are fine, and the sound of Welsh gives the film added charm.

At first, the Rex’s manager Mr. Davies (W. J. Phillips), an impeccably tailored showman of the old school, and his projectionist Trevor Jones (Dafydd Hywel) try to tell themselves that somehow there will be a reprise for the Rex. More realistic is Mona (Iola Gregory), the candy girl/usherette.

“Coming Up Roses” may be a loving Valentine to movie palaces in all their innocent grandiosity, but director Steven Bayly and writer Ruth Carter are primarily concerned with taking a rueful, affectionate look at individuals forced to draw upon their ingenuity in order to survive. We lament the closing of the Rex, but we also realize that had it not, Trevor, divorced with three sons, and Mona, a pretty young grandmother, might never have discovered each other--that they might still be addressing each other formally. “Coming Up Roses” offers the consolation that some good can come out of having your life shaken up.

The Rex, however, really is something, for all its tattiness--including a dark smear right smack in the middle of its screen. In “Coming Up Roses” (rated PG) the ultimate fate of the Rex is tentative, but in real life it was saved by Bayly himself.

Playing with “Coming Up Roses” is “Sleepwalk,” which marks the feature directorial debut of Sara Driver, producer of Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise.” It’s a tale of the supernatural from which thrills and chills have been deliberately excised in favor of creating a minimalist mood piece marked by some stark and striking images of Lower Manhattan. The wraith-like Suzanne Fletcher plays a computer-typesetter who moonlights translating some Chinese fairy tales--with eerie consequences. The point seems to be that there’s not much place for magic in today’s world; unfortunately, “Sleepwalk” tends to be as off-putting as “Stranger Than Paradise” was involving. Note: Playwright Harvey Perr plays Fletcher’s boss, and “Parting Glances’ ” Steve Buscemi has a bit part.