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PAGE 16 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY JULY 12, 1989 Entertainment The movie stars Rick Moraâ€" nis as a suburban father who labors far into the night over a strange invention up in the attic. It‘s an "electroâ€" magâ€" netic shrinking machine," which can, and does, reduce four of the neighborhood kids to microscopic size. They‘re smaller than ants, and get swept up and thrown out with the trash â€" setting up the central adventure of the movâ€" ie, in which they try to survive in a backyard that has suddenâ€" ly turned into a fearsome jungle. o I‘ve been trying to figure out exactly what‘s missing in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." The special effects are all there, nicely in place, and the production values are sound, but the movie is dead in the water. It tells an amazing and preposterous story, and it seems bored by it. It uses the same sorts of visual effects we remember from ‘"The Incredâ€" ible Shrinking Man," but it lacks the same sense of fun. The special effects used for these scenes are inventive and firstâ€"rate: We see blades of grass that tower over the tiny kids, a cigarette butt that Movie Honey, I Shrunk The Kids The Men They Couldn‘t Hang find Canadian beer a tad anemic compared to that found in the British gube back home. Back home, where the Men are the musical voice of people on the down side of Margaret Thatcher‘s economic and social reforms, they are apt share a lusty pint with the same crowd that form the basis ofP their music. On their first Canadian tour, the five Men They Couldn‘t Hang (four lager louts and a poet, according to one interviewer) have found both a different blend of beer and a different breed of drinker at their nearâ€"sellout perforâ€" The beer is lame (they haven‘t heard of Sleeman‘s) and the audiences are middleâ€"class and better â€" and are apt to dance and sing to the musical tales of the human condition in the band‘s homeland. The Men don‘t like Thatchâ€" er‘s England and they don‘t care who knows it. They‘re not sure Canadian audiences know it. If Cush, Swill, Jon and Ricky comprise the louts, then mandolinâ€"player Paul Simmonds is the poet â€" a poet who admits to being slightly baffled about how music written for the underdog appeals to young people with subâ€" stantial disposable income and great clothes. According to the poet, the raucous Celtic, romp which is the trademark of their music, is exceedingly popular among Canadians who By Irene Gesza Canadians are tops say Men They Couldn‘t Hang It‘s got everything but fun during a crazy flifi: on the back of a bumble bee, which leaves them covered with polâ€" len the size of softballs. When the sprinkler is turned on, the yard explodes into a treacherâ€" ous mud swamp, and when a lawn mower gets loose, it sets up a terrifying vortex. And there‘s a battle between an ant looks like a glowing slag heap, and an ant so big that all four kids can ride on it. Two of the kids hold on for dear life Rick Moranis and Marcia Strassman star in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. seem to know nothing of life on the other side of the tracks. With instruments ranging from the standard rock guitars and drums, the Men (dubbed slamâ€"dance drill sargeants) add mandolin, bazouki, and penny whistle for a big Celtic sound that has been described as folkabillyâ€" sound that has been described as folkabillyâ€" cowpunkâ€"newâ€"rootsâ€"musicâ€"thingy. The band is notorious at home, where their music was banned by Radio One for four months, and Simmonds said he was surpised at how well known â€" and popular â€" the music is in Canada. Using historic imagery to depict working class repression in the face of Thatcher‘s England, the band has even designed a heraldic shield, with crossed guitars, a noose, a quill and parchment, to portray its Celtic heritage. . _ Not only have most of their shows been sellouts, but Simmonds said Canadians have proven to be the friendliest people they have met on tour. Usually crabby on tour, owing to homesickness, Simmonds said he‘s never felt "I‘m not too bad now," said Simmonds in a telephone interview from Vancouver Saturday. "I usually get homesick, but we‘re having a prsttagood time. Canada has the friendliest people of any country we‘ve played. Really." The Men They Couldn‘t Hnn?oomappeanng at Phil‘s Grandson‘s in Waterloo tonight and the University of Guelph tomorrow night. and another uniect (a mu;l: ture scorpion, I guess) that reminded me a little of the battle of the â€" monsters in "King Kong." The technical expertise is M.Butt.hemrhmnd- in inspiration. When the four neighborhood children disapâ€" pear, the parents next door react in a kind of slowâ€"motion daze. Meanwhile, Moranis what England‘s Men They Couldn‘t Hang play Phil‘s Grandson‘s and starts searching the backâ€" yard, suspending himself in a harness and circling over the grass with a magnifying glass and searchlights. This should have been funny, but it‘s not, and we see the same process again and again. All the performances in the movie seems a little unfocused, as if the actors got exhausted waiting for the special effects and forgot their original inspiâ€" ration. There should be chemâ€" Roger Ebert is an American film critic. Rabbit." But there are not that many good parts. Still, it was fun to see a color cartoon before the feature, and the kids cheered. The lclosoifngmm?es are an example ow energy level. One of the kids is about to be accidentally devoured in a spoonful of Cheerios. This scene could have been milked for suspense with malicious flee. Instead, it unfolds with eadâ€"footed predictability. And James Horner‘s music, here flf elslewheru;'i;;the film, is llm p. It so surprisingly familiar, and seems to be a retread of the Nino Rota score for Fellini‘s "Amarcord." In the Fellini movie, it worked. Note: The movie is fprmded by a color cartoon featuring Roger Rabbit. The good parts