Hawks

Based on an idea by Barry Gibb (one of the Bee Gees), Hawks steps boldly into fairly treacherous territory: a black comedy about cancer. Bancroft (Timothy Dalton), a witty and terminal British lawyer in the cancer ward for treatment, takes under his wing a new roommate, a stricken American football player (Anthony Edwards). Dalton--with his Shakespearean acting background--has a marvelous time as a manic-depressive dispenser of wit and wisdom. But halfway through the film, the story takes a wrong turn. The pair, who have decided to go to Amsterdam, and visit a brothel during remission, hook up with a couple of English girls in France. The quartet continue on together to Amsterdam, and the foursome trade wisecracks and sob stories. While it's easy to sympathize with the two leads' situation, the characterization of the two girls as total airheads, who are repeatedly insulted--especially by Dalton--begins to wear very thin very quickly. By the time that the worldly wise Bancroft decides to open his heart to the possibility of human feeling, and weds one of the girls he has shamelessly mistreated, we simply don't care any longer. Hawks could have been a tasteless comedy, but strangely enough it's black humor works brilliantly in the most unusual circumstances, and falls flat in the relatively tame areas of boy meets girl. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)