"NADINE" (1987): (Amiable Video Risk) This movie is a lot of fun with enjoyable performances and a since of humor that overcomes holes in the thin script. At roughly 83 minutes, this film is appropriate family viewing for parents with children in their early to mid teens and could serve as an adequate date movie. Little violence and hardly any adult references worse than an episode of Melrose Place, "Nadine" is solid entertainment.

The Story: Nadine has a few problems: she has allowed a slimy photographer to photograph "art photos" of her, witnessed the murder of such photographer, mistakenly took a map worth millions and sought after by criminals, and, in the middle of a divorce, has discovered that she is pregnant. We learn all that in the first fifteen minutes! Kim Basinger is the irresistibly cute Nadine Hightower, and Jeff Bridges is Vernon Hightower, her stubborn, bar owning ex-husband to be and the father of her unborn child. Together they are trouble.

The Review: Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger are good together and make a believable couple, who believably bicker. They square off at one another like they are married in real life. Bridges and Basinger have more on-screen chemistry than some of Basinger's other comic pairings--see "Blind Date" with Bruce Willis. It would be good to see them together again in another project with Robert Benton at the helm.

"Nadine" was directed by Robert Benton who wrote and directed the very good film "The Late Show" ten years earlier and there, as here in "Nadine," displays a grasp of witty dialogue. Of course, "The Late Show" is a better film, but "Nadine" may be more appealing to younger audiences. A hardly recognizable, thin Jeff Bridges is pursued by Rip Torn's wrestler henchmen. There are scenes of real excitement in "Nadine."

When you rent this film understand that it is not an award winning film but is a little more intelligent and entertaining than your average time killing buddy movie--certainly beats "Tango and Cash" hands down. "Nadine" is a fun 83 minutes.

Jonathan Hickman