President Clinton has been Gumped. And he's not happy about it.
Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, who won an Oscar for "Forrest Gump," cleverly worked news-conference footage of the president into "Contact," thanks to the advanced computer technology that so seamlessly blended Tom Hanks' interaction with President Nixon in "Gump."In "Contact," it appears that Clinton is on the movie set with the film's actors, offering up approval of the space exploration program that is the film's subject.
Of course, our chief executive didn't really participate in the film.
The main speech used was given some months ago in the Rose Garden of the White House, and he's actually discussing a rock believed to have come from Mars. Zemeckis and crew simply placed the video of Clinton into the movie, so that it appears he's in a room with Jodie Foster, Tom Skerritt, James Woods, Angela Bassett and other actors.
Steve Starkey, a co-producer of "Contact," told the Los Angeles Times that presidential speeches "are in the public domain. We didn't alter a word he said. We just digitally replaced the setting. We took him from the Rose Garden to the pressroom."
The White House is not amused, however, and has lodged a complaint with the filmmakers.
Maybe they'd like to put the film in arbitration. Clinton could get into the Screen Actor's Guild, and his speechwriter could receive a writing credit - or at least a fee.
What's most interesting about all this is how well Clinton's remarks fit into the context of "Contact." These particular news clips provide a perfect example of how easily a pontificating generic political speech, which actually says nothing, can be adapted to any situation.
In that sense, it's pretty funny. And I was more amused by Clinton's appearance in the film than anything else. (There was also a titter that ran through the audience when he appeared onscreen.)
On the other hand, it does set a strange precedent. "Contact" may be the first movie to use public domain footage rather than simply hire an actor.
Who knows where it might lead?
Maybe all those 50-year-old action heroes - Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford - will be able to continue doing slam-bang movies longer than anyone thought, with digital computer-generated bodies doing all the work.
They'll be 90, still banging heads and saving the world.
And movie producers will still be giving them 25-year-old female co-stars.
- CNN RSVP ASAP: Someone else who got his feathers ruffled by "Contact" was CNN President Tom Johnson, whose highest-profile reporters appear in the film, making pronouncements about the fic-tion-al plot as if they are reading legitimate news.
CNN's senior news anchor Bernard Shaw, anchors Bobbie Bat-tista and Linden Soles, several field reporters and, of course, Larry King all show up.
A range of non-CNN types - from Bryant Gumbel to Jay Leno - also appear in "Contact." But because CNN is owned by Time-Warner, which also owns Warner Bros., the movie studio that made "Contact," there has been some question about the ethics of so many CNN reporters showing up on various TV screens in the mov-ie. (Only CNN White House correspondent Wolf Blitzer formally declined.)
Of course, CNN has also been a strong presence in a number of other recent movies - "Independence Day," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Face/Off" and many more.
Johnson said the intention was to help promote the Cable News Network, but now he feels that it has become a bit embarrassing.
Though a formal announcement has not been made, Johnson indicated he may not let any of his reporters appear in future movies.
That will be a relief to struggling actors who audition for roles as news anchors.
- UTAH BASHING: While most show-biz folks who visit Utah tend to gush . . . at least, publicly . . . about working or vacationing here, a couple of actors have decided to go after our fair state in print interviews.
The first came from Ewan McGregor, star of "Trainspotting," "Brassed Off" and the-actor-soon-to-be-known as young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the upcoming "Star Wars" sequels.
McGregor spent three months in Salt Lake City last year filming the romantic comedy "A Life Less Ordinary," and he recently told the New York Post:
"It was the most conservative, close-minded, uptight place I've ever been. If I never go back, it'll be too soon."
Then, just this week, veteran character actor Paul Winfield, who has a recurring role in the Utah-based CBS series "Touched By an Angel," also took a shot at Salt Lake City. He was explaining to gossip columnist Marilyn Beck that he had signed on for five more episodes of "Touched By an Angel," though he will also star in a new NBC sitcom, "Built to Last":
"I don't know exactly when I'll be able to do it, but they know I don't like Salt Lake - it's a big, sprawling, rather dull city - so they get me in and out as soon as possible."
They're also charter members of the Dennis Rodman Fan Club.
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Brendan Fraser, starring in "George of the Jungle":
"There's always fear of risking public humiliation as an actor. I think that's part of the job. There's a certain buffoonery to even having a film career, when you consider all the things that go with it."
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK II: Howard Hawks, talking about Lauren Bacall's film debut, her co-starring role with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not":
"We discovered that Lauren Bacall was a little girl who, when she became insolent, became rather attractive. That was the only way you noticed her, because she could do it with a grin.
"So, I said to Bogey, `We are going to try an interesting thing. You are about the most insolent man on the screen, and I'm going to make this girl a little more insolent than you.' "