Daily News from New York, New York • 39

WednesdayNovember 211950 DAILY NEWS 39 EXTRA ENTERTAINMENT Ken Loach's docu-thriller misses the mark in the all important shock department IRA terrorists. In the movie, human-rights activist Ingrid Jessmer (Frances McDormand) and her fiance, American lawyer Paul Sullivan (Brad Dourif), are investigating accusations that IRA suspects have been beaten, tortured and even killed in Belfast ra HIDDEN AGENDA. Frances McDormand, Brian Cox. Directed by Ken Loach. At Loews New York Twin, 84th St.

and 19th St Cinema. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. Rated R. IDDEN AGENDA' deals with a highly inflammatory subject a possible Wa tergate-type co-verup of the British government's suppressive tactics in the deadly battle for political freedom in Northern Ireland. The movie was angrily denounced by certain members of the British press at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it TEPID TREATMENT: Brian Cox, i I J'v 1- 1 Bt KATHLEEN CARROLL eventually won a Special Jury Prize.

It also produced a chorus of protests in the House of Parliament which is not surprising, for writer Jim Allen based his shocking script on allegations that specially trained British soldiers, known as the S.A.S., have been carrying out a government-approved shoot-to-kill policy against suspected This 'Prince' raft 4 mstjHifii of dead bodies in Northern Ireland," the police officer informs Kerrigan. "Personally, I was hoping you'd do a snow job." Unfortunately Ken Loach does a poor job of directing this political expose. His traditionally gritty, docu-style The movie could have used the talents of Costa-Gavras. approach to the subject deadens the shock effect of such scenes as a brutal house raid, in which the British military police demand that an attractive female suspect strip her clothes off. HE COLDLY MECHAN ical movie could have definitely used the talents of Costas-Gavras, a director famous for his high-tension left-wing political thrillers.

charming some welcome comic relief), engage in a surprisingly fierce swordfight with the Mouseking and his squeaking troops. They then visit the fantasy Land of the Dolls. The only character in the movie that really endears itself is Pavlova, Clara's adorable cat "The Nutcracker Prince" simply does not have the timeless charm and enchanting beauty of the original. srf u-is t3' Ystjr'j nwjQ 2 isqusT "The Nutcracker Princess i Frances McDormand in Agenda" with intestines for a face, pincers around his mouth and an Afro-style braided hairdo. (The creature in this movie is a work of subtle racism.

Subliminal clues are slipped in to encourage us subconsciously to connect the menace with black males. One not-so-subtle scene has the predator threatening a Bernhard Goetz-type on the subway. This time, the Goetz-type meets his match.) The acting in the movie is applied hysteria. Danny Glover, so engaging as a different kind of cop in the "Lethal Weapon" movies, screams and sweats, swears and climbs down tall buildings. He is assisted by a Latino woman, played by a wonderful Maria Conchita Alonso, whose idea of creating an identity for herself at headquarters is to grab a guy by the short-and-curlies until he pleads for mercy.

The dialogue is foul and clinical, and the special effects, while expensive, are not interesting. But the film's greatest loss is of spirit We live on a speck in a corner of a vast universe, and what makes us human is our ability to wonder about what's out there. Since we do not know, thp fahlf whose -dreams are- nngw and ugh( it Sullivan agrees to meet a mysterious man who claims to have evidence linking British Intelligence to these brutal acts of suppression. He and his driver are both gunned down while on their way to the meeting. The British government caves in to angry demands for an inquiry into the death of the American by sending Kerrigan (Brian Cox), a high-ranking policeman, to investigate the case.

Kerrigan, an honorable man, begins to dig up some alarming evidence, but he's stonewalled by a British senior officer whose men were clearly responsible for the killings. "There's a lot but it introduces the villain the ugly Mouseking, who, after the death of his mother, the Mousequeen, vows to complete her curse and destroy the Nutcracker completely. The movie is somewhat more entertaining as Clara and her dolls, led by the boyish Nutcracker and the elderly toy soldier Pantaloon (Peter O'Toole's quavering voice as the traditionally valiant British solidier offers DISNEY RIPOFF: The title toy in -C FROM COVER Schwarzenegger as a commando in the jungle who was one of the first to encounter the predator after it arrived on Earth. It was a hunter from the stars, and we were in season. The movie was leavened with a certain humor (Arnold's one-liners), and also with the possibility that the alien would challenge our imagination and be more than just another special-effects monster.

The predator did indeed have a certain fearsome beauty in the earlier film. No such luck this time. The movie blows its one chance to deal creatively with the alien culture, in a scene where Glover finds himself inside some kind of trophy room from outer space. What manner of creatures built this place, and what kind of civilization do they come from? Who knows? Who cares? (It's no help that the predators can speak English, since the first word out of the creature's mouth is that vile 12-letter street expression.) Since the predator is imaginary, but the people who made this film are not, I By KATHLEEN CARROLL Daily News Mowe Critic THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE. Featuring the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Peter OToole.

Directed by Paul Schibli. At the Critenon, Loews 84th St. Six, 86th St. East Twin and Chelsea Cinemas. Running time: 1 hour, 12 minutes.

Rated G. HE NUTCRACKER Prince" may have a certain amount of ap peal for young audiences, but the Canadian animated movie seems painfully bland and uninspired when compared with such cartoon treasures as Disney's "Little Mermaid." The movie attempts to re-dramatize KTA Hoffmann's loved tale "The Nutcracker," but even Pe- lBlIiil31HH 1 1 i REVIEW Tchaikovsky's familiar score the incomparable "Nutcracker" ballet fails to lift the spirits in this rather mundane production. Hoffmann's characters remain essentially unchanged. The adolescent heroine, Clara Stahlbaum, is enjoying a lavish Christmas celebration with her family when her eccentric Uncle Drossel-meier presents her with an unusual gift a nutcracker in the form of a toy soldier. In what amounts to a movie-within-the-movie, her uncle tells how his nephew Hans was transformed into a wooden nutcracker by a nasty-tempered Mousequeen who uses a cackling voice that could' only belong to Phyllis Dille' This section of the movie is just a heavy-handed cartoon; 7 ff Li "mil i and imagination, All r.they?sfetlreaiiis.

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