Passion Play
The big movie news this week is that John Carter horribly unperformed, earning only 30 million in its opening weekend. How about a movie that cost 15 million, and earned less than $4,000? That's right, Passion Play earned three-thousand-six-hundred and sixty-nine dollars. Now that, ladies and gentleman, is a bomb.
It's not really that bad. It's not good, but it wasn't aggressively awful. Written and directed by Mitch Glazer (it was his debut; it's doubtful there will be a second), it's a kind of dopey story about a down-on-his-luck trumpet player (Mickey Rourke) who, after escaping being murdered in the Mexican desert, stumbles upon a carnival. One of the sideshow attractions is a beautiful girl with wings (Megan Fox). When Rourke realizes her wings are real, he convinces her to leave her evil boss (Rhys Ifans) and come with him.
But his motives are not pure. He was going to be murdered in the desert because he slept with a mob boss's wife. That boss is Bill Murray, playing the role as if he lost a bet. I've read about how tough it is to contact Bill Murray to get him to play a part--he doesn't have an agent--so I'm convinced the story of how he ended up doing this film is far more interesting than the film itself.
Rourke proposes that Murray partner with him so they can exploit Fox's freakishness and Murray will call off the vendetta. But by the time Murray sees her, Rourke has fallen in love with her. Murray takes her anyway, and Rourke must try to win her back.
The title, mystifying pretentious, might allude to Fox's being some sort of angel, but she's really just a girl that has to wear bulky clothing in public. After seeing Diner last week, I'm once again fascinated how Rourke went an almost complete physical reconstruction--even his voice is an octave or two lower. He takes this role seriously, but I think he was the only one.
TIt's not really that bad. It's not good, but it wasn't aggressively awful. Written and directed by Mitch Glazer (it was his debut; it's doubtful there will be a second), it's a kind of dopey story about a down-on-his-luck trumpet player (Mickey Rourke) who, after escaping being murdered in the Mexican desert, stumbles upon a carnival. One of the sideshow attractions is a beautiful girl with wings (Megan Fox). When Rourke realizes her wings are real, he convinces her to leave her evil boss (Rhys Ifans) and come with him.
But his motives are not pure. He was going to be murdered in the desert because he slept with a mob boss's wife. That boss is Bill Murray, playing the role as if he lost a bet. I've read about how tough it is to contact Bill Murray to get him to play a part--he doesn't have an agent--so I'm convinced the story of how he ended up doing this film is far more interesting than the film itself.
Rourke proposes that Murray partner with him so they can exploit Fox's freakishness and Murray will call off the vendetta. But by the time Murray sees her, Rourke has fallen in love with her. Murray takes her anyway, and Rourke must try to win her back.
The title, mystifying pretentious, might allude to Fox's being some sort of angel, but she's really just a girl that has to wear bulky clothing in public. After seeing Diner last week, I'm once again fascinated how Rourke went an almost complete physical reconstruction--even his voice is an octave or two lower. He takes this role seriously, but I think he was the only one.
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