Passion Play (film)
| Passion Play | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Mitch Glazer |
| Produced by | Daniel Dubiecki Megan Ellison Rebecca Wang-(executive producer) Tyler Kwon (executive producer) Andrea Chung (co-producer) Dan Keston (co-producer) Bergen Swanson (co-producer) |
| Written by | Mitch Glazer |
| Starring | Mickey Rourke Megan Fox Rhys Ifans Bill Murray Kelly Lynch |
| Cinematography | Christopher Doyle |
| Editing by | Billy Weber |
| Studio | Annapurna Productions |
| Distributed by | Image Entertainment[1] |
| Release date(s) | September 10, 2010 (Toronto) |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $3,669 |
Passion Play is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by Mitch Glazer, executive produced by Rebecca Wang and starring Mickey Rourke, Bill Murray, Megan Fox and Rhys Ifans. Filming for the production began in December 2009 and is presented by Rebecca Wang Entertainment.[2][3] It premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
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[edit] Plot
Nate (Mickey Rourke), a small-time jazz musician and recovering heroin addict, is clearly a hard-luck case. After a performance one night, he is mugged and bound. He awakens to find himself in a vehicle driving him out to the desert, but he is helpless to do anything about it. His assailant then walks him into the desert, and is about to kill Nate, but the assailant is shot by a band of Indians, and Nate is left unharmed. Nate then finds a circus in the desert, and is drawn to the exotic beauty of Lily (Megan Fox), a sideshow performer who has wings on her back. Lily is cold and dismissive, but it dawns on her that this gentle giant may well be her ticket to a better life. The sideshow owner (Rhys Ifans) attempts to kill Nate, but Lily rescues him by stealing a truck, and together they flee to the city.
Nate and Lily begin to form a relationship. Nate, fearing another assassination attempt, seeks out Happy Shannon (Bill Murray), a gangster with deep pockets who ordered Nate killed after Nate slept with his wife, whom he also had murdered. Nate plans to put Lily on display for paying customers, and offers Happy 75% of the proceeds. Happy dismisses the proposal and does not believe that Lily has wings, but later sees for himself using binoculars.
Happy then abducts Lily, and to keep Lily content, he agrees not to harm Nate so long as Nate stays away from Lily. Nate realizes he is in love with Lily, and attempts to break her out of Happy's custody. Together, Lily and Nate run to the top of a building, chased by Happy's men. Nate tries to convince Lily to fly away, but Lily does not have confidence in her ability to fly. Nate then jumps off the building, and Lily jumps after him, discovers that she can indeed fly. She catches Nate before he hits the ground, and together they fly off into the desert.
Nate looks down on the ground below as they are flying, and sees his own corpse at the spot in the desert where the Indians had shot his assailant, suggesting that everything that happened from that point was actually a dying dream. He is last seen being carried away by Lily into the sky.
[edit] Cast
- Mickey Rourke as Nate Poole
- Megan Fox as Lily
- Bill Murray as Happy Shannon
- Kelly Lynch as Harriet
- Rhys Ifans as Sam Adamo
- Robert Wisdom as Malcolm
- Rory Cochrane as Ricky
- Jimmy Scott as himself[4]
[edit] Reception
An incompletely edited cut of Passion Play premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. Toronto.[5]
Festival reviews included Variety describing it as "Perversely eccentric and frequently inert."[6] In a video review, David Poland extended his condolences to Glazer for his 20-year dedication in realizing the project, but described the experience as "an absolute car wreck."[7] eFilmCritic's Erik Childress left the screening after an hour and declared it "Awful."[8] Karina Longworth from Village Voice asserted that "it's hard to imagine that anyone will take Passion Play nearly as seriously as it takes itself."[9]
Reviews to the film were negative, as it currently holds a 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
[edit] Release
Despite initial reports that the film was going straight to DVD due to the negative critical reaction at the Toronto International Film Festival, Image Entertainment announced Passion Play would be given a limited theatrical run, starting on May 6 in New York and Los Angeles.[10]
Glazer confirmed the new release had a final cut vastly improved by a "generation" from the very rough cut screened in Toronto.[11]
The film was a box office disaster. Based on a budget of $15 million, Passion Play brought less than $4,000 in ticket sales.
[edit] Reference
- ^ The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ http://www.rebeccawangentertainment.com/bio
- ^ "Passion Play Is Filming!" Retrieved December 29, 2009
- ^ "Full Cast and Crew" at IMDB.com Retrieved December 29, 2009
- ^ Q&A with Mitch Glazer. Vanity Fair. 05-05-2011
- ^ Anderson, John (September 15, 2010). "Variety Reviews - Passion Play - Film Reviews". http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943575?refcatid=31. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ "Up On Review - Passion Play". http://moviecitynews.com/2010/09/up-on-review-passion-play/. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
- ^ "@EriktheMovieman via MOTOBLUR". http://twitter.com/#!/EriktheMovieman/status/24232089879. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
- ^ "Megan Fox vs. Natalie Portman in the Battle of the Bird Girl Movies - Toronto Day 2". http://www.voicefilm.com/2010/09/megan_fox_vs_natalie_portman_in_the_battle_of_the.php. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
- ^ Megan Fox's 'Passion Play' Struggles For Theater Play. Huffington Post. 2011-03-11.
- ^ Q&A: Mitch Glazer on Megan Fox, Mickey Rourke, and His New Miami Gangster Series Vanity Fair. 2011-05-06.
