Played (film): Difference between revisions
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==Development== |
==Development== |
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Played came about through a series of bizarre circumstances. [[Mick Rossi]] was working as a writer in Hollywood at the time and was having no real luck in selling or producing his scripts. He was desperate to put some of his ideas on film and with the collaboration of his friend and partner [[Sean Stanek]], the two embarked on shooting a short film to break the ice and display some of their talents. [[Gabriel Byrne]] was a close friend of Mick's and agreed to do some filming with the two young filmmakers. <ref>http://www.loudside.com/entertainment/interviews/id/36/Exclusive_Interview_with_Mick_Rossi_of_PLAYED/ |
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As Mick describes in an interview after the film was made: "It was blood, sweat, and tears. I'd always written scripts as a vehicle to try and back-door myself in as an actor, because, as you know, it's very difficult for an actor to get good work without good representation. It's a Catch-22. I'd just lost financing on a movie I'd written and worked on for about a year, and the financing fell through at the last minute. I was really, really depressed and disillusioned with the people I was in business with, and I wanted to do something where I could literally pick up a camera, assemble a small bunch of people, and get out and start shooting immediately and didn't have to chase Hollywood money. That's really how it started. Initially, we were going to shoot a 15-minute short and see how it went from there. One of my best friends is [[Gabriel Byrne]] and as soon as Gabriel said that he would jump in, it made it a lot easier for the other actors to say yes. It kind of just grew from there, so that was the beginning of it. It was always a dream of mine to make something which was very real, very kind of gritty, and very rock 'n roll style movie-making. I drew on the movies from the seventies, because I loved movies like The Panic in Needle Park, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Long Good Friday, and Get Carter. Once we hit certain points, it was like we knew we had to go all the way with it. That's really how it started.<ref>http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/58279/411-Movies-Interview:-Mick-Rossi-of-Played.htm</ref> |
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==Production== |
==Production== |
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Revision as of 23:07, 13 February 2009
| Played | |
|---|---|
 Played DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Sean Stanek |
| Written by | Sean Stanek Mick Rossi |
| Produced by | Caspar von Winterfeldt Mick Rossi Nick Simunek |
| Starring | Gabriel Byrne Val Kilmer Adam Fogerty Vinnie Jones Joanne Whalley Patsy Kensit Bruno Kirby Sile Bermingham Anthony LaPaglia |
| Cinematography | Michael Pavlisan Sean Stanek |
| Edited by | Matthew Booth Jonathan Brayley Tom McGah Benjamin Pollack |
| Music by | Danny Saber |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
Release dates | December, 2006 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Played is a 2006 crime film produced by Caspar von Winterfeldt, Nick Simunek and Mick Rossi, written by Sean Stanek and Mick Rossi and directed by Sean Stanek. The film stars Val Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Bergin, Joanne Whalley, Bruno Kirby, Anthony LaPaglia, Roy Dotrice, Patsy Kensit, Andy Nyman and introduced Mick Rossi in his first major feature film role.
Originally intended to be a short, the film was shot without the use of a scripted screenplay and the director (Sean Stanek) allowed the actors to improvise a majority of dialogue as he shot the scenes. The picture was shot on location in London and Los Angeles and took three years to complete.
Plot
The story opens in Los Angeles with Dillon (Val Kilmer) who receives a phone call from Ray Burns (Mick Rossi) who has just been shot and desperately needs help. Dillon is a cleaner for Eddie (Gabriel Byrne) and has been sent to assist Ray should he require it. After a colorful opening title sequence which follows Dillon's drive to the house, he finds Ray almost bleeding to death on a sofa. Removing all of the evidence, Dillon leaves carrying Ray to his car but not before he torches the house and destroys any traces of Ray having been there. As Dillon and Ray drive away, Dillon struggles to keep Ray conscious and relates to him a story which coins the catch-phrase of the motion picture "Don't Taco Ray! Don't Taco".
The story then transitions to eight years earlier and introduces Riley (Patrick Bergin) as he admires some artwork in a London gallery. His phone rings and Detective Brice (Vinnie Jones) informs Riley that there is a shipment of heroine coming in and that Riley should get a team together to heist the merchandise for him. Riley agrees to the job and tell Brice that he has just the man to do it namely petty thief Ray Burns. Riley gives a menacing stare to the Gallery attendant (Caspar von Winterfeldt) in one of the films funnier moments before leaving to meet with Ray.
After they discuss the details of the job at hand, Ray agrees to do the heist and meets up with his team which consists of Nathan (Sean Power) and Terry Rawlings (Trevor Nugent) son of infamous moblord Jack Rawlings (Roy Dotrice). They are also joined by Terry's girlfriends Cindy (Patsy Kensit). Together they begin plotting the raid and shortly after they embark on the robbery. Nathan has been dispatched to the roof as lookout and Ray and Terry break into the warehouse to steal the heroine shipment. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Nathan loses his footing and tumbles to his death thereby alerting the guards and triggering the alarm. Ray and Terry are startled but manage to escape in different directions oblivious to what has happenned to Nathan.
Shortly thereafter, Brice calls Riley to inform him that the heist went terribly wrong, that Nathan is dead. To cover his own tracks he tells Riley to find a scapegoat who responds by naming Ray Burns. He quickly gets to Terry who has the stolen package. Meanwhile Ray, who has gone into hiding tries to call Terry but doesn't get an answer so he turns to Riley to find out what happened. Riley tells him that Nathan is dead and that Scotland Yard is looking for Ray. He omits that Terry has handed over the package and that Brice is behind the whole heist. Ray , decides he needs to disappear for a while and attempts to go underground, but before he can do so the police pick him up on an anonymous tip-off which they received from Detective Brice. Ray pays the price for the robbery and the manslaughter of Nathan and is subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison.
He serves his time but has no contact with the outside world, denying even his closest lover and girlfriend Maggie (Joanne Whalley) a visit. He also learns by reading the paper that his best friend Terry has died from an overdose of drugs. This saddens him but also makes him vow for revenge when he finally gets out of prison.
While Ray is serving time, Riley and Brice continue their crooked ways, and Brice informs Riley that he has a video tape of London Charlie (Steve Jones) that could be worth some cash. He dispatches Riley to Los Angeles to blackmail London Charlie. Riley arrives in Los Angeles along with his girlfriend Samantha Fay (Sile Bermingham) in order to pick up the cash fro Brice. Meanhwile Ray is released from prison and contacted by London Charlie who realizes that the only way he can escape his dilema is to have Riley terminated. He knows Ray is out to avenge his time in prison and so pays him $100,000 to come to Los Angeles. Brice, aware of Ray's release and suspicious that he may be up to something, instructs an underling, Danny, (Andy Nyman) to keep an eye on him and find out what he can about his plans. Danny confronts Ray in a busy Lonbdon street and brings the situation to a head when he makes a comment about Ray's former girlfriend Maggie whom Ray has not seen since he went to prison. Ray gets angered and headbutts Danny telling him to leave him alone. Danny reports this back to Brice who doesn't believe that Ray is up to 'nothing'. Ray is then also contacted by Jack Rawlings, Terry's father who beckons him to come and visit. The two have a long talk about Terry and Ray tells Jack how sorry he is for Terry's death. Jack feigns compassion and tells Ray that he wants him to go after the guy who set them up, namely Riley, and gives him a contact in Los Angeles - Eddie (Gabriel Byrne) with whom he should liase to get the job done and rid the world of scum. Ray is to pick up $100,000 at Jack's club from Big Frankie (Adam Fogerty) and then get on a plane to Los Angeles to hunt Riley down. When Ray leaves Jack Rawlings' home, he doesn't see the sinister sneer that Jack gives him suggesting there maybe more in store for Ray than he bargained for.
Upon arrival Ray immediately visits London Charlie and viewers recognise that this is the house from the beginning of the film. Ray is told that there is $100,000 in a bag that he is to take to Riley and use to recover the tape. Once he has th tape, Ray is to kill Riley and bring the tape back to London Charlie. Ray leaves and begins to cover his tracks by checking into two seperate motels. He then makes a call to Eddie to pick up a car for use in Los Angeles. That night he picks up the car and meets Eddie who is waiting for him in the back seat. Eddie tells him there is a pistol in the glove box and that he doesn't want to get involved in any of the nasty business. Ray acknowledges the request and takes off into the night.
The next day Riley is waiting for a meeting with London Charlie for the exchange of cash against the video tape. He is surprised by Ray who shows up at his door carrying a bag of cash. Ray has hidden the pistol outside of the apartment and so is clean when he is frisked by Riley. The two have a heated discussion about what happened eight years ago and Riley makes light of Terry's death calling him a junkie. Ray is obviously upset but continues as a professional handing Riley the bag of money in exchange for the tape. Riley is irritated though because the deal he had made with London Charlie was for $200,000 and Ray only has half that in his bag. He tells him to leave and return with the remainder or there will be no exchange. Ray leaves the bag, exits the apartment, walks down to where he has hidden the pistol, cocks it, walks back, knocks and as Riley opens, he puts the gun in his face. Riley does not submit to Ray's demand for the tape and so Ray shoots him point blank in the head and chest. Riley is now dead.
Ray now searches the room for the tape which he doesn't find, but he does find a key to a nearby hotel which he decides to check out but not before he returns to the first motel room that he rented and wash of the evidence of the murder. Meanwhile police have been alerted to a shooting and investigate to find Riley's murdered body. Detective Allen (Bruno Kirby) arrives on the crime scene and discover that there is a link to a nearby hotel...the same hotel Ray is also heading towards after he cleans up. Detective Bartow (Mark Siciliani) and Officer Chris Anders (Aaron Gallagher) are dispatched to investigate and head over to the hotel. They find Samantha Fay who is startled by their appearance since she was expecting Riley to return at any minute and when the officer's inform her that there has been an incident and that she needs to answer some questions at the station, she reluctantly agrees. Officer Anders then takes her down to the station for questioning and leave Detective Bartow to search the room. Ray arrives as they are leaving. He goes upto the room and inserts the key into the lock just as the door opens and Bartow and he almost bump into each other. Ray attempts to keep his cool, especially when Bartow tells him he is a police officer. He questions Ray as to how he knew Riley and Ray innocently says they recently met and that they had arranged to grab a drink. Bartow is suspicious and asks Ray if he would have any objections to coming down to the station for some questioning. Ray has no choice but to agree and they leave together.
At the station the two suspects, Ray and Samantha Fay are questioned for hours and hours by Detective Allen and Detective Drummond (Anthony LaPaglia). The situation is tense and Ray and Samantha Fay both have a tough time keeping calm. Eventually they are both let go, but not before Samantha Fay is told that Riley is in fact dead, a piece of news which breaks her. Ray too is 'astonished' by the news and both leave within a couple of hours of each other and head in different directions. Ray to pick up his things at the second motel and Samantha Fay to pick up the tape and a gun which Riley had left in a safety deposit box earlier that day. Samantha Fay then heads to London Charlie's house to square things away with him and avenge Riley's detah. She shoots London Charlie dead in his pool just as Ray arrives to say goodbye. Ray and Samantha have a mexican stand-off. The tape is thrown into the pool as it proves to be useless now and Samantha Fay slowly backs out of the house leaving Ray to sort out the mess. As Ray sits to contemplate his next move, he doesn't notice that Samantha Fay has quietly returned and just as he hears a noise she fires her gun at him and shoots him in the back. Samantha leaves and Ray is left in a pool of blood, but still alive.....this is now the scene where the film began and Ray picks up the phone to call Eddie and reaches Dillon (Val Kilmer) who comes to clean up his mess.
As they drive away from the scene Dillon tries to animate Ray and keep him conscious. He finally gets him to a secure location and Ray pays him off so that he can return to London where he recuperates for several days in the care of his former girlfriend Maggie. Ray thinks quickly about what he should do when he receives a phone call from Eddie telling him that Jack Rawlings wants to see him on the rooftop of a car-park in Chinatown later that evening. After Eddie hangs up he anonymously calls Brice and tells him that Ray can be found on the rooftop later that evening and that if he wants to get even he should be there. Brice is confused but eager to settle the score. He calls Danny to tell him that he should find Ray and follow him and kill him.
Cast
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Development
Played came about through a series of bizarre circumstances. Mick Rossi was working as a writer in Hollywood at the time and was having no real luck in selling or producing his scripts. He was desperate to put some of his ideas on film and with the collaboration of his friend and partner Sean Stanek, the two embarked on shooting a short film to break the ice and display some of their talents. Gabriel Byrne was a close friend of Mick's and agreed to do some filming with the two young filmmakers. [1]
As Mick describes in an interview after the film was made: "It was blood, sweat, and tears. I'd always written scripts as a vehicle to try and back-door myself in as an actor, because, as you know, it's very difficult for an actor to get good work without good representation. It's a Catch-22. I'd just lost financing on a movie I'd written and worked on for about a year, and the financing fell through at the last minute. I was really, really depressed and disillusioned with the people I was in business with, and I wanted to do something where I could literally pick up a camera, assemble a small bunch of people, and get out and start shooting immediately and didn't have to chase Hollywood money. That's really how it started. Initially, we were going to shoot a 15-minute short and see how it went from there. One of my best friends is Gabriel Byrne and as soon as Gabriel said that he would jump in, it made it a lot easier for the other actors to say yes. It kind of just grew from there, so that was the beginning of it. It was always a dream of mine to make something which was very real, very kind of gritty, and very rock 'n roll style movie-making. I drew on the movies from the seventies, because I loved movies like The Panic in Needle Park, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Long Good Friday, and Get Carter. Once we hit certain points, it was like we knew we had to go all the way with it. That's really how it started.[2]
Production
Soundtrack
Reception
Awards and Nominations
Award
Nominations
Honors
Marketing
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