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GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!
It doesn't paint its subject in a very flattering light and the screenplay is rampant with cliches and what I suspect are embellishments of fact, but the 1989 musical biopic of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis called Great Balls of Fire! is worth watching for the charismatic lead performance by its star.
Dennis Quaid lights up the screen as the controversial rock and roller who became a major recording star due to his love for the piano and "n*gger music", which was the inspiration for his first big hit "A Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On". The film follows the typical biopic path we're accustomed to with films like this, but there's a slight "ick" factor in Lewis' story in that the romance that Lewis finds in the film, and there's always a romance or two in films like this, comes in the form of a 13 year old cousin named Myra Brown (Winona Ryder) who Lewis actually marries. Lewis sees nothing wrong with this but his fans feel differently and according to this film, the marriage almost does irreparable damage to his career.
As is the case with most movie biopics, it's hard to know exactly what is fact and what is dramatized for the purpose of entertainment. The screenplay by Jack Baran and Jim McBride, based on a book by the real Myra Brown Lewis, spotlights Lewis as a wild child who never really grew up, loved his music, and like a lot of show business movie subjects, had difficulty keeping his fly zipped. The screenplay also seems to be conflicted regarding the intelligence of its subject...he is told at the beginning of the film that girls prefer guitar players because they like to watch them wiggle, instantly inspiring Jerry Lee's famous piano stunts that often had him throwing his piano bench out of the way. On the other hand, Jerry Lee is also presented as a guy who sees absolutely nothing wrong with marrying a 13 year old girl. He is never seen here justifying or apologizing for it and doesn't feel the need to, even when it threatens to destroy his career. I guess I can understand if Lewis didn't feel the need to justify his actions to anyone, but this film portrays the man as not seeing anything wrong with what he did and it was difficult investing in a story about a grown man who marries a 13 year old girl and sees nothing wrong with it.
As the story unfolded, it also seemed like Jerry Lee's alleged rise to the top was a little too meteoric. One minute he standing outside a black nightclub listening to the "Shakin" song and the next scene he's recording it. Absolutely nothing is revealed regarding the inspiration for the title song, it just seems to come out of nowhere and the film seems to spend a little too much time trying to convince the viewer that Jerry Lee was considered a serious threat to Elvis and I just don't buy that. There's a silly albeit brief scene where Elvis (Michael St. Gerard) actually confronts Jerry Lee before he leaves for his stint in the army, that was just silly and I don't believe for a minute that it ever happened.
What the film does have going for it is a slick and sexy performance by Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis that made this flawed biographical journey worth taking. Winona Ryder was a little overwrought as Myra, but I loved John Doe as Myra's dad and Jerry Lee's cousin, Trey Wilson as Sun Records manager Sam Phillips and a very young Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart, who was also Lewis' cousin (news to me). As far as being an accurate portrayal of Lewis' life, I do know that Lewis hated Myra's book and this movie. Quaid did do some of the piano work in the film but all the vocals were dubbed by Jerry Lee himself.
It doesn't paint its subject in a very flattering light and the screenplay is rampant with cliches and what I suspect are embellishments of fact, but the 1989 musical biopic of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis called Great Balls of Fire! is worth watching for the charismatic lead performance by its star.
Dennis Quaid lights up the screen as the controversial rock and roller who became a major recording star due to his love for the piano and "n*gger music", which was the inspiration for his first big hit "A Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On". The film follows the typical biopic path we're accustomed to with films like this, but there's a slight "ick" factor in Lewis' story in that the romance that Lewis finds in the film, and there's always a romance or two in films like this, comes in the form of a 13 year old cousin named Myra Brown (Winona Ryder) who Lewis actually marries. Lewis sees nothing wrong with this but his fans feel differently and according to this film, the marriage almost does irreparable damage to his career.
As is the case with most movie biopics, it's hard to know exactly what is fact and what is dramatized for the purpose of entertainment. The screenplay by Jack Baran and Jim McBride, based on a book by the real Myra Brown Lewis, spotlights Lewis as a wild child who never really grew up, loved his music, and like a lot of show business movie subjects, had difficulty keeping his fly zipped. The screenplay also seems to be conflicted regarding the intelligence of its subject...he is told at the beginning of the film that girls prefer guitar players because they like to watch them wiggle, instantly inspiring Jerry Lee's famous piano stunts that often had him throwing his piano bench out of the way. On the other hand, Jerry Lee is also presented as a guy who sees absolutely nothing wrong with marrying a 13 year old girl. He is never seen here justifying or apologizing for it and doesn't feel the need to, even when it threatens to destroy his career. I guess I can understand if Lewis didn't feel the need to justify his actions to anyone, but this film portrays the man as not seeing anything wrong with what he did and it was difficult investing in a story about a grown man who marries a 13 year old girl and sees nothing wrong with it.
As the story unfolded, it also seemed like Jerry Lee's alleged rise to the top was a little too meteoric. One minute he standing outside a black nightclub listening to the "Shakin" song and the next scene he's recording it. Absolutely nothing is revealed regarding the inspiration for the title song, it just seems to come out of nowhere and the film seems to spend a little too much time trying to convince the viewer that Jerry Lee was considered a serious threat to Elvis and I just don't buy that. There's a silly albeit brief scene where Elvis (Michael St. Gerard) actually confronts Jerry Lee before he leaves for his stint in the army, that was just silly and I don't believe for a minute that it ever happened.
What the film does have going for it is a slick and sexy performance by Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis that made this flawed biographical journey worth taking. Winona Ryder was a little overwrought as Myra, but I loved John Doe as Myra's dad and Jerry Lee's cousin, Trey Wilson as Sun Records manager Sam Phillips and a very young Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart, who was also Lewis' cousin (news to me). As far as being an accurate portrayal of Lewis' life, I do know that Lewis hated Myra's book and this movie. Quaid did do some of the piano work in the film but all the vocals were dubbed by Jerry Lee himself.