The Rapture (1991)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Michael Tolkin

Writer (WGA):

Michael Tolkin (written by)

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Rapture (rap'chur) 1. ecstatic joy or delight. 2. a state of extreme sexual ecstasy. 3. the feeling of being transported to another sphere of existence. 4. the experience of being spirited away to Heaven just before the Apocalypse.

Plot:

A telephone operator living an empty, amoral life finds God and loses him again.

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Telephone Operator | Faith | Group Sex | Tattoo

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Mimi Rogers	...	Sharon
Darwyn Carson	...	Maggie
Patrick Bauchau	...	Vic
Marvin Elkins	...	Bartender
David Duchovny	...	Randy
Stephanie Menuez	...	Diana
Sam Vlahos	...	Wayne
Rustam Branaman	...	Conrad
Scott Burkholder	...	Evangelist
Vince Grant	...	2nd Evangelist
Carole Davis	...	Angie
Patrick Dollaghan	...	Executive
James LeGros	...	Tommy
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Henry
DeVaughn Nixon	...	First Boy

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Ontario) | Germany:16 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Australia:M | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

In the DVD commentary, David Duchovny and Michael Tolkin remind Mimi Rogers that Brad Pitt read for the role of Tommy. She even read with him, they said; but she responds that she doesn't remember him. James LeGros got the role. Rogers persuaded Tolkin to cast him, even though his audition was not very good.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sharon: Please hold for the number. Operator 134. What city please? Is that a business or residence?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: David Duchovny/Rod Stewart (#20.20)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR

Bold and Unrelenting--From One Side Only

As a died-again Christian, I watched this movie to better learn how the challenging notions of God and religion had been presented in cinema over the years. What we have with 'The Rapture' is a story filled with quite a hook (promiscuous swingers), tragic twists, and gut- wrenching moments (anybody read 'Jude the Obscure'?), quite enough to get anyone watching. What we also get is a lopsided sermon on the hard-line lessons of the Bible, without much in the way of counterpoint.

Which warrants a warning to all non-believers: this movie will beat you over the head with the line 'Love God', along with other arbitrary notions of religion (e.g. "Mommy? Where's heaven?" "In the sky."). As such, sitting on my couch felt like being trapped in a cultish, Can I Get an Amen sort of rural church, with my mom holding my wrist down so I couldn't flee out the back door.

What this movie lacked, and which Mimi Rogers demonstrates so well in the final act, is the notion of faith in the face of overwhelming doubt. Instead of portraying Sharon as the insightful and thoughtful Christian, Tolkin asks her to embrace the ultimately doomed notion of blind faith. Ironically enough, that tends to be the quickest way to see the light--that of cold reason and reality.

To have painted Sharon as a more compelling traveler on the road to faith would have quickly turned this into a masterpiece. Instead, we are left only with a bold reafffirmation for those who already believe.