Passion Play (2010)

An angel under the thumb of a ruthless gangster is saved by a trumpet player down on his luck.

Director:

Mitch Glazer

Writer:

Mitch Glazer (screenplay)

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox, Bill Murray

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Nate Poole
Megan Fox	...	Lily Luster
Bill Murray	...	Happy Shannon
Kelly Lynch	...	Harriet
Rhys Ifans	...	Sam Adamo
Chris Browning	...	Cecil
Mark Sivertsen	...	Walt (Man #2)
Rory Cochrane	...	Rickey
Frank Bond	...	Man #1 (With Walt)
Arron Shiver	...	Russell
Lora Martinez-Cunningham	...	Nurse Kohl (as Lora Cunningham)
Robert Wisdom	...	Malcolm
Liezl Carstens	...	April
Alex Essoe	...	Audrey (as Alexandra Essoe)
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Billy Berg

Storyline

In Reno, the former successful trumpet player Nate Poole has a one night stand with the wife of the powerful and ruthless mobster Happy Shannon and one of his gangsters abducts Nate to kill him in the desert. Out of the blue, Nate is saved by Indians and he walks through the desert until he reaches a side show owned by Sam Adamo. Nate asks if Sam has a telephone to make a phone call to his friend Harriet, but he sees a beautiful woman with wings called Lily Luster and he asks a drink to her. Then he invites Lily to move with him to Reno. However Sam kidnaps Nate to kill him with a snake, but Lily rescues Nate with a truck and they head to Reno. Nate plots a scheme to raise some money, offering Lily to Happy. Along their journey back to Reno, Nate falls in love with her and he decides to call off the agreement with Happy. But the criminal finds Nate's hideout and abducts Lily and keeps the angel with him. Neverthless Nate is decided to rescue Lily from Hàppy's fortress.

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Plot Keywords:

angel | gangster | knife held to throat | musician | carnival | 

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Taglines:

Love Is Stronger Than Death

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity, violence and brief drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2011 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Ihtiras Oyunu

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Annapurna Productions, Rebecca Wang Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Toby Kebbell was cast as Happy Shannon, but dropped out and Bill Murray replaced him.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nate: Hey, Billy?

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Connections

References ALF (1986)

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Soundtracks

"If you Live"
Allen Toussaint - Piano
Christian McBride - Upright Bass
Christian Scott - Trumpet
Kendrick Scott - Drums
Levon Henry - Tenor Saxophone
Produced by Joe Henry
Recorded at Avatar Studios, NYC, January 2010

User Reviews

Never never 4 out of 10

Very strong thought provoking movie with a great subtle twist! Having seen this movies rating of 4 out of ten on IMDb, I had very low expectations for this movie. Having just watched the film I would rate it at least a 7!

Mickey Rourke produces his best performance since the wrestler and spun, to compare it it to his most recent work. Mickey is one of the best of all time when he is at this level, in a movie deserving of his skills.

Passion play also stars Bill Murray who displays a performance to equal his excellent display in mad dog and glory, playing a similarly dark character Bill shows that he is equal to the best in a serious role.

Having not been exposed to any of Megan Fox's past performances I can say she was excellent in her role and has great chemistry with Rourke. The score of the movie is perfect and added to the dream like atmosphere created by the movies director, in fact the whole production is top notch, professionally handled by a director who has created some really beautiful scenes. One you will watch more than once if you appreciate high quality acting and stylish direction.