Rhinestone (1984)

A country music star must turn an obnoxious New York cabbie into a singer in order to win a bet.

Director:

Bob Clark

Writers:

Phil Alden Robinson (story), Phil Alden Robinson (screenplay)

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Dolly Parton, Richard Farnsworth

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Nick
Dolly Parton	...	Jake Farris
Richard Farnsworth	...	Noah Farris
Ron Leibman	...	Freddie Ugo
Tim Thomerson	...	Barnett Kale
Steve Peck	...	Father (as Stephen Apostle Pec)
Penny Santon	...	Mother
Russell Buchanan	...	Elgart
Ritch Brinkley	...	Luke
Jerry Potter	...	Walt
Jesse Welles	...	Billie Joe
Phil Rubenstein	...	Maurie
Thomas Ikeda	...	Japanese Father
Christal Kim	...	Japanese Grandmother
Arline Miyazaki	...	Japanese Mother

Storyline

Jake, an aspiring singer from Tennessee comes to New York City and finds herself working in club owned by a sleazy guy named Freddy. It seems Jake is under contract, and Freddy doesn't want to let her go. So Jake makes a bet; that she can train anyone to sing, and if she does, he lets her out of her contract, and the guy she has to train is a cabbie named Nick. They go to her house in Tennessee, and Jake tries to teach him, but it's very tough.

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Plot Keywords:

bet | country music | sheep | reckless driving | organ | 

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Taglines:

The knockout comedy of the summer.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the third time that Dolly Parton utilized the same melody for her song "God Won't Get You". Originally written for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), the Burt Reynolds ballad "Where Stallions Run" was cut from the movie, though it subsequently surfaced in American television prints. Parton slightly altered the lyrics and issued it as "A Cowboy's Ways" on her 1983 album "Burlap and Satin". When that failed to chart, she completely overhauled the words for the Rhinestone cut "God Won't Get You".

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Goofs

During the opening credits, the camera is reflected in the window of the helicopter they used to film the night-time scenery.

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Quotes

Nick Martinelli: [singing "Drinkenstein"] Budweiser you created a monster / and they call him Drinkenstein / And the tavern down the street is the labba-tor-eye-ee / where he makes the transformation all the time / And a stein of Dr. Buuuud is a pint of monster blood / and it does effect me different every time / Budweiser you created a monster / and they call me Drinkenstein / And they call me Drinkenstein / I'm Drinkenstein! / I'm Drinkenstein!

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Sylvester Stallone/Eve Hewson/Rod Man (2014)

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Soundtracks

"Stay Out of My Bedroom (If You Can't Take the Heat)
Written by Dolly Parton
Performed by Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone

User Reviews

At Least They Tried to Do Something Different

Rhinestone (1984)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

No, this isn't the worst movie ever made and it's not even the worst film of the decade. What we're basically got is a MY FAIR LADY story told with country music as Dolly Parton enters a bet with her boss that she can turn anyone into a good singer. He gets to pick the person so he selects Sylvester Stallone who was working as a taxi driver. Parton must then take city boy Stallone to Tennessee where she plans to make him over into a "Rhinestone Cowboy" or something to that nature. I can easily picture a couple people sitting around, passing a joint to one another and coming up with funny ideas. The thought of Stallone being a singer could make for an interesting comedy and even funnier would be to have him wearing a cowboy hat and singing silly love songs. That idea, sadly, doesn't really carry over in the actual film, although the movie certainly isn't as bad as its reputation. I think the first hour or so of the film isn't all that bad because of how silly it is and you can't help but laugh when you see Stallone trying to sing everything from forgotten numbers to Tutti Fruity. The entire idea of turning him into a country boy gives us countless scenes where he doesn't know country slang, he can't figure out what certain animals are and of course he gets to mix it up with some rednecks. All of that is mildly entertaining because of our two leads who are obviously giving it their all trying to get a laugh. Stallone certainly pushes very hard to try and gets laughs and he does manage to get quite a few. Parton has your typical Southern charm that comes across very well. We even get Richard Farnsworth playing her dad, Ron Leibman playing the club owner and Tim Thomerson shows up as Parton's ex. Had the screenplay simply been about the MY FAIR LADY plot then the movie would have been much better but sadly this thing painfully drags out to 110-minutes, which is just way too long. If you edited out a good fifteen-minutes then the campy charm would have been a lot more bearable and I'm sure the film's reputation would have been better. Everything dealing with the ex boyfriend is just a waste as is the majority of the stuff dealing with the club owner who just wants to sleep with Parton. None of this stuff is very interesting and it takes away from the entire "pitch" that the film was driving on and that's seeing Parton and Stallone sing together. RHINESTONE is certainly an interesting idea that simply didn't work on screen but I think fans of camp will get a mild kick out of it and you have to at least give Stallone credit for having the guts to try it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rhinestone

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,459,726, 24 June 1984

Gross USA:

$21,435,321

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,435,321

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1