Wired (1989)

The ghost of John Belushi looks back on his troubled life and career, while journalist Bob Woodward researches Belushi's life as he prepares to write a book about the late comic actor.

Director:

Larry Peerce

Writers:

Bob Woodward (book), Earl Mac Rauch (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Chiklis, Ray Sharkey, J.T. Walsh

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Chiklis	...	John Belushi
Ray Sharkey	...	Angel Velasquez
J.T. Walsh	...	Bob Woodward
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Cathy Smith
Lucinda Jenney	...	Judy Belushi
Alex Rocco	...	Arnie Fromson
Gary Groomes	...	Dan Aykroyd
Jere Burns	...	Lou Connors
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Coroner Thomas Noguchi
Tom Bower	...	Detective
Earl Billings	...	Detective
Dakin Matthews	...	Washington Post Editor
J.C. Quinn	...	Comedy Coach
Steve Vinovich	...	Studio Executive
Matthew Faison	...	Doctor Robbins

Storyline

We open up on the evening of March 5, 1982, with the dead body of John Belushi being reeled into a morgue. Suddenly, he awakens as if nothing had happened to him, and is about to undergo an autopsy. Frightened and confused, John goes back to retrace his steps, and find out what went wrong with his life. Meanwhile, journalist Bob Woodward researches Belushi's life as he prepares to write a book about the late comic actor. The story climaxes with Woodward directly conversing with Belushi during the actor's dying moments.

---

Plot Keywords:

actor | ghost | autopsy | campy | elvis presley impersonator | 

---

Taglines:

For John Belushi, every night was Saturday Night.

---

Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Belushi - Wired

Filming Locations:

Fort Bragg, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$681,054, 27 August 1989, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$1,089,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

FM Entertainment,Lion Screen Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aside from Dan Aykroyd, none of John Belushi's costars from Saturday Night Live (1975) appear in the film, although Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman are mentioned.

---

Quotes

John Belushi: [surprised] Who are you anyway?
Angel Velasquez: I'm your guardian angel.
John Belushi: My guardian angel? Well you sure fucked up...
Angel Velasquez: Yeah well, look man, nobody's perfect. You know, you gotta start somewhere.

---

Connections

Featured in The Cinema Snob: The Top 10 Cinema Snob Moments of 2014 (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Love Kills
Written by Joe Strummer
Performed by Joe Strummer
Courtesy of CBS Records

User Reviews

Absolutely tasteless...

After seeing the DVD release of the Blues Brothers, and their mention of "Wired" on Belushi's bio, my boyfriend and I were hungry for more information on John Belushi. I had heard of "Wired" but didn't know too much about it and found it way in the back of the local rental store. I understand that Dan Akroyd was really p***ed over this movie and I thought it was because it didn't portray them in a good light. But that had nothing to do with it.

The movie starts out okay, until they wheel in John's body to the morgue. When he wakes up on the autopsy table, and decides to run for it, then begins the utter tastelessness of this movie. John is subjected to viewing his life and all of the turmoil he created with "Angel," a Puerto Rican cab driver with a wicked sense of humor -- subjecting him to criticism and attempting to try to get him to cross over.

The two actors who portray John and Dan look nothing even remotely close to the real actors, (let alone anyone else related for that matter, i.e., Lorne Michaels,) making it difficult to really try to concentrate on them and how they were in real life... but that is the tip of the iceberg.

I believe this was supposed to be an "artsy" film -- John constantly being tormented by drugs (i.e., the powdered soap in the bathroom being cocaine,) in such a way that was also difficult to follow. The flashbacks are choppy, also making it difficult to understand.

Probably the most tasteless scene was when John is (literally,) forced to undergo his autopsy and is in pain while they remove his heart to weigh it, saying that it was abnormally large due to drug use, obesity, yeah, we get the point without the grotesque portrayal.

There are very few other actors we know of in the movie, (where's Carrie Fisher for instance? They were incredibly close. And Jim Belushi would have been a great person to show,) it looks VERY cheaply made, (we felt it looked as if the graphics were from the early 80s or late 70s,) it felt as if it was filmed in about a week and all in all, didn't show the side to John at all. I felt I knew a little bit more about him from watching episodes of Saturday Night Live.

On one last note, Bob Woodward comes across narcissistic by placing himself in the movie, arguing with John about writing his life story. For someone who was supposed to be very highbrow, concerning the bust on Nixon, his calibur of person could match any writer in the National Enquirer, and therefore losing my interest in any of his work from this point forward.

SKIP THIS MOVIE. If you want to see more on John, watch his movies, see clips of Dan Akroyd talking about him or hope someone has the taste to make another movie on John that goes along the lines of "Man on the Moon," which is ultimately what we were expecting. I guess this was a "moral" kind of movie -- you know, don't do drugs, but I guess the creators of this film didn't understand that his death made a number of people (like Carrie Fisher,) stop doing drugs altogether for that reason.