Great Balls of Fire! (1989)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jim McBride

Writers (WGA):

Myra Lewis (book) and
Murray Silver Jr. (book) ...

Release Date:

30 June 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Jerry Lee Lewis: He Rocked The Nation... And Shocked The World.

Plot:

The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s...

Plot Keywords:

Cousin | Rock Star | 1950s | Jerry Lee Lewis | Pianist

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Jerry Lee Lewis
Winona Ryder	...	Myra Gale Brown
John Doe	...	J.W. Brown
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Jud Phillips
Trey Wilson	...	Sam Phillips
Alec Baldwin	...	Jimmy Swaggart
Steve Allen	...	Himself
Lisa Blount	...	Lois Brown
Joshua Sheffield	...	Rusty Brown
Mojo Nixon	...	James Van Eaton
Jimmie Vaughan	...	Roland Janes
David Ferguson	...	Jack Clement
Robert Lesser	...	Alan Freed
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Babe
Paula Person	...	Sam's Secratary

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re rating) | UK:15 | Canada:14A | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Marion, Arkansas, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The Sun Records Studio scenes for the film were shot in the legendary studio itself.

Goofs:

Continuity: There is a shot of The plane jerry is flying in from England to the US. It clearly shows a TWA logo, yet when the shot jumps to Jerry coming off the plane, the plane changes from white to silver and from TWA to American airlines.

Quotes:

Jerry Lee: You don't move like no virgin.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "L.A. Law: Great Balls Afire (#6.15)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Raunchy

Immensely Entertaining & The Music Is Great

An excellent job by director Jim McBride of putting Myra Lewis's book about the life of legendary rock and roll star Jerry Lee Lewis (her husband) on film.

Dennis Quaid gives an over the top performance (sometimes a bit too over the top; but, then again, this is Jerry Lee Lewis) as Lewis, arrogant and child-like, trying to deal with sudden fame, having to deal with the consequences of having married his thirteen year old cousin (Myra, who authored the book). Quaid was truly excellent in this role. Yes, the lip-synching was perhaps a bit too obvious at times, but for the sake of hearing some great music performed by the real Jerry Lee Lewis, that was an irritant I could easily put up with. The relationship between Lewis and Myra (Winona Ryder) is developed sensitively and tastefully by McBride. Humour is added by exploring the complex love-hate relationship between Lewis and his cousin, the evangelist Jimmy Swaggart (Alec Baldwin). There is also great irony, given what ultimately happened to Swaggart, as we listen to him lecturing Lewis about the dangers of taking the "gold-paved streets of rock and roll."

I really enjoyed this movie. Perhaps it was guilty of portraying everyone in it as a bit of a caricature, but it still seemed to offer an entirely believable story of Lewis's life. Well worth the watching.

9/10