Customer Reviews

The Last Days of Frankie the Fly [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a little off-beat gem as it deals with all of the dark issues about the mob but never in a heart attack manner. It is a comedy & to my mind better written that a lot of them. A good cast plus a good plot equals a better than you think movie.

Dennis Hopper is the low man in his family & why not. He's stuck in the past with his clothes, his music, and his ideals (there you go ideals from a gangster). Of course his ideals include Darryl Hannah who is his heart throb besides being the local porn actress. Hey honey nice dress! They even wrote the script so her Swedish co-star gets the laughs. Any how Frankie is serious about moving up in the world if only his boss would notice. His Boss (Michael Madsen) notices all right & prepares Frankie's daily meals of s**t.

This isn't the Godfather or Thief. It is the Godfather on gas. A funny quirky story, with a bit of heart in it. Think of a more serious 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag.

I laughed a lot. 4 Stars.

Dennis Hopper delivers one of his most effective performances in this made for video film. He plays Frankie the Fly, a collector for the Mob. His boss is a sadist named Sal (Michael Madsen) who enjoys embarrassing Frankie in front of his underling Vic (Dayton Callie, who also wrote the film). Frankie isn't happy in his work since he lacks the mean streak that Sal and Vic possess. The only job perk is visiting one of his regular collections: a porno director named Joey (Kiefer Sutherland). Frankie is in love with Joey's starlet Margaret (Daryl Hannah) but is too shy to even talk to her. Joey owes Sal a lot of money so he devises a plan in which Frankie would place bets for him. Fly senses the danger in this but agrees under the condition that he be given the opportunity to write and direct a legit film for Margaret. An astonished Joey agrees and he wins over $6,000. After a few more bets are placed and Joey wins big, Sal gets wind of what's going on behind his back. He goes after the one person he knows would hurt Frankie the most: Margaret. The film gets very slow after the first half hour but things pick up again. The performances are what saves the film. Madsen actually acts rather than rely on tough guy bravado, Sutherland overacts shamelessly but is still entertaining, Hannah makes Margaret sympathetic and she looks great dolled up as Bettie Page. This is Hopper's movie though and he's excellent. For years he's made crap films that demand nothing more of him than to redo his crazy 'Blue Velvet' performance but here he plays it scared and sensitive. It's a very impressive performance. A must see for Hopper fans and worth a look for fans of Hannah, Madsen, or Sutherland.

So whaddya get when you put Dennis Hopper, Darryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, and Kiefer Sutherland in a mob comedy-drama? The Last Days of Frankie the Fly. The title character, played by Hopper, is a kind of zhlub (Yiddish for semi-putz. Oops, that's also Yiddish. Well, you know, a sort of nebbish. Is that Yiddish also? OK. Sorry. A meek guy who doesn't do much. How's that?) who's the gofer for local small time mob boss Sal, played by Michael Madsen in another of his smarmy nasty roles.

Madsen's type casting does him proud, but it's interesting to see Hopper cast somewhat against type as a meek guy. Now add in the mix Darryl Hannah as a porn actress (OK, she's not the greatest actress in the world, but she's actually OK here) and Kiefer Sutherland as a porn movie "director" (an NYU Film School graduate, no less), and there's your recipe for...well, not disaster really, but a relatively enjoyable little crime drama that confines its action to romance, murder, torture, and humiliation, rather than tackle the big issues like corruption and desperation.

So it's not exactly noir per se, but on the other hand it's decent. Hopper falls in love with Hannah, who's a lot more intelligent than the typical porn actress, constantly berated by Sutherland, who's a gambling addict, in hock to Sal (Madsen) to the tune of more than 100 G's. Hopper agrees to place some bets for Sutherland at the track provided that Hopper can write and direct a film for Hannah.

Sal complicates things by being brutal and nasty, ably abetted by his henchman Vic, played by Damon Callie, who also wrote the script. OK, sure, this is not a cinematic masterpiece. But there are a lot worse ways to spend an hour and a half of your time. The most fun is watching the four leads do their thing; especially in the early part of the film, Sutherland is hilarious with his rapid fire sarcastic jabs. And Hopper is fine in his part as well.

As mentioned, not a great film, but worth seeing.

First of all what is with this cover? Did they steal pictures from the casts other movies and take particular care to make sure they don't actually look anything like they characters they're portraying. that is a pic of Kiefer from Truth or Consequences, someone effed up! Anyhoo... I thought it was fun to see Dennis Hopper as this little peon, someone who isn't tuff or in control. I liked watching Kiefer play this annoying irrisponsible porn directer. He played a character I'd never seen before and I enjoyed watching that. The movie itself left a lot to be desired but it wasn't a total loss. A great way to waste 2 hours at least

The only thing I like about this movies was the soundtrack. I expected more from this move with the actors that was in it.

Very strange movie, kind of off-the-beam, but that's OK. It's very worthwhile if you're a Dayton Callie fan. He wrote the script and has a good-sized part in the film.

I initially rented this movie because Kiefer Sutherland is in it, and I am a big Kiefer Sutherland fan. I was pleasantly surprised by the appearances of Michael Madsen and Dennis Hopper.

While, the acting, I thought, was good, it was the screenplay/storyline that wasn't. I can feel this build up, but the movie never climaxed for me. It just built me up and then didn't really go anywhere with it.

I don't blame the actors for this, as I think everyone really was good, it was just wasn't done as well as it could have been.

Extraordinary! I would never have thought that it was (is) possible to take a bunch of A-list actors (ie. Hopper, Madsen, Hannah, Sutherland) and pair them with a director who usually has a knack for making cult faves (Hot Dog... the movie for instance) and come up with a bag of leftovers like this!

I got the feeling that the director was high on speed and didn't sleep at all during production, just kept on stubbornly trying to imitate the stylings of Quentin Tarantino except without the novelty nor the talent.

Do not waste your money on this.