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List Price: $6.99 | | Label: Platinum Disc
Salesrank: 56416
Released: August 23, 2005 |
| Our Price: $2.03 |
| Used Price: $1.92 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Platinum Disc Llc Release Date: 11/07/2006 Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R
The Last Days of Frankie the Fly Reviews:
This 'Fly' Ain't Goldblum, But It's Good 
2009-07-06 - 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.
Strange movie.
2007-03-09 - 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.
Not bad, not great
2005-11-06 - 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.
