Movie review: ‘A Prayer for the Dying’

FloridaGator80

It’s always tough to translate the nuances of any book into scenes in a film. It is especially tough if the writing is by an author in fiction such as Jack Higgins or Frederick Forsyth, each who takes several pages to explain a single, minor detail. One good Higgins novel that was made into an acceptable film was “The Eagle Has Landed” (click here to read my review) and “The Day of the Jackal” from Forsyth’s novel of the same name is the gold standard in bringing a book to the big screen (click here to read my review). However, today I’ll look at the other side of the coin through “A Prayer for the Dying” from a novel by Higgins and starring Mickey Rourke. It is an example of a translation that’s not very good because of a number of serious flaws – any one of which would be fatal – and, combined make for an awful flick. You won’t experience much acceptable work here by anyone – the actors, director, cinematographer or even the costume designer. It’s bad from stem to stern.

‘A Prayer for the Dying’
(1987; 107 minutes; rated R; directed by Mike Hodges and starring Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins and Alan Bates)

TOO MUCH TO BEAR FOR CHARACTER AND AUDIENCE

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some additional opinion, updating some links and fixing a few typos on March 5, 2016. I again expanded the review on Jan. 25, 2024.)

A film can have a cast of unknowns and be entertaining or even spectacular, but it’s far easier to accomplish the opposite by filmmakers squandering the potential of a talented cast. To add insult to injury … it is even worse if you’re not able to point your finger to an individual “why,” such as horrible work by an actor or the director.

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“A Prayer for the Dying” from 1987 is a good example of not being able to identify a single issue of why the movie is awful. “A Prayer for the Dying” has a decent plot from a bestselling author’s novel; a script that pretty much streamlines the book so it could be translated easily to film; and, while not very deep, the cast should have been its strength and its salvation. I’m not the only critic as IMDb.com reports that both star Mickey Rourke and director Mike Hodges both publicly disowned the theatrical cut of “A Prayer for the Dying.”

The only strength you could cite for the cast in “A Prayer for the Dying” is that they do use some talent to make a rather bland film and not allow themselves to wallow in total mediocrity by obviously squandering all of their talent.

In “A Prayer for the Dying,” Rourke plays “Martin Fallon,” an Irish Republican Army member who has finally become disenchanted with virtually everything in life after blowing up a van full of school girls (no kidding). He’s looking for an out and it’s going to be provided by Alan Bates, who plays London gangster “Jack Meehan,” as the man who needs a killer to eliminate a business rival and Rourke is just the man. However, Rourke doesn’t want to kill again, but he must if he wants to leave his old life behind.

Rourke pulls off the hit, is seen by a priest and then the triangle is complete. It spins out of control when Bates wants the priest eliminated, too, and Rourke says an emphatic no. From there, the personal animosity and conflict escalate with the priest, played by Bob Hoskins, and his niece caught in the crossfire and the police pretty much helpless to do anything. It winds up with a stereotypical ending with ham-handed symbolism and a couple of soliloquies that try to be dramatic but just come off second-rate with the quality of actors giving them.

Here’s a look at some of the principal cast:

  • With a strained Irish accent and a red dye-job, Rourke, an Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner (not for this one), glides through the “Martin Fallon” role without stretching his talents in any way. He had a chance to elevate the character and make it memorable, but he just mails this one in from his first moment on camera. His Oscar nomination (and Golden Globe win) would come later for “The Wrestler” and he’s also been in “The Rainmaker” and did a memorable turn in the classic “Diner.” He’s also been in “Sin City” and has 93 acting credits over six decades since his first in 1976.
  • On the other hand, Bates, also an Oscar nominee (not for this one), does a workman like job but cannot personify evil as much as, say, Jack Nicholson did as “Frank Costello” in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” (click here for my review). Well, I guess that’s a bit of unfair comparison between films and actors since “The Departed” is simply sensational and a multi-Oscar winner. Still, Bates, who was in “An Unmarried Woman” and “The Rose” just to name two, is a much better actor than he shows here. He was nominated for 1968’s “The Fixer” and died at 69 in 2003 of pancreatic cancer.
  • At the same time, Hoskins, the Oscar nominee who plays “Father Michael Da Costa,” a military commando-turned-man-of-the-cloth, is the most effective of the three, but really doesn’t have the material to elevate the entire film, much less carry it all on his shoulders. Hoskins’ credits include “Hook,” “Enemy at the Gates” (click here for my review) and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” He died in 2014 of pneumonia at the age of 71.
  • While supporting the shaky starters here, the usually wonderful Liam Neeson, a year after a TV episode of “Miami Vice” and an earlier turn in “Excalibur,” is Rourke’s IRA buddy “Liam Docherty,” who’s trying to reel his friend back to the organization. Neeson is one of the bright sparks in this gloomy wilderness. Without spoiling anything, I will tell you that Neeson is one of several doomed characters in this film.
  • On the female front, Sammi Davis plays “Anna Da Costa” and she’s the priest’s niece and represents purity in a world of wickedness and has a naïve voice about Rourke and his station in life. Again, here’s an actor capable of better but doesn’t show it. Ho-hum. Davis was in “Hope and Glory” and, along with Hoskins, ion “Mona Lisa.”
  • In contrast to Davis’ goodness is Allison Doody as “Siobhan Donovan,” the cold-blooded IRA operative who works with Neeson. Just as Neeson is a bright spot, so is Doody. It would have helped to have much more of this duo. Doody’s credits include “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (she played the bewitchingly treacherous “Elsa”), “Major League II” and the TV series “Beaver Falls.”

The symbolism flies fast and crashes in this one, from the decaying church as an obvious metaphor and Rourke speaking from the pulpit is bad acting offering another obvious metaphor.

Controversy dogged the film from the pre-production stages to years later, according to IMDb.com, including:

  • Original director Franc Roddam leaving over creative differences and Hodges being a last-minute hire to save the film …
  • … Bill Conti replacing John Scott as composer …
  • … Hodges attempting to have his name removed from the credits as director because co-producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. has the ending re-cut before its release in the United States (reportedly to appease U.S. action audiences) …
  • … Rourke saying he didn’t approve of the amount of violence in the film and wanted the film to show more about the history of the Catholics in Northern Ireland as context to why his character picked up a gun to fight …

“A Prayer for the Dying” was the 165th ranked film at U.S. theaters in 1987 with an anemic $1.4 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. Not only did the film disappoint moviegoers, but investors and the studio, too, had a frown: “A Prayer for the Dying” cost $6 million to make, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was “3 Men and a Baby” with $167.7 million. Films from that year that I’ve reviewed include:

Some cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Camille Coduri plays hooker “Jenny Fox,” who houses Rourke in London, has also had parts in TV’s “Doctor Who” and “Nuns on the Run.” “A Prayer for the Dying” was her first big screen role.
  • Rourke reportedly spent some time with members of the Irish Republican Army to research his role. I guess this is Hollywood fiction since he obviously didn’t learn much if he even did manage to hang out with some IRA members. In the end, his effort shows if he did actually meet them, they might have been having some fun steering him wrong.
  • There were rumors that Hodges would come out with his own director’s cut of “A Prayer for the Dying,” but I can only guess that by the time years had passed and the DVD revolution was in full swing with directors’ cuts there was little interest in trying to revive this one.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “According to the book ‘Made in Yorkshire’ (2008) by Tony Earnshaw, the above-mentioned planned 1970s version of this film intended to shoot in Leeds which is the city where Jack Higgins‘ source novel is actually set. The picture was to star Lee Marvin and be written and directed by Edward Dmytryk. The book features photos of Marvin and Dmytryk scouting locations in Leeds.”

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