HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Under the Cherry Moon Just A Gigolo
Year: 1986
Director: Prince
Stars: Prince, Jerome Benton, Kristin Scott Thomas, Steven Berkoff, Emmanuelle Sallet, Alexandra Stewart, Francesca Annis, Pamela Ludwig, Barbara Stall, Karen Greetings, Victor Spinetti, Myriam Tadesse, Moune De Vivier, Amoury Desjardins, Garance Tosello
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, MusicBuy from Amazon
Rating:  5 (from 1 vote)
Review: Christopher Tracy (Prince) is a piano player in Nice who doubles as a gigolo, asking out various rich women for one night stands and more and living off the proceeds. He stays with his best friend Tricky (Jerome Benton) who behaves much as he does, and he comes up with an idea to make them more cash when their attention is caught by heiress Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott Thomas) who is due to come into a lot of wealth soon. Tricky posits that they should each try to win her over to get their hands on the loot, and Christopher agrees, unaware that he will fall into the trap of falling in love...

Purple Rain was a big hit around the world both as a film and an album, so it was natural that Prince, pop star, actor and celebrity enigma, should do the Elvis Presley thing and start building up a movie career for himself. The second of these efforts pretty much put paid to any dreams he may have had about that, although he did make one more venture into cinema with his sequel to Purple Rain that was even less popular than Under the Cherry Moon. However poorly it was received at the time it was released, the fact remains that this does have its fans, and not only among those who like it for the music.

It's often considered to be a drama or a romance with musical interludes, but for quite a bit of the running time the category that this fits into most snugly would be comedy, as Prince and Benton, a member of his backing band The Revolution, have a fairly decent double act going on. Or it would be if most of their gags were likely to prompt more than a quiet chuckle at best, as their humour strikes one as the kind that must have seemed hilarious for in-joking friends, but rather obscure for the rest of us. In fact, as has been pointed out, the relationship between Christopher (not the first Blue Peter presenter) and Tricky is stronger and more romantic than the one between Christopher and Mary.

This was Kristin Scott Thomas's first feature film and she apparently is no fan of it, which unfortunately comes across onscreen as she and the Purple One are not exactly a match made in heaven. Lumbered with the positively prehistoric "You went out with me for a bet? How dare you!" plotline, the two are supposed to be generating sparks with a love-hate union, but if anything this is the most tired aspect of the whole enterprise. Still, there are some very strange elements to this which may make it worth watching for the curious few, such as Mary arriving at her birthday party starkers and playing the drums (by which stage she has gained a towel to spare her blushes), or the bats in the restaurant which cause a stampede for the exit.

So if Under the Cherry Moon is too often funny peculiar instead of the intended funny ha ha, what other compensations can be garnered from it? With Prince in his eighties heyday, you can be sure the soundtrack is a decent one, but perversely we hardly see him performing it, in spite of the lead character being a musician. Some underrated tracks from his Parade album are among the highlights, including Boys and Girls (which we actually do see him sing), Anotherloverholeinyohead and the mega-hit Kiss, which we hear about a minute of and only then to accompany Prince snogging his leading lady. He had nobody but himself to blame for the way this turned out, as he fired the director Mary Lambert early on and helmed the production alone, even insisting that the colour footage be projected in black and white; some will tell you that this was some kind of spoof, and it certainly ends in unconvincing melodrama, but mostly it appears the joke was on the star.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 4761 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Mary Sibley
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: