VidMate
Free YouTube video & music downloader
ACTOR
Karen BlackMike PattonSusan TraylorKathleen Wilhoite
DIRECTOR
Steve Balderson
SYNOPSICS
Firecracker (2005) is a English movie. Steve Balderson has directed this movie. Karen Black,Mike Patton,Susan Traylor,Kathleen Wilhoite are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2005. Firecracker (2005) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama,Mystery,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
A young boy who lives in a dysfunctional home went to the carnival and met a singer. Shortly after, a murder took place. The town's sheriff is seeking answers. The singer is trying to escape her environment so is the boy. But both has to face their own horror.
Firecracker (2005) Trailers
Same Actors
Same Director
Firecracker (2005) Reviews
"they say nothing ever happens in Kansas"
I was fortunate enough to see this film twice - both the premier screening and it's subsequent showing both at the Raindance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Jury Prize - Best Film. Unfortunately the sound was a bit problematic at the premier, due to a dodgy speaker (front left - the side I was sitting on) and so seeing it again really made a big difference to the film for me. Karen Black (playing both religious mother called Eleanor, and a circus singer called Sandra) was wonderful in her dual roles, and Mike Patton I felt was more convincing as David (Eleanor's abusive alcoholic eldest son) than as Frank - the owner/manager of the circus. The story centers around the disappearance and suspected murder of David, which is investigated by the Sheriff Ed (really well played by Susan Traylor), but also deals with the various unhealthy, abusive and controlling relationships that exist between the characters. The one relationship that seems to be nothing more than friendship is between Jimmy (Eleanor's youngest son) and Sandra, as they each strive for their own freedom from their abusive lives. Eleanor tries to maintain normality in her family - despite her husbands declining health and David's abuse of Jimmy. Sandra strives for a normal life, to return home and escape the circus, particularly the abusive Frank. The question is will they be successful? Visually the film is quite beautiful - the opening shot of the prairie burning is just one example of the wonderful cinematography. A viewer might also recall "Pleasantville" in the film's use of B+W and Colour - the circus is always in colour, the town in black and white. It turns out to be quite a useful convention, on a number of levels, and does help to structure the story for the viewer. I loved this film, mainly for the performance of Karen Black as Eleanor/Sandra, the visual feast of the beautiful cinematography, and the excellently plotted storyline (which is based on true events).
Abused young man falls Oedipally--and histrionically-- in love with abused sideshow attraction.
I forced myself to sit through the entire DVD, so it couldn't have been the very worst film I've ever seen. Still, I can't think of one that's worse. I began to wonder if was a parody: one of those arcane, in-crowd extended jokes whose humor failed to penetrate my too-serious mind, but after reading the awards (!) and reviews, I have abandoned that theory. If it is a film-maker's joke, it has taken in a huge number of viewers. Firecracker lacks even a shred of nuance. Every emotion is troweled on the screen melodramatically; every line emoted more on the nose than any soap opera utterance; every facial expression bulging over the top like a beer belly. The characters and their motives are trite and utterly predictable. The fact that the story is based on real events does not excuse the miserable screenplay. Performances range from amateurish to atrocious, excepting Susan Traylor's and Paul Sizemore's. Karen Black channels Gloria Swanson at her Sunset Boulevardian worst. Jak Kendall is all over the place, and not in a good way, particularly when he tries to portray nervousness: you will have seen many a seventh-grader act more convincingly. The cinematography is bearable, though as overblown as the script and acting--which is to say, laughably inflated. The direction and editing give us excruciatingly long scenes that say nothing, but were evidently included because they satisfied some directorial fetish or clause in an actor's contract. Altogether, this is a bloated, high camp, reprehensible waste of film and 112 tortured minutes of my time. I still can't quite believe it is meant to be taken seriously. What is serious, however, is this: If you haven't seen it, don't.
One of the best detective noirs I've seen
As a fan of film noir and detective movies, I am too often put off by modern attempts into the genre that try to replace atmosphere and intelligence by just having gratuitous nudity and swearing; the genre managed atmosphere without these in the forties and fifties but yet modern films seem to rely on them. With Firecracker however, everything works perfectly and, as such, the noir portions look exactly like they were made in the forties and fifties. Everything down to lighting, dialogue, and even the delivery of the lines. Even if the material and tone is darker and harsher than would have been allowed back then, it's the closest film to capture accurate film noir in today's cinema. One of the best detective noirs I have seen in ages. The story development is always going to be the most important thing and Firecracker gets it spot-on throughout, doing the proper thing of starting with a simple story and continually building it more and more complex as it goes. Unlike some other "classics", Firecracker manages to do this without ever losing the audience and I found the plot to be both rewardingly complex but yet still very easy to follow. Needless to say, things are very dark and the script is convincingly dark, leading to an ending that is as depressing as I've seen not so much in what actually happens but also in the wider implications for the characters that the credits prevent us from seeing. Director Steve Balderson does a great job of putting this story in a setting that produces a real strong sense of period but also manages to always be showing us the darkness coming through subtly. Of course it helps that he also has a great cast to work with. Karen Black is iconic in this role and, if I had to pick one film to act as an introduction to Black then it would be this film. She brings out her complex characters better than most actresses in the business. She's a living legend! Susan Traylor has less screen time but is just as impressive. Jak Kendall is unbelievably great for his first film. The supporting cast are all fine but really the film belongs to these three, with Karen Black being the stand out role. Overall this is a very complex, mysterious film; it is dark and seedy without relying on swearing or nudity to set the atmosphere. The direction is great, with a real atmosphere and sense of time and place that is matched by a great collection of performances delivering a great script. A work of art.
Not your regular film
"Firecracker" is not your regular film; it's done with a technique that is not common in the industry, and therefore has been and probably will be, both criticized and praised. The technique is used by showing realistic moments in merciless (and real) black and white and fantasy moments in dazzling colour. There are some of the most elaborate sequences of any movie ever made. This way of filming shows how the two opposite worlds become one world as the story lines merge. The plot itself does not trail far from the true story it's based on, judging by what's on the official web site. So it's anyone's guess as to what parts of the movie are dramatized and which parts are truth. Visually, this movie is spectacular. The colors are scorching and add a sense of mystery to the film. The music is exquisite and the performances are perfectly played. This movie hit me in a really hard way. It's impossible to stop thinking about this movie.
Multilayered masterpiece
One of my new all-time favorite movies, though if had to choose only one film to bring on a desert island, I'd probably go for Moulin Rouge. The main appeal of Firecracker (and its main weakness, according to its detractors) is that the film can be viewed from many different points of view. As an almost traditional classic tragedy; as a straight detective story; as a character study of an imprisoned boy (though everyone in the cast is trapped by something); as a carefully paced thriller; or, as a surreal dream. All of those genres fit here. And they fit perfectly. People have criticized Balderson's choice of firing Dennis Hopper in favor of Mike Patton as the lead, but I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the part(s): he's a genius, where he had the courage to play a self-destructive, negative character, with bitter realism. Full of great, innovative ideas that I think will be copied over and over for years to come. Karen Black and Mike Patton deserve Oscar nominations!