Passion Play | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Mitch Glazer |
Produced by |
Daniel Dubiecki Megan Ellison |
Written by | Mitch Glazer |
Starring |
Mickey Rourke Megan Fox Rhys Ifans Bill Murray Kelly Lynch |
Cinematography | Christopher Doyle |
Edited by | Billy Weber |
Production
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Distributed by | Image Entertainment |
Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $15 million |
Box office | $3,669 |
Passion Play is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by Mitch Glazer, executive produced by Rebecca Wang and starring Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox, Rhys Ifans and Bill Murray. Filming for the production began in December 2009 and is presented by Rebecca Wang Entertainment. It premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
Nate (Mickey Rourke), a small-time jazz musician and recovering heroin addict, is clearly a hard-luck case. After a performance one night, he is mugged and bound. He awakens to find himself in a vehicle and being driven out into the desert, but he is helpless to do anything about it. His assailant then walks Nate away from the car and is about to kill him, but instead the assailant is shot dead by a band of Native Americans, and Nate is left unharmed. Nate wanders around in the desert and climbs a mountain, where he looks down upon a carnival and sideshow. He walks through the carnival, and asks the owner to use a telephone, and he wanders among the fire eaters, sword swallowers, and other performers. Nate finds himself drawn to the exotic beauty of Lily (Megan Fox), a freak performer who has wings on her back. Lily is cold and dismissive, but it dawns on her that this gentle giant may well be her ticket to a better life. The sideshow owner (Rhys Ifans) attempts to kill Nate, but Lily rescues him by stealing a truck, and together they flee to the city.
Nate and Lily begin to form a relationship. Nate, fearing another assassination attempt, seeks out Happy Shannon (Bill Murray), a gangster with deep pockets who had ordered Nate killed after Nate had slept with his wife, whom Happy also had murdered. Nate plans to put Lily on display for paying customers, and he offers Happy 75 percent of the proceeds. Happy dismisses the proposal and does not believe Lily has wings, but he later sees for himself, when Nate arranges an appearance of Lily for him, but at a safe distance.