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Mickey’s No Angel
Philip Wuntch
Film Critic
March 12, 1987
The very intense
Mr. Rourke isn't loath to voice his strong opinions.
LOS ANGELES -- Mickey Rourke is stating his mind.
He's expressing his opinions. He's speaking his
piece. Rourke, the star of the hot, riveting, sexy
and violent Angel Heart, has earned a reputation for
not following the norm. It doesn't seem to bother
him at all. "Listen, baby, the only way I can get
through the day is not to take the movie industry
seriously. Man, I just go in, do my job, go home.
I'm here right now to publicize Angel Heart as a
favor to Alan,' he said, referring to director Alan
Parker. Before long, he may not be doing much of
anything in the States. "Eventually, I feel sure I'm
going to relocate in Europe. I'm just too
dissatisfied with the life here -- the movies, the
attitudes, everything. 'Rourke always has been an
impressive presence on film. Movie goers first
noticed him as the intense arsonist in Body Heat, in
which he practically blew William Hurt off the
screen during their scenes together. He won raves
for his warmhearted ladies' man in Diner – a film
about coming of age in Baltimore that practically
everyone, except Rourke, seems to have liked. Since
Diner, the critical reaction to Rourke's
performances has been mixed, but even the severest
reviews have given him points for being interesting.
He played Matt Dillon's revered older brother in
Francis Coppola's Rumble Fish and an ineffectual
thief in The Pope of Greenwich Village. He then
portrayed a tough, doomed New York cop in Michael
Cimino's Year of the Dragon and, most notoriously, a
slightly kinky businessman in 9 1/2 Weeks. He
appeared at the early afternoon Angel Heart
interviews unshaven and unkempt, having been
shooting his current movie, Barfly, until 7 a.m. He
doodled on a paper napkin constantly during the
interview. "I don't want to come on too strong about
this,' he said, "but I just jibe a little better
with those European guys. 'He speaks slowly, softly,
as befits a man who has had little sleep. But his
disillusionment is obvious. "You can take just so
many Brat Pack movies, you know? Those movies are
made because they don't really offend anyone. I just
did a film called Prayer for the Dying with Bob
Hoskins, a good actor who's willing to take risks.
It's about Northern Ireland. But the producer, Sam
Goldwyn Jr., wants to turn it into a big shoot-'em-up,
and he's lousing up everything. But that's the
influence of the American movie system. "There is
definitely something wrong with an industry in which
the works of Scorsese, Cimino and Coppola are
reviewed by someone like Rex Reed. I mean, Rex Reed!
Those men are artists, and they're supposed to take
Rex Reed seriously. Have you ever listened to Rex
Reed? You can't take a system seriously that allows
Rex Reed to be a practicing critic. 'He says that if
he had been in a position of power at the time, he
would have turned down both Diner and Body Heat.
"Diner wasn't my kind of film. And Body Heat . . .
well, people remember me from it, but my role was
very short. It just took one day to shoot most of
it, and I've got better things to do than sit on a
bunk bed all day and talk to William Hurt.' "Oh,
baby, really? William Hurt, intense? . . . Well,
maybe so, maybe not. I do know that when you look at
who the stars over here in the United States are --
hey, baby, I don't want to be included.' Rourke's
previous film, 9 1/2 Weeks, also comes in for its
share of criticism. "That film should have been made
as an "X.' But we wound up making a mediocre movie
in order to appease various groups. I mean, if
you're gonna make 9 1/2 Weeks, let's damn well make
9 1/2 Weeks. It wound up looking like Flashdance.
'He's obviously a hard man to please. So what does
he look for in a script? "Few lines and short
schedules,' Rourke replies. Someone should have told
Rourke that Spencer Tracy said it better 40years
ago. When asked what he looked for in a script,
Tracy said, "Days off.' The thought sounded more
amusing when Tracy said it.
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