Great Balls of Fire!

1989

Action / Biography / Drama / Music

16
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 53% · 26 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 53% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 19716 19.7K

musical rock 'n' roll musician train older man younger woman relationship religious fundamentalism

Plot summary

The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.

Director

Jim McBride Photo
Jim McBride

Top cast

Winona Ryder Photo
Winona Ryder as Myra Gale Brown
Mark W. Johnson Photo
Mark W. Johnson as Sheriff
Steve Allen Photo
Steve Allen as Himself
John Mulrooney Photo
John Mulrooney as Talk Show Host
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
939.22 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 5
1.75 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 16

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ccthemovieman-1 6 / 10

The Good & Bad Of 'Great Balls Of Fire'

Being a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis since he began rockin' way back in the 1950s, this movie is a bit of a disappointment overall. The "bad" outweighs the "good" in here, story-wise. GOOD - The music - naturally! There is some great music in here, featuring Dennis Quaid as the entertaining rockabilly-rock-country singer who surely will go down as the one of the great entertainers of his generation. Quaid lip-syncs the songs, but that okay. They sound better with Lewis doing the singing. The movie is colorful, entertaining and fast-moving. Wynona Ryder looks really cute, too.BAD - There is a little bit too much emphasis on Lewis' brother, Jimmy Swaggart (Alec Baldwin) and, of course, they make him look like some fanatical religious preacher. Hey, I'm not a "charismatic" follower but there was an obvious bias in here and it wasn't necessary. Also, the writers actually made Lewis look a sympathetic victim for the criticism he got marrying his 13-year-old cousin! Only in the film-making world do we see poor morals given the thumbs-up. Sorry, Jerry Lee, but marrying your 13-year-old cousin warrants a bit of criticism! I later discovered this movie was based on a book by that the same "girl," so it's no wonder it makes that relationship look "legitimate." The ending was not appropriate, either. Most of the characters in this film were exaggerated to the degree that they all look cartoonish. This movie could have been so much better with a more objective look at Jerry Lee's life and people in it.
Reviewed by moonspinner55 5 / 10

An unrestrained talent gets the performance it requires...

Speaking in hindsight, Dennis Quaid has recently gone on record as saying he should've taken the filmmakers' advice and brought his portrayal of real-life hellraising singer/piano player Jerry Lee Lewis down a notch or two. However, it's precisely Quaid's energy (and the accomplished 1950s period flavor) that keeps this otherwise undistinguished movie going. It's one-half rollicking musical-bio, and the other half an unsteady riches-to-rags tale. Jerry Lee finds his bombastic stage presence hard to shake off in life, rising to the top of the charts--and about to steal the rock 'n roll mantle from Elvis P.--until a marriage to his under-aged second cousin causes a backlash that lasted many years. Fashioned like a live-action cartoon, it's something of a drag when the filmmakers eventually pull out all the usual tried-and-tired clichés, boozy depression and angry rebellion. Winona Ryder, as Quaid's teen bride, struggles with a sketchy role; in fact, all the supporting characters are one-dimensional compared to Lewis. Quaid (who lipsyncs to the vocals but played his own piano) rides roughshod over the whole shaky enterprise. ** from ****
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