Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1997
This World, Then the Fireworks
Buy This World, Then the Fireworks now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'This World, Then the Fireworks' is a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Michael Oblowitz and starring Billy Zane, Gina Gershon and Sheryl Lee. The screenplay is based on a short story of the same name by Jim Thompson.
Plot
As children, Marty and Carol Lakewood, fraternal twins, witness a brutal murder involving their father. They grow up to become depraved and incestuous adults, living in coastal California in the mid-1950s.
Marty is a skillful journalist, but grows bored with every new job and is easily distracted. When he seduces a young police officer, Lois Archer, and discovers she owns a beach house, Marty sets out to double-cross her and make the property his own.
Carol is a heartless prostitute, willing to go to any lengths to con men out of their money, or make them pay in other ways. Powerless to stop them is Mrs. Lakewood, a weak-willed woman who suspects the terrible truth in her children's relationship, but knows no way to stop it.
Cast
* Billy Zane as Marty
**Christopher Jones as Young Marty
***Christian Durango as Little Marty
* Gina Gershon as Carol
**Megan Leigh Brown as Young Carol
***Sloan Cobb as Little Carol
* Sheryl Lee as Lois
* Rue McClanahan as Mrs. Lakewood
**Roberta Hanley as Young Mrs. Lakewood
* Seymour Cassel as Detective Harris
* Will Patton as Lieutenant Morgan
* Richard Edson as Joe
* Tom Keeley as Lyle
* William Hootkins as Jake Krutz
* Philip Loch as Marty Lakewood's Father
* Elis Imboden as neighbor's Wife
* Mark Jeffrey Miller as Lloyd
* Marianna Alacchi as Glenda
* Robert Pentz as Lou
* Orson Oblowitz as Eugene
* Thad Mace as Tim
* Jonathan Taylor Luthren as Ben
* Stephanie Fisher as Claire
* Lou Criscuolo as McCloud
* Jeffrey Pillars as Galloway
* John Bennes as Griffith
* Barry Bell as Barnett Gibons
* David Lenthall as Doctor
* Terry Nienhuis as Minister
* Valentin de Vargas as Mexican Doctor
* Dean Mumford as Marine
* Willy Cobbs as Blues Musician
* Brian Keith Gamble as Spindly Man
* Mert Hatfield as Bus Driver
* Matt O'Toole as Thug 1
* Norman Max Maxwell as Thug 2
Reception and release
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 38% approval rating based on 8 reviews, with an average ranking of 3.9/10.
Todd McCarthy of 'Variety' wrote "In the hands of filmmaker Michael Oblowitz, novelist Jim Thompson's story "This World, Then the Fireworks" gets an elegantly stylish, highly erotic, intentionally over-the-top rendition".
'Total Film' called the film "sexy, stylized, deliberately overheated slice of noir".
On November 14, 2017, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray of the film.
References
Buy This World, Then the Fireworks now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1997