Through the Fishtank: Mickey Rourke in The Rainmaker

Francis Ford Coppola directed Mickey Rourke in Rumblefish in 1983.

In 1997, Coppola put the by-then-fallen Mickey Rourke in The Rainmaker, where he played the sleazy lawyer Bruiser Stone.

There is something about Mickey Rourke’s career that loops back in on itself. He reached iconic status very early, he made an impression … not like other actors make impressions by giving good or detailed performances … but by having a force of personality that threatened to un-balance the entire picture. And so … when Rourke started working again, for real, in the late 90s, the smart directors would reference this, would consciously let us in on the secret, the joke. Mickey Rourke could never just slip into a picture, and do a tiny cameo. His presence automatically pulled attention, whether the project could handle it or not. His performance, all of 15 minutes, totally knocks Animal Factory on its side, and I found it to be detrimental to the actual picture. The picture was supposed to be about pasty-faced whiny Furlong. But I kept waiting for his cellmate to come back. The whole movie missed Rourke when he wasn’t onscreen, and that is not a good thing when you are only in a film for 15 minutes. But that is Rourke’s gift as well as his burden. And like I said, the smart directors would utilize this un-balancing effect of his presence, letting the audience know (at least letting the Rourke fans know): “Yes. We realize it is him. Yes. He is here. We know you remember.” Not all actors have that kind of power and presence. Yes, there are stars, and yes, they have iconic status – but there is something different going on with Rourke. Perhaps because the excitement he generated was above and beyond the excitement generated for any other actor in recent memory … and perhaps because he did “go away” for so long … It would seem unfair to just try to slip Rourke into a movie, without somehow letting us who care about him have at least a MOMENT to go, “Oh my God. There he is.”

Coppola gives us that in the opening shots of Rourke in The Rainmaker.

Perhaps only diehard Rourke fans would notice.

But that’s why I’m here. To point out the parallels. To point out the conscious choice of Coppola to reference us back to an earlier Rourke performance. It is a signal, a message, a nod to the power he still generates in an audience that remembers him from the 80s.

If you get it, awesome, then the message is for you. If you don’t get it, then nothing is lost. It’s just an interesting shot of an interesting character.

But no way would a diehard Rourke fan see the opening moment in Bruiser Stone’s office and not think back … remembering …


RAINMAKER, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1997

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RUMBLEFISH, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1983

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I was also very pleased to see my old boyfriend Dean Stockwell show up in The Rainmaker as the hacking-cough-infested cranky judge who excuses himself from an important meeting “to go to the can”. It was lovely to see him again.

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5 Responses to Through the Fishtank: Mickey Rourke in The Rainmaker

  1. Cara Ellison says:

    Chills.

    Since I moved to flyover country, the Wrestler still isn’t playing. I’m on pins.

  2. red says:

    I’m pretty sure the nationwide release is mid-January. Let the buzz keep building!!

  3. Nicola says:

    Only Feb 20th here in Uh-frica.

  4. Kristen says:

    Completely missed that reference. So cool! The Rumble Fish screenshot is gorgeous.

  5. blogring.org says:

    Blogring for mickey

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