Ever since Jazz Age singing sensation Al Jolson ushered in the talkies in 1927’s “The Jazz Singer,” pop and rock stars have been trying to crossover and act on the big screen. There have been many recent examples, including Alanis Morissette playing God almighty herself in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma” and Jewel as a Civil War widow in Ang Lee’s “Ride with the Devil.” And on March 31, Bruce Springsteen makes his acting debut, playing himself in the used-record store drama “High Fidelity.” With all of this pop-culture cross pollination, it seemed like an appropriate time to take stock of some of the more, and less, successful pop and rock star acting turns.
Crossover hits
– “From Here to Eternity” (1953): Rumors ran rampant that Frank Sinatra used mob muscle to score the coveted role of scrappy Pvt. Maggio in this classic World War II drama. No matter how he got the part, he was perfect for it. His battle to the death with Sergeant Fatso (Ernest Borgnine) was pure pathos. Sinatra won a best supporting actor Oscar and resuscitated his flagging career.
“Lady Sings the Blues” (1972): Motown diva Diana Ross took on the grim, junked-out life of jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday in this dark and intense biopic. Her performance is beautifully and brutally raw; her eyes are bottomless pools of despair, and her jittery, manic performance is pitch perfect. Needless to say, her pipes also did Billie proud.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976): If any rock icon was ever born and bred to play a wan, pasty, hyper-intelligent alien, it would have to be David Bowie. In this intriguing Nicolas Roeg sci-fi gem, Bowie is Mr. Newton, an intergalactic traveler who takes a detour to Earth looking for water for his parched planet. His calm, cool turn is half C3PO and half Howard Hughes, but the whole thing works wonderfully.
“Boyz in the Hood” (1991): Ice Cube made a name for himself in rap as a gangsta, and he used the same inner-city tough guy persona to stand out in this edgy urban drama. Cube plays his character Doughboy as a violent young thug who also has a ton of brains beneath his considerable brawn. Doughboy’s mom loves her other son, a football star, best, and Cube does a stellar job grappling with all the emotional turmoil and conflict. “Juice” (1992): The late Tupac Shakur stars as a member of a quartet of high school kids who move quickly from boyish pranks to serious ultraviolence. As Bishop, Shakur’s transformation from hyperactive adolescent to cold-hearted homicidal maniac would have done James Cagney proud. Watching Shakur in this film is a terrible reminder of what an amazing young talent he was.
“The Bodyguard” (1992): Talk about typecasting — wealthy pop icon Whitney Houston plays Rachel Marron, a rich, high-strung temperamental ultra-famous singing star. This was Houston’s acting debut, and her character certainly wasn’t a stretch, but her performance was still effortlessly believable (hey, she had a lot of practice). “The Bodyguard” is old-school Hollywood fluff, but the public loved it and Houston’s chemistry with co-star Kevin Costner was potently mixed. In addition to getting good critical reviews, Houston also scored a massive pop hit off the soundtrack.
“Falling from Grace” (1992): Feisty roots rocker John Mellencamp made his acting and directorial debut in this film adapted from a story by Larry McMurtry. The plot somewhat mirrors Mellencamp’s own tale — he plays a country singer named Bud who returns home to Indiana in an attempt to get his life back together. Mellencamp’s completely natural acting abilities and insightful directing talent garnered raves from the Village Voice and Rolling Stone, and he deserved all the plaudits.
“Fight Club” (1999): Stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton got most of the attention in this bizarre testosterone soaked drama, but portly rocker Meat Loaf was also crucial to its success. Meat Loaf played Robert “Big Bob” Paulson, a cancer survivor with giant drug-induced breasts who joins the punchy ranks of “Fight Club.” While his role had huge potential for bloated silliness, Meat Loaf’s performance was fit and trim, and he added just the right emotional weight to his part.
“Brimstone and Treacle” (1982): The kindness of strangers is not always what it seems. Such is the moral of this amazingly creepy dysfunctional drama featuring Sting as a drifter who cons his way into the home of a family coming to grips with caring for a daughter who lies in a coma. Playing a kind of sociopathic Eddie Haskell with a hankering for necrophilia, Sting’s smarmy, glib performance is truly sick — in a good way.
Crossover Misses:
“Charro!” (1969): After starring in loads of flimsy fluff (“Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Jailhouse Rock,” etc.), Elvis wanted to really act. He got his opportunity in this gritty Western, playing the title character who must track down bandits who stole a canon he is falsely accused of taking. The film’s advertisements read, “A different kind of role. A different kind of man.” Unfortunately, it was just too different for The King, whose hapless Western foray went south fast.
“Freejack” (1992): Even though he is a master at mesmerizing massive rock audiences, Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger proved more wooden than a giant sequoia in this inane futuristic thriller. Playing a scowling, bad-tempered bounty hunter, he not only looks like a reject from Michael Jackson’s “Bad” video, but also he delivers finely crafted lines like “Get ’em” with all the menace of a pet rock. Jagger definitely proved that he — and the audience — can’t get no satisfaction when he takes to the big screen.
“Shanghai Surprise” (1986): Madonna’s acting career is littered with mediocre performances, but in this role she certainly stood out — for all the wrong reasons. Starring opposite then-husband Sean Penn, Madonna plays against type as a Far East missionary in the 1930s. She whines through the picture and delivers her lines in a pathetic, emotionless monotone. The chemistry between her and Penn is nonexistent, and in their love scenes they look like two cold fish slapping together. In the end, the biggest surprise about this film was just how bad Madonna could be.
“Roadside Prophets” (1992): Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz co-starred with legendary punk rocker John Doe of X fame in this quirky Kerouacian on-the-road biker picture. While Doe’s performance was subtle and cool, Horovitz was shrill and obnoxious, so much so that during the entire film you feel as if Doe is desperately trying to maintain his distance from the sophmoronic rapper. Horovitz constantly mugs for the camera and always delivers his lines a beat early, but then rhythm was never the Beasties’ real strength.
“Lisztomania” (1975): Roger Daltrey has always been seen as the pretty boy frontman of The Who, and in this exasperatingly surreal biopic of the life of composer Franz Liszt, he is nothing more than a pretty face. Dazed and confused, Daltrey stumbles from one overblown Busby-Berkeley-meets-Salvador-Dali musical number to the next. At one point, Liszt’s manhood is placed in a guillotine, and after watching this picture you realize that’s not such an inappropriate punishment for a role this bad.
“Hearts of Fire” (1987): Bob Dylan may be the most important rock ‘n’ roll songwriter of all time, but his performance as retired rock star Billy Parker was a sign that he should keep singing for his supper. Dylan sported curly blonde hair in this film, and more than one reviewer remarked that his silly performance was on the level of some of Elvis’ less memorable screen turns.
“Disorderlies” (1987): The Three Stooges were the obvious model for novelty rappers the Fat Boys in this slapstick farce. While the film does have a plot — the hefty trio (Mark Morales as Markie, Darren Robinson as Buffy and Damon Wimbley as Kool) are hired by a nefarious nephew to work as nurses for his ailing uncle — the story is nothing more than an excuse for the Boys to continuously slap each other and gorge themselves on cake and pizza. And that’s an extremely poor excuse for a movie.
“Cool as Ice” (1991): Flash-in-the-pan rapper Vanilla Ice plays a rebellious motorcycle-riding teen who romances the school’s good-girl honor student. The film’s metaphor-mangling tagline, “How Do You Melt A Girl’s Heart Of Stone? Just Add Ice,” presciently foreshadowed the critics’ rather chilly response to Ice’s method of acting. This film is so bad it will give you chills.
