Main Cast: Bill Paxton, Linda Kozlowski, Tim Curry, Annie Potts, Dennis Burkley
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
When Claire (Linda Kozlowski) learns her grandmother has been bilked out of $50,000 by the crooked televangelists Ray (Tim Curry) and Darla Porter (Annie Potts), she recruits her redneck boyfriend Jesse (Bill Paxton) to help recover the money. They travel to the Tower of Bethlehem deep in the Arkansas woods to break into the studio and hold the hosts of the show hostage. This timely comedy came in the wake of scandals involving real-life televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Jimmy "I Have Sinned" Swaggert. Neil Cohen and Joel Cohen wrote the screenplay. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Glenn Withrow - Arnold Limpet; Anthony Geary - Stonewall; Jordan Baker - Diane; Paul Ben-Victor - Eddie Depaul; Megan Blake - Cherry; Cindy Brooks - Debbie; Robert John Burke; Jordana Capra - Mary Trenton; Dan Carter - Backup Singer; Vance Colvig - Fritz; Leland Crooke - Sheriff Rascal Lebeaux; Robert Ginnaven - Mean; Elizabeth Gracen - Christie Lynn; Daniel Hirsch - Lee; Jim Holmes - Governor; Brad Kepnick - Rickey Marcell; Chris Martin - Angel; Philip Phillips - Local Newscaster; Logan Ramsey - Jim Bob Collins; Jackie Stewart - Sergeant; John Cody - Billy; Paul Cody - Dean; Brian Thompson - Kenny Hamilton; Georgia A. Adams - Tubby; Lyle E. Armstrong - Armstrong; Jill Augustine - Marie; Randy Bame - Major; Dick Canady - Zachery; Susan Carlsberg - July; Bud Cook - Moose; Karren Dille - Lorette; Caleb Edwards - Guard; Gene Gephardt - Choir Boy; Austin Goss - Dick; Terry Haskell - Tank Pilot; Kelly Householder - Angel; Burke Hully - Josh; Mark W. Johnson - Knuckle; David Kendrick - Band; Gerald F. Leray - Chew; H.T. Lester - Socket; Scott Linden - Dispatcher; Debra Sue Maffett - Miss Dallas; Eddie Maples - Lester Odin; Barry Mines - Rescue Worker; James C. Mullins - Tiny; Craig O'Neal - Bull; Tracy Pearce - Jonsey; Frank Roberts III - Network Newscaster; Lynn Rose - Operator; Tommy Sanders - Reporter; Terry Lee Sneed - Bottle; Jean Tharp - Wife in Grocery Store; Chris F. Thompson - Cop; Julie Uribe - Anna Becky; Gregg Michael Vogt - Deputy; Dorotha Yager - Davine; Young Judy Dockrey - Big Alice; Shirley Jean Young - Juletta; Eric Ware - Band; Robert Peters - Cameraman; Richard Paul - G.W. Wraith
Credit
Mayling Cheng - Art Director, Bill Yahraus - Associate Producer, Nina Axelrod - Casting, Mort Engelberg - Co-producer, Herb Jaffe - Co-producer, Reve Richards - Costume Designer, Stephen J. Buck - First Assistant Director, David Beaird - Director, Bill Yahraus - Editor, Carter Burwell - Composer (Music Score), David Newman - Composer (Music Score), John Cody - Songwriter, Paul Cody - Songwriter, Jim Cushinery - Songwriter, David Newman - Songwriter, Nan O'Byrne - Songwriter, Dean Tschetter - Production Designer, Mark Irwin - Cinematographer, David Streit - Producer, Michele Starbuck - Set Designer, Rick Josephson - Special Effects, Walt Martin - Sound/Sound Designer, Joel Cohen - Screenwriter, Neil Cohen - Screenwriter
Curry is the Rev. Ray Porter, who runs a Pentecostalfaith healing and televangelism empire based in Arkansas. A small group of stereotypical rednecks, one of whom was bilked out of her inheritance by Rev. Porter's ministry and another of whom just got out of prison, try to rob Porter's ministry. A series of wrong turns inside the church during the robbery leads the robbers onstage right in the middle of a broadcast, and the three robbers turn what was supposed to have been "just" a robbery into a hostage situation. During the hostage negotiations, a series of snowballing scandals involving the ministry come to light. The robbery, hostage taking, and scandal revelations are all broadcast live over satellite television as locals gather in bars to watch. Rev. Porter and the robbers develop a rapport during the hostage situation that resembles shop talk among thieves, as they discuss the best ways of investing stolen money. One comic subplot involves the Christian network's producer, a drug-addled electronics wizard named Stonewall who decorates his workspace with Pink Floyd posters, but was hired by the network because "he has found the Lord...he told us so himself." Another subplot involves a local sheriff, himself also an archetypal redneck whose duck hunting trip was interrupted by the incident, who seems to sympathize with the would-be robbers. The film is partly about his moral struggle in trying to enforce the law when his sympathies lie elsewhere. He just wants to see the situation end with nobody getting hurt, and butts heads with the network's owner and federal agents who demand harsher action. The owner of the satellite network, whose character is based on Jerry Falwell, demands that the National Guard be called in leading to a siege and climactic ending.
