This Michael J. Fox-Starring Film Was Originally Written for Bruce Springsteen

Reklamı Geç

Kaynak 1

Hata Bildir ×

[wpforms id="8" title="false" description="false"]

The legendary Michael J. Fox was at a career peak in the mid-‘80s. His NBC sitcom Family Ties was one of the highest-rated television shows, and he reached matinee idol status with the release of Back to the Future. Having proven his comedic chops could appeal to audiences of all ages, Fox shifted gears into drama for his first post-Future project, Light of Day. But if the role of a rust-belt rock guitarist and singer seemed out of Fox’s depth, that’s because the role was intended for “The Boss” himself: Bruce Springsteen.

The moody 1987 musical drama by Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Cat People) told a soulful tale with the essence of Springsteen’s songs about life struggles in a working-class environment. Aside from Fox’s bold dramatic leap, Light of Day marked the debut of rock icon Joan Jett playing the ‘80s heartthrob’s reckless sister. Though Roger Ebert gave it a four-and-a-half-star praise for the performances and Schrader’s screenplay, the film holds a 53% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, as most professional critics felt that the leads were completely miscast. Even without Springsteen’s presence on screen, his essence is ingrained in Light of Day’s melodramatic narrative.

What Is ‘Light of Day’ About?

Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett as Joe and Patti in Light of Day.

In the blue-collar community of Cleveland, Ohio, Joe Rasnick (Fox) and his sister Patti (Jett) are the lead performers of the local group The Barbusters, who play in local bars in their area. Joe is the only true breadwinner of his household, holding down a day job in a nearby factory. Meanwhile, Patti’s rock star dreams distort the reality of being unemployed and raising her child, Benji, much to the discomfort of her parents, Jeanette (Gena Rowlands) and Benjamin (Jason Miller).

After Joe gets laid off from his job, he joins Patti, little Benji, and the rest of The Barbusters, including bassist Bu (Michael McKean) and drummer Billy (Paul J. Harkins), on a statewide tour. It is on the tour that Patti’s worst instincts as a parent come out, causing friction with Joe, who takes Benji away from her out of necessity, and eventually the band dissolves. When Jeanette falls gravely ill, however, Joe and Patti have to confront some deep-rooted family issues before they can ever come back together.

‘Light of Day’ Lacks Edge for a Rock ‘n’ Roll Drama

Though Schrader had established himself for directing low-key thrillers, he had a great understanding of the struggles of surviving in the working-class world, as he depicted in his first directorial effort with 1978’s Blue Collar. As a loose companion piece to the Richard Pryor drama, Light of Day emphasizes how the power of music provides an escape from reality while creating disillusionment at the same time. Fox’s Joe has both feet in reality with the love of performing and taking responsibility. Patti, however, takes a self-destructive path in her quest to make music all her life, adding a greater burden to her brother, paying off a factory co-worker with a brother-in-law that Patti stole a mixing board from. The Rasnick siblings simply try to survive with the bare minimum they have as artists, even as Joe has to be the glue to hold together a fractured family.

Even with all the right narrative elements in place, Light of Day falls short of an MTV-era cinematic triumph because Schrader’s execution resembles a made-for-television project. The cinematography by Ordinary People’s John Bailey is extremely flat with muted colors and basic wide shots with punch in close-ups. While Jett brings authenticity to the musical sequences, her acting abilities are frequently one-note, as if she’s preserving her rock star image while restraining any sense of vulnerability. A crucial moment in the hospital between Jett and a powerhouse performer like Rowlands ends up flatlining because the Gloria star is giving her full dramatic strength to the scene as Jett coldly delivers her dialogue with a thirty-yard stare in her eyes. The casting of Jett as well as Fox adds to the greater issue of Light of Day: Two real-life megastars struggle to suspend disbelief, portraying economically deprived artists.

‘Light of Day’ Was Almost Bruce Springsteen’s Acting Debut

Light of Day could have been a radically different picture with Springsteen as the headliner. In Schrader’s 2015 interview with Creative Screenwriting, the director initially had The Boss in mind for Joe when the script was originally titled “Born in the USA”. Given the fact that the NJ-born icon’s biggest hits illustrated both the quest to escape the blue-collar world and the tragedy of an American dream that’s simply an idea in theory rather than practice, Springsteen’s natural personality was grounded enough to believe him as a struggling artist.

Though The Boss contributed to writing the title track, acting was not in The Boss’s repertoire. Schrader recalls that Springsteen had second thoughts about an acting career “because of the whole control issue.” The Long Branch, NJ star’s entire career was built on songs about the common person and the lonely road to achieving big dreams. The glamorous Hollywood lifestyle was never built into Springsteen’s image, as evidenced by his depiction by Jeremy Allen White in the biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. However, the script’s original title hooked The Boss so much that he would credit Schrader for what would become his seminal 1984 recording about the mistreatment of Vietnam War veterans.

Despite possessing the spark of energy needed to stretch his talents into a coming-of-age drama, including his standout musical numbers with Jett, Fox’s audience-friendly image, in contrast to Springsteen’s, was difficult to adjust to a world-weary factory worker constantly hit by life’s struggles, be it getting laid off from work or being an unlikely parental figure to his immature sister’s son. The lack of edge and grit from Light of Day’s overall direction by Schrader keeps the film from being a quintessential ‘80s classic.

Light of Day is available to rent or buy from Amazon in the U.S.