A Prayer for the Dying (1987) The Samuel Goldwyn Company/Drama-Thriller RT: 107 minutes Rated R (violence, language, brief rear nudity, suggestive content, thematic elements) Director: Mike Hodges Screenplay: Edmund Ward and Martin Lynch Music: Bill Conti Cinematography: Michael Garfath Release date: September 11, 1987 (US) Cast: Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins, Alan Bates, Sammi Davis, Christopher Fulford, Liam Neeson, Leonard Termo, Camille Coduri, Maurice O’Connell, Alison Doody, Karl Johnson, Ian Bartholomew, Peggy Aitchison. Box Office: $1.4M (US)
Rating: ***
I won’t get into the politics of the crime drama A Prayer for the Dying. This isn’t the place for it. Besides, the movie doesn’t seem overly concerned with exploring the problems in Northern Ireland either. It’s content to feature a former IRA hitman trying to leave behind his life of violence as its protagonist and leave it at that. I’m perfectly fine with that. Besides, there are countless other movies that deal with the subject in a more meaningful way. Have you seen the 2014 film ’71? If not, I highly recommend it.
I remember when A Prayer for the Dying came out. Advance word wasn’t good. Both director Mike Hodges (Get Carter) and star Mickey Rourke (Angel Heart) publicly disowned it after the studio made unauthorized cuts. In what can only be perceived as an insult, they wanted it to be more like an action movie in order to appeal to American audiences. I know this decision was motivated purely by box office greed, but it still feels like they think we’re all idiots here in the US. They also replaced John Scott’s (Greystoke) original score with one by Bill Conti (Rocky), again without permission from Hodges. He was so angered by their unsolicited interference that he attempted (unsuccessfully) to have his name removed from the credits.
Rourke plays Martin Fallon, an IRA hitman who decides he’s had enough after accidentally blowing up a school bus full of children. He flees to London where he makes a deal with crime boss Jack Meehan (Bates, King of Hearts). In exchange for doing one last job- in this case, killing a “business” rival- he’ll be supplied with $50K, a passport and safe passage to America.
He carries out his assignment in a cemetery where he’s seen by local priest Father Da Costa (Hoskins, Mona Lisa). Meehan orders Martin to kill the priest because there can be no witnesses. Martin has a better idea, one that doesn’t involve more killing. He admits to the murder in a confessional booth effectively silencing Da Costa due to the seal of confession. For all the non-Catholics out there, this refers to the duty of priests not to reveal anything they hear during Confession. Initially infuriated over being put in this position, Da Costa pleads with Martin to seek absolution and cleanse his soul.
Unfortunately, this isn’t good enough for Meehan. He still wants the priest dead and Martin too. He’s not the only one after him. The IRA wants Martin too. They send his former cohort Liam (Neeson, Schindler’s List) to bring him back to Belfast. For his part, Martin doesn’t want to go back. He wants to give up his life of violence. He’s also fallen in love with the priest’s blind niece Anna (Davis, The Lair of the White Worm) who lives with him at his church where she serves as organist.
Based on the 1973 best seller by Jack Higgins, A Prayer for the Dying is a decent crime thriller in which serious themes take a back seat to more conventional genre elements- e.g. love interest in danger, a deadly trap laid for the hero and ticking time bomb. It never addresses “The Troubles” between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland in a meaningful way. There’s a lot of non-specific talk about “the cause”, that’s it. It simply uses the protagonist’s IRA involvement as a plot device. It makes more of an effort when it comes to religion and the church’s view on violence. There’s a lot of talk about penitence and seeking forgiveness. I can’t speak to what exactly the studio cut from A Prayer for the Dying, but I have heard rumors of a Director’s Cut. I’d be interested in seeing it.
All that aside, what’s left is a pretty good movie. Rourke, who spent time with actual IRA members in preparation for the role, is good in the lead role. His Irish accent sounds about right; the red hair is a bit much though. I was a big Mickey Rourke fan in the 80s. He consistently took on challenging roles in titles like Diner, Rumble Fish, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Year of the Dragon, 9 ½ Weeks, Angel Heart, Barfly and A Prayer for the Dying. Hoskins is fantastic as the priest with a violent background. He did things in the Army he isn’t proud of. He became a priest to atone for his sins. He understands Martin better than anybody. Bates is terrifying as the vicious, cold-blooded gangster who also runs a funeral home. Here’s a man with an interesting moral code. He has no qualms about killing or ordering hits, but he won’t tolerate any member of his staff bilking old ladies. Davis is simply lovely as the blind girl who sees a kind person when she looks at Martin.
Although it tends to drag in parts, A Prayer for the Dying is a compelling film. The last 20 or so minutes are a complete action movie cliché with Martin barely escaping a deadly trap on a freighter and rushing to get Anna and her uncle to safety before a bomb goes off. You know what, I don’t mind. It’s hardly original, but it’s not a total misstep either. I don’t what else to say other than I like A Prayer for the Dying. It has its flaws, but it’s not the stinker everybody makes it out to be.
