The Last Days of Frankie the Fly

Why do they call him The Fly? Because he eats so much shit.

That's the role of Dennis Hopper's "Fly", a modest and subservient little man who allows himself to become a laughingstock for some high level mobsters. They use him as whipping-boy, serving-wench, runner, and general gofer. They treat him like a sub-human slave.

But Frankie has a dream. He intends to become a filmmaker, with the help of a NYU film school grad who is in the mob's clutches, and a porno actress who aspires to legitimacy.

In order to pull off his scheme, he needs ultimately to confront the mob boss and kill him mano-a-mano.

NUDITY REPORT

No nudity, but there are several good looks at Daryl Hannah's derriere in thong briefs.

The film is filled with sensationalized language and violence. At one point the filmmaker (Kiefer Sutherland) gets trussed up in one of those S&M situations with the red ball in his mouth, and he is then hung on a game show prize wheel, where mob bass Sal (Michale Madsen) spins him around for a while, until deciding to cut out one of his eyes.

Then Madsen fills the porn actress (Daryl Hannah) with heroin and forces her to fellate him in front of Frankie. Oh, that Madsen. What a card! When you see Madsen appear on the screen, you can usually bet he's not going to be playing one of those Tom Hanks - Alan Alda sensitive 90's guy roles.

You get the idea about the film? All of the sensationalism of Tarantino, but with all of the wit removed for your viewing convenience.

Not available on dvd, and the vhs tape is curently out of print.

The performances were mostly kinky and exaggerated, but I liked Dennis Hopper's richly layered performance as the humiliated little man trying to regain some human dignity in his life. The rest of the movie is nothing special, but Hopper is really quite sympathetic and real.

The Critics Vote

General consensus: Maltin 0/4. No other reviews.

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.7.

With their dollars ... made for cable