''Static'' is a 1985 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Mark Romanek Mark Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes feature films, television, music videos and commercials. Romanek wrote and directed the 2002 film ''One Hour Photo'' and directed the 2010 film '' Neve ...

in his feature directorial debut. The film stars

Keith Gordon Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director. Early life Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family. Gordon was in ...

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), '' The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

, and

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama '' The Shawshank Redemption'' ...

, and was released in 1985 by NFI Productions. It was shot in Page, Arizona and

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The film was written by the film's star Keith Gordon and director Mark Romanek, in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, before he went on to direct numerous music videos for much his career.

Plot

A quirky, out-of-place worker at a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

factory invents a device he claims can show pictures of Heaven. Discouraged and confused by the inability of those around him to see anything but a screenful of static, he charismatically hijacks a bus of friendly elderly people in order to get media attention for his invention.

Cast

as Ernie Blick *

as Julia Purcell *

as Frank * Janice Abbott as Sonya * Reathel Bean as Fred Savins * Kitty Mei-Mei Chen as Li *

Barton Heyman Barton Heyman (born January 24, 1937, in Washington, D.C. - died May 16, 1996, in Manhattan, New York City, New York) was an American actor. Heyman was a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied theater arts. As an ...

as Sheriff William Orling * Jane Hoffman as Emily Southwick * Lily Knight as Patty * Joel Krehbeil as Deputy Tom Terrence * Eugene Lee as Dale * Jack Murakami as North * Mike Murakami as South * Uma Ridenhour as Sarah *

Mark Gordon Mark Gordon (born March 14, 1957) is an American politician who has served as the 33rd governor of Wyoming since January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as state treasurer; then-governor Matt Mead appointed him ...

as TV Announcer

Award and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Mark Romanek 1985 comedy-drama films 1985 directorial debut films 1985 films 1985 independent films American black comedy films American comedy-drama films American independent films Films directed by Mark Romanek Films shot in Arizona Films shot in Nevada 1980s English-language films 1980s American films