''This World, Then the Fireworks'' is a 1997

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

directed by

Michael Oblowitz Michael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker. Early life and education Oblowitz was born in Cape Town where he grew up surfing in the 1970s. He is a Fine Arts and Philosophy graduate of the University of Cape Town. He received an M.F.A. in Fi ...

and starring

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film ''Dead Calm'', a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promi ...

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail (1988 film), Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat (1988 film), Red Heat'' (1988), ''Showgirls'' (1995), ''Bound (1996 film), Bound'' (1996), ''Face/ ...

and

Sheryl Lee Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...

. The screenplay is based on a short story of the same name by Jim Thompson.

Plot

As children, Marty and Carol Lakewood, fraternal twins, witness a brutal murder involving their father. They grow up to become depraved and incestuous adults, living in coastal California in the mid-1950s. Marty is a skillful journalist, but grows bored with every new job and is easily distracted. When he seduces a young police officer, Lois Archer, and discovers she owns a beach house, Marty sets out to double-cross her and make the property his own. Carol is a heartless prostitute, willing to go to any lengths to con men out of their money, or make them pay in other ways. Powerless to stop them is Mrs. Lakewood, a weak-willed woman who suspects the terrible truth in her children's relationship, but knows no way to stop it.

Cast

as Marty ** Christopher Jones as Young Marty ***Christian Durango as Little Marty *

as Carol **Megan Leigh Brown as Young Carol ***Sloan Cobb as Little Carol *

as Lois *

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on ''Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche De ...

as Mrs. Lakewood **

Roberta Hanley Roberta Hanley is an actress and movie director. She directed the 1998 movie ''Brand New World'', for which she was awarded the ''Grand Jury Prize'' for Best Feature Film at the 2001 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Films ...

as Young Mrs. Lakewood *

Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies and television shows, and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Cassel first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering in ...

as Detective Harris *

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series ''Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films ''Remember the Titans'', ''Armageddon'', ...

as Lieutenant Morgan *

Richard Edson Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician. Personal life Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides ...

as Joe * Tom Keeley as Lyle *

William Hootkins William Michael "Hoot"Austin Mutti-MewseObituary: William Hootkins ''The Guardian'', November 14, 2005, accessed December 13, 2012. Hootkins (July 5, 1948 – October 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for supporting roles in Hollywood b ...

as Jake Krutz * Philip Loch as Marty Lakewood's Father * Elis Imboden as neighbor's Wife * Mark Jeffrey Miller as Lloyd * Marianna Alacchi as Glenda * Robert Pentz as Lou * Orson Oblowitz as Eugene * Thad Mace as Tim * Jonathan Taylor Luthren as Ben * Stephanie Fisher as Claire * Lou Criscuolo as McCloud * Jeffrey Pillars as Galloway * John Bennes as Griffith *

Barry Bell Barry Bell (born June 22, 1951) is an American film, television, stage and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Steve Gayton from Stephen King's 1986 film ''Maximum Overdrive'', Barnett Gibons from '' This World, Then the Fireworks'' 19 ...

as Barnett Gibons * David Lenthall as Doctor * Terry Nienhuis as Minister *

Valentin de Vargas Valentin de Vargas (born Albert Charles Schubert; April 27, 1935 – June 10, 2013) was an actor known for appearing in films in the 1950s and 1960s. Two of his prominent roles were as a gangster threatening Janet Leigh in Orson Welles' ''Touch o ...

as Mexican Doctor * Dean Mumford as Marine * Willy Cobbs as Blues Musician * Brian Keith Gamble as Spindly Man * Mert Hatfield as Bus Driver * Matt O'Toole as Thug 1 * Norman Max Maxwell as Thug 2

Reception and release

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 38% approval rating based on 8 reviews, with an average ranking of 3.9/10.

Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinem ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "In the hands of filmmaker Michael Oblowitz, novelist Jim Thompson's story "This World, Then the Fireworks" gets an elegantly stylish, highly erotic, intentionally over-the-top rendition". ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...

'' called the film "sexy, stylized, deliberately overheated slice of noir". On November 14, 2017,

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

released a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

of the film.

References

External links

* * * 1997 crime drama films American crime drama films American neo-noir films Films about twins Films based on Jim Thompson novels Films set in the 1950s Films shot in North Carolina Incest in film Largo Entertainment films Films directed by Michael Oblowitz 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-crime-drama-film-stub