Heaven Tonight (film)
Heaven Tonight is a 1990 Australian film.
| Heaven Tonight | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Pino Amenta |
| Written by | Frank Howson Alister Webb |
| Produced by | Frank Howson |
| Starring | John Waters Guy Pearce Kym Gyngell Rebecca Gilling Sean Scully |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Boulevard Films |
Release date |
|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | under $2 million[1] |
Plot
An ageing rock star (John Waters) tries to make a comeback and is jealous about the success of his son (Guy Pearce).[2][3]
Cast
- John Waters as Johnny Dysart
- Guy Pearce as Paul Dysart
- Kym Gyngell as Baz Schultz
- Rebecca Gilling as Annie Dysart
- Sean Scully
- Matthew Weigall as Himself
Production
Writer-producer Frank Howson later claimed that "every incident" in the film was true: "either I have lived it, or I know somebody who has. There is no fabrication, except in the names, which have been changed to protect the guilty."[4] Waters and Pearce were cast for their singing talent as well as their acting skills, and Pearce released a single, "Call of the Wild", from the film.[5]
Release
The film was not a commercial success and only ran for two weeks in cinemas in Sydney and Melbourne.[1]
Cultural references
The film provided comedic material for the 2006-2007 Austereo radio comedy show Get This. Host Tony Martin referred to the film on a number of occasions, making jibes at the name of Guy Pearce's character's band which was 'Video Rodney', the frequent references to the film's villain whose name was the ill-chosen 'Tim Robbins' and the dated 1980s synth-rock music.
References
- Greg Kerr, "Heaven Tonight", Cinema Papers, March 1991 pp. 54–55
- David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 153
- Greg Kerr, "Heaven Tonight", Australian Film 1978-1992, Oxford Uni Press, 1993 p. 298
- Paul Kalina, "Frank Howson", Cinema Papers, November 1989 p. 45
- Greg Kerr, 'This man could be the next Mel Gibson' Melbourne Age 19 August 1990 p. 25