Runtime: 97 excruciating minutes
Directed by: Jim Goddard
Starring: Sean Penn, Madonna, and other actors who presumably were embarrassed to appear in this trash
From: MGM/HandMade Films
A movie I’ve actually seen before… but will never view again. A mutual’s recent review of the film reminded me that this was seen long before joining Letterboxd. If nothing else, checking out a crummy film at least once in awhile adds variety plus possibly will be entertaining for those that like bad motion pictures being roasted.
This film is indeed bad, a de facto honeymoon for then-newlyweds Madonna & Sean Penn in Hong Kong where they weren’t the right choices for the parts of a 30’s-style adventure where Penn was a con-man (who looked like he hadn’t slept for about a week during his opening scene… which might have been method acting) who teamed up w/ missionary (!) Madonna in a wacky tale involving opium… but the details aren’t important.
Penn was trolled to constantly lash out at paparazzi and they both acted like Ugly Americans; the production was a disaster for this and many other reasons. The current most popular review for the film on Letterboxd is from a Mr. Mark Cunliffe; he explained the problems quite well, based on a book about HandMade Films, the production company co-founded by George Harrison & Denis O’Brien. Those echoed the stories I heard about this film elsewhere. Penn was the keystone reason why this production turned sour. His review explains why quite well.
The plot is an incoherent mess and perhaps it isn’t a surprise that the leads did not stay married given their lack of chemistry on-screen. Yes, I do know the horrifying allegations concerning Penn’s behavior towards his then-wife… Lord I hope they aren’t true but who knows. He wasn’t committed to this role and while Madonna isn’t always poor as an actress, she was out of her element here, & definitely not helped by her listening to her husband rather than director Jim Goddard-a veteran British TV director-when it came to acting tips & characterization.
This is not all terrible; Maurice Binder styled the opening credits, the production design was fine and George Harrison sang a few new songs. Unfortunately, judging by their lyrics alone, I can only assume Harrison was high on opium when he wrote them! I hate to bash an ex-Beatle but My Sweet Lord and What is Life, those tunes weren’t. Then again, perhaps I shouldn’t be so harsh; the nightmare of this production caused him to increasingly become involved and started the riff w/ O’Brien that ended their reign at the company & caused it to be subsequently owned by some random entities for a few more decades, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels by far the sterling moment there.
Point is, Shanghai Surprise is another flick where the behind-the-scenes brouhaha is far more enthralling than what appeared on screen. Not even the presence of familiar faces in supporting roles-Professor Toru Tanaka, Victor Wong, Clyde Kusatsu, Paul Freeman, Richard Griffiths-could alleviate the pain, the confusion of this motion picture. Shanghai Surprise can be skipped by even bad movie fans—IMO, this disaster is a miserable sort of putrid rather than a funny putrid experience.
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