Una preghiera per morire

A Prayer For The Dying is a melodramatic romantic action thriller following IRA assassin Martin Fallon (Mickey Rourke), a man with a brutal path in life whose long buried conscience surfaces after an explosives mission goes awry, resulting in the death of schoolchildren aboard a bus. It's a bold scene to start a film with, and in every instance after it Fallon has a haunted frenzy about him, clearly damaged by what he did and saw. As if that weren't enough, he now finds himself compelled to murder a priest (Bob Hoskins) who witnessed one of his militant crimes. Fallon spends a lot of time hesitating, and in that hesitation he strikes up a romance with the Hoskins's blind daughter (Sammi Davis), finding sanctuary and a modicum of redemption with the two of them. A lot of nasty people from his past are looking for him though, including his amoral former partner (Liam Neeson), an evil British crime kingpin (the great Alan Bates) and the kingpin's murderous brat of a son (Christopher Fulford). Obligatory shootouts, personal and religious angst, sappy sentiment and dodgy accents, particularly from Rourke, ensue. He can blend into a lot of roles and pull off a lot of different characters, but it seems an Irish accent is a stretch, and it shows. As the character of Fallon himself, ethnicity aside, he does a bang up job though. Bates is razor focused in playing anyone, and his villain here is a spidery creepo. Neeson is young and doesn't get much to do except hassle Rourke, but their confrontations are nicely done by both parties. Director Mike Hodges, whose other work I've never really seen, seems to like slow and deliberate action scenes, very old world and sometimes repetitive, but entertaining nonetheless. Not the best IRA thriller out there (most of the events here have little to do with the movement anyway, and focus more on Fallon), but a decent way to spend a couple hours.

Fine character portrayals by Rourke, Hoskins, Davis and Bates. If you don't generally think highly of him, don't be put off by Rourke starring; he shines in this ensemble piece . If you only think of Hoskins as a humorous figure, see this movie for a new perspective.

The plot is dark; the pace, at times, deliberate, but it maintains its intensity well, for most of the film, through to its satisfying, if somewhat abrupt, conclusion.

Recommended.

In my opinion Mickey Rourke's third best movie, the first being "Angel Heart" and the second being "Year of the Dragon".

Rourke teamed up with Mike Hodges the director of such classics as "Get Carter" and the more recent "Croupier" in April of 1986 in London.

The whole movie was filmed on location in London, the Irish scenes at the beginning were filmed probably in Herts. The actual church is in Canning in London, near the ill fated Millennium Dome and still stands today. It wasn't being used as a church at the time, and the roof damage was real due to a bombing in the second world war. The church still stands and is currently used as a community centre.

Rourke plays Martin Fallon an IRA terrorist with a heart who recently bombed a school bus by accident and fled to London to evade the IRA and start again. He is taken on by local kingpin Jack Meehan played by a very camp Alan Bates whom has a day job of a funeral director and by night a nasty villain who wants Fallon to do one last job and he will pay him well and give him a passport and ticket to the US.

The mark Fallon is to kill is another local kingpin whom Meehan wants dead so he can take over his drug business. The mark he has to kill always visits his mother in a local church where Fallon shoots him, but is seen by Father Da Costa played very well by Bob Hoskins. Da Costa won't co-operate with the police after hearing Fallon's confession and the whole movie then is based around Jack Meehan trying to kill Fallon and the Da Costa.

Rourke's accent is spot on, maybe not to a true Irishman, but certainly to most it is very good, and his acting is on top form.

Hoskins is believable and carries of being a vicar fairly well, and the script also tells he is an ex army officer which gives him a bit of reason to be little rough on some of the villains.

Look out for a young Anthony Head (from Buffy) and a blind Sammi Davis whom was very popular in a lot of Ken Russell movies from the early 90's.

Harsh crime drama deals with a lonely IRA hit-man named Fallon (Mickey Rourke )sickened by the murder along with his partner (Liam Neeson) of innocent people in Northern Ireland . He is on the run but has to complete one last assignment , when happens to be witnessed by a priest (Bob Hopkins ) who becomes an unwitting associate when the killer hides out at the church . The execution is duly carried out , triggering off the rest of argument. Fallon long to quit , is a man with nowhere to run . He has come to London where is pursued by the Ira (Alison Doody) ,the police and a mobster (Alan Bates )and his brother (Christopher Fulfold) . Meanwhile the hit-man falls in love with the priest's blind niece (Sammi Davis).

This is a dramatic film , well paced , often interesting and never boring ; it's plenty of action , thrills, suspense , a love story and quite entertaining . This picture further afield both in terms of location and theme have not led to the full realization of his potential . Actors make a great job , Rourke sporting a decent Irish character , over-the-top Hopkins in a worthy role and fine performances from Alan Bates and Christopher Fulford as underworld kingpins. Very secondary acting of Anthony Head , subsequently famous as the teacher in Buffy Vampire slayer and Sammi Davis screen debut . The atmosphere is splendidly captured in steely color photography. Very good musical score by Bill Conti who composes a sensible and evocative soundtrack , much better than his Rocky saga . The drama that surrounded this film is all of interest and rarely tiring but small beer at box-office , then Hodges came to a grinding halt for some years . Furthermore , Mike Hodges and Mickey Rourke were not satisfied with terminated movie .

The motion picture is professionally realized by British director Mike Hodges of extraordinarily varied experience . After successful direction for TV thrillers , he encouraged to try for the big screen. He looked set for a solid career in urban drama after the success of his first movie ¨Get Carter¨ . He subsequently realized flops as the comedy ¨Pulp¨ and Sci-Fi as ¨The terminal man¨ and a lunatic farce as ¨Morons from outer space ¨. ¨Flash Gordon¨was his contribution to the big budget super-film until ¨The prayer for the dying¨ with action scenes are sharply , toughly staged , but achieved a limited success ; however being nowadays better deemed. Rating : Good 6,5 . The film will appeal to Mickey Rourke fans and thriller buffs .

Mickey Rourke is a much deeper and more dedicated actor than he gets credit for. His accent in " A Prayer.." is spot on and that is quite an accomplishment that takes months of dedication. He takes his place up in the front row with Gary Oldman, Pete Postlewaithe (sp.?) and I even have to include Brad Pitt after his amazing performance in Snatch. Rourke's Bad Boy image makes the moral dilemma he creates for himself or finds himself in even more effective. Brilliant scene when Hoskins becomes increasingly irate and at the peak of his fury we see him from Rourke's POV and his dark outline eclipses the first few letters of a "Courage" beer sign and only the flashing red neon letters RAGE remain.