Catchfire
Encyclopedia
Catchfire is a 1990 action
-thriller-drama film
starring Jodie Foster
, Dennis Hopper
, and Fred Ward
. Several other notable actors have cameos
. The film was disowned by its director, Hopper, before release and he is therefore credited under the fictional pseudonym Alan Smithee
. The original screenplay was written by Rachel Kronstadt Mann, then re-written by Ann Louise Bardach, who was hired by Dennis Hopper and producer Steven Reuther. During the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Hopper retained Alex Cox to do another polish while the film was shooting.
Hopper released a director's cut
of the film in the United States
on cable television
titled Backtrack, which runs 18 minutes longer than the theatrical version.
) creates electronic pieces that flash glib but superficially significant statements, and her work has begun to attract major media attention.
Driving home one night, Anne suffers a blowout on a deserted road and, while looking for help, witnesses a mafia hit supervised by Leo Carelli (Joe Pesci
). Leo spots Anne, but she escapes and goes to the police.
They offer her a place in the federal witness protection program, but mob boss Lino Avoca (Vincent Price
), Carelli's boss, sends top-of-the-line hitman Milo (Dennis Hopper
) and his partner Pinella (John Turturro
) to silence her. Pinella kills her boyfriend Bob (Charlie Sheen
), but she escapes.
Months pass; Anne has severed all ties with her past and re-established herself in Seattle as an advertising copywriter. Milo, who never gives up, recognizes the text of a lipstick ad as one of Anne's catchphrases, and tracks her down.
She flees again, to New Mexico, and he finds her again. But this time he offers her a deal: he'll let her live, if she'll do anything and everything he asks.
Milo's interest in Anne, it turns out, is more than professional, but not exactly what she thinks. He doesn't want her to be his sex slave, though sex is part of the equation.
A man obsessed, Milo has fallen in love with Anne. And he has no idea how to cope with the unfamiliar emotion. Astonishingly, after a rocky start, Anne realizes that she has also fallen for him.
By failing to kill Anne as he was hired to do, Milo has marked himself for death, and the two flee together to an isolated farm that Milo owns.
Avoca's men track them there, and they realize that in order to be free, they must return and confront their pursuers. The plan that they concoct works, leaving Avoca, Carelli, and their men dead.
Anne and Milo escape together to a new life.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
-thriller-drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, and Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
. Several other notable actors have cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. The film was disowned by its director, Hopper, before release and he is therefore credited under the fictional pseudonym Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
. The original screenplay was written by Rachel Kronstadt Mann, then re-written by Ann Louise Bardach, who was hired by Dennis Hopper and producer Steven Reuther. During the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Hopper retained Alex Cox to do another polish while the film was shooting.
Hopper released a director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
of the film in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
titled Backtrack, which runs 18 minutes longer than the theatrical version.
Plot
Conceptual artist Anne Benton (Jodie FosterJodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
) creates electronic pieces that flash glib but superficially significant statements, and her work has begun to attract major media attention.
Driving home one night, Anne suffers a blowout on a deserted road and, while looking for help, witnesses a mafia hit supervised by Leo Carelli (Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
). Leo spots Anne, but she escapes and goes to the police.
They offer her a place in the federal witness protection program, but mob boss Lino Avoca (Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
), Carelli's boss, sends top-of-the-line hitman Milo (Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
) and his partner Pinella (John Turturro
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
) to silence her. Pinella kills her boyfriend Bob (Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
), but she escapes.
Months pass; Anne has severed all ties with her past and re-established herself in Seattle as an advertising copywriter. Milo, who never gives up, recognizes the text of a lipstick ad as one of Anne's catchphrases, and tracks her down.
She flees again, to New Mexico, and he finds her again. But this time he offers her a deal: he'll let her live, if she'll do anything and everything he asks.
Milo's interest in Anne, it turns out, is more than professional, but not exactly what she thinks. He doesn't want her to be his sex slave, though sex is part of the equation.
A man obsessed, Milo has fallen in love with Anne. And he has no idea how to cope with the unfamiliar emotion. Astonishingly, after a rocky start, Anne realizes that she has also fallen for him.
By failing to kill Anne as he was hired to do, Milo has marked himself for death, and the two flee together to an isolated farm that Milo owns.
Avoca's men track them there, and they realize that in order to be free, they must return and confront their pursuers. The plan that they concoct works, leaving Avoca, Carelli, and their men dead.
Anne and Milo escape together to a new life.
Cast
- Jodie FosterJodie FosterAlicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
as Anne Benton - Dennis HopperDennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
as Milo - Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
as John Luponi - Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
as Mr. Avoca - John TurturroJohn TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
as Pinella - Fred WardFred WardFreddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
as Pauling - Julie AdamsJulie AdamsJulie Adams is an American film and television actress, sometimes credited as Julia Adams or Betty Adams.-Life and career:...
as Martha
Cameos
- Catherine KeenerCatherine KeenerCatherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
as Trucker's girl - Charlie SheenCharlie SheenCarlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
as Bob - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
(uncredited) as Artist - Joe PesciJoe PesciJoseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
(uncredited) as Leo Carelli - Alex CoxAlex CoxAlexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
(uncredited) as D.H. Lawrence - Toni BasilToni BasilAntonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
(uncredited)