Review of Great Balls of Fire!

Speaking in hindsight, Dennis Quaid has recently gone on record as saying he should've taken the filmmakers' advice and brought his portrayal of real-life hellraising singer/piano player Jerry Lee Lewis down a notch or two. However, it's precisely Quaid's energy (and the accomplished 1950s period flavor) that keeps this otherwise undistinguished movie going. It's one-half rollicking musical-bio, and the other half an unsteady riches-to-rags tale. Jerry Lee finds his bombastic stage presence hard to shake off in life, rising to the top of the charts--and about to steal the rock 'n roll mantle from Elvis P.--until a marriage to his under-aged second cousin causes a backlash that lasted many years. Fashioned like a live-action cartoon, it's something of a drag when the filmmakers eventually pull out all the usual tried-and-tired clichés, boozy depression and angry rebellion. Winona Ryder, as Quaid's teen bride, struggles with a sketchy role; in fact, all the supporting characters are one-dimensional compared to Lewis. Quaid (who lipsyncs to the vocals but played his own piano) rides roughshod over the whole shaky enterprise. ** from ****