Blaze (1989)

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Director Ron Shelton's second romantic wet dream transposes all the heavy breathing of his Minor League debut hit 'Bull Durham' to the shady arena of Southern politics, where the randy and eccentric Earl K. Long (in his own words the "fine governor of the great State of Louisiana") falls in love with Bourbon St. stripper Blaze Starr. With his auteur's eye firmly affixed to the bottom line (pun intended) Shelton turns an unlikely true story into a colorful live-action cartoon, with plenty of all-too clever (at least to its author) dialogue and a not unexpected measure of character whitewashing: Starr is of course no common stripper, but a well-proportioned angel with a heart of gold. In her big screen debut Lolita Davidovich gives the title role an appealing vitality, but the lip-smacking, lecherous governor is an odd role for Paul Newman. His wild (if memorable) performance approaches a pitch-perfect facsimile of Long's actual personality (listen to the governor's recorded voice at the end of the final credits), but watching the actor submit to Shelton's idea of a dirty old man can be as much an embarrassment to viewers as it must have been for Newman himself.

I'm happy the film Blaze came out if for no other reason than Earl Long finally got his place in film history beside his more famous brother Huey. Earl spent a lot more years in public office and maybe no man ever enjoyed just campaigning for office and the trappings thereof when elected.I was a mere lad, but I do remember Earl's tumultuous and final term as Governor of Louisiana. The stuff you see here about Earl Long, the relationship with stripper Blaze Starr and the rest, was big news back in the day. One of the reasons that Earl could not do what George C. Wallace did was that Wallace had a most compliant first wife in Lurleen Wallace. One character we do not see here was his wife and later widow Blanche. Long was very much married at the time all of his antics were front page news, it was Blanche in fact who had him shipped to the funny farm.Just as Blanche Long is eliminated from this story so is United States Senator Russell B. Long, son of Huey. Russell Long, who was barely the minimal 30 years old, was appointed by his uncle who happened to be Governor at the time to the U.S. Senate following the death of John H. Overton was still in the Senate when Uncle Earl's antics was big and embarrassing news. Russell Long served in the Senate for over 40 years and unlike his father and uncle became a most powerful Senator through his patient rise up the seniority ladder.Even without Blanche and Russell, Earl Long's affair with Blaze Starr is the basis of a fine motion picture. Lolita Davidovitch is a warm and earthy Blaze Starr, a Loretta Lynn/Patsy Cline type from West Virginia without their talent. Still she might not have sung, but the woman had one fine figure. And when she pointed those glockenspiels of mass destruction at Earl Long, he was cooked. Imagine watermelon as an aphrodisiac?Paul Newman does very well indeed as the irascible old governor just hanging on despite physical and mental problems. Today Earl Long might have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease or as some have speculated with bi-polar disorder. He might have been given the proper medication.If Blaze has a fault and it's a big one, it's the lack of secondary character development. We don't really get to know about any of the other people in the Earl and Blaze story. But we do get to know Earl and Blaze. And if Earl K. Long was indeed bi-polar and been given the proper medication, we might have never have had this story or this film.

I was a teenager in small town Louisiana back in the late 1950s, and although I wasn't into political news, I clearly remember Governor Earl K Long. He was an enigma of sorts, because he did behave erratically at times, and WAS committed to a mental hospital, but in fact did many good things as governor, including standing up for equal rights for minorities. I remember getting free lunches in school, but I was not aware it was Earl K that did this for us.This is one great movie. It is called "Blaze", not "Earl", because it is mostly from the point of view of Blaze Starr, stage name of a West Virginia country girl who became a New Orleans stripper. What was not mentioned in this movie is that Earl was married to Blanche while he was having his affair with Starr, and it in fact was Blanche that got him committed. Blaze Starr herself has a small part in the movie. Long was governor on three different occasions, his last term being 1956 through 1960. This movie is set during the last year of his last term. Paul Newman is Earl Long, and was about the same age as Long while making this movie. As always, Newman creates a memorable character, really bringing Earl K Long to life.Lolita Davidovich, who put on a few extra pounds to play the busty Blaze Starr , is also about the right age and plays Starr superbly. In fact, watching her in this movie, it is hard to figure why she hasn't become a bigger star.SPOILERS. Even though hospitalized, Long was still governor. So he fired the head of the Mandeville Mental Hospital, appointed his friend to the post, and was promptly declared fit to return to normal life. Unable to run again for Governor, he tried running as Leutenant Governor with Noe, but they did not win. So he ran for US Congress, narrowly won while sick, and died a week after his victory, in September 1960. The movie depicts his dying in Blaze Starr's arms on the day he was elected, but that is movie-making license.

The scandalous love affair that was going on between Louisiana governor Earl Long (Paul Newman) and stripper Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovich) is poorly dramatized in this rather slow moving 1989 Touchstone release. A good cast certainly tries hard but can't save this film from being a downer in the world of biopics.