Bum Rap

A struggling New York City actor/cab driver is diagnosed with a rare blood disease on the day after his 30th birthday and told he has precisely 72 hours left to live. It's an intriguing premise but, unfortunately, the poor man does nothing original in his final three days of life. He rages against God, gets falling down drunk, enjoys one last game of poker with the guys, one last reconciliation with his parents, and one last fling with an accommodating hooker (who of course has a heart of gold). Daniel Irom's original screenplay succeeds in walking a delicate line between humor and horror through the evening after cabby Craig Wasson first learns of his terminal illness, but after that he comes to grips with his mortality all too quickly and the film is left with nowhere to go. It's all meant to provide an affirmation of life, but all the optimism is forced, and worse: the hero's amateur acting instincts take over in his final hours, prompting him to declaim all the appropriate passages from Shakespeare and Chekov before, mercifully, collapsing dead.

Writer/director Danny Irom, working with the vastly underrated and underutilized Craig Wasson has created a dark comedy about a man facing his mortality, that has the courage to venture into territory Hollywood studios should only have the stones to tread. Shot on location in New York City (the only place this film could have been filmed), Wasson's performance is a tour-de-force that deserves a much wider viewing than this little gem has ever received. What could have been incredibly maudlin and depressing material, in the hands of Messrs. Irom and Wasson, becomes an almost lyrical journey with the audience joining the protagonist's search to find some meaning in his life. Mr. Iron is a talent who deserves more recognition than ADing on feature films and television series offers. Kudos also to Irom for utilizing Wasson's musical talents. Together, their talents make Bum Rap one of those rare films that true lovers of the art really need to see.

I saw "Bum Rap" at a film festival in Las Vegas back in 1988. I thought sure the film would gather up a pretty good audience when it was officially released. But alas, it's official release never happened, and "Bum Rap" must merely be gathering up dust in some studio exec's basement.

"Bum Rap" should have been a break for several people, namely star Craig Wasson and director Daniel Iron. Wasson is a familiar character actor whose face often pops up in movies and TV shows. "Bum Rap" was a starring role for him, and he carries the movie quite well. And as director Iron's first feature, the movie at the very least promised many more good things to come from him. However that promise was never fulfilled. His first feature was his last.

The story may sound familiar: Wasson plays a young man who finds he has a disease which will kill him in 48 hours. He will feel fine until the end, then that end will come quickly. But this 48 hours gives him a chance to make peace with the world.

To be sure, there are cliches here. Wasson chooses to hire a hooker to spend those last hours with him. Of course, it's "The Hooker With A Heart Of Gold." Still, Irons gets by with these cliches by making us genuinely care for Wasson and his plight.

And Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis is fun as a cranky old man.

The real story of "Bum Rap," though is one of those great Hollywood imponderables: How does a well made, well received (it was quite well received at the festival I attended) film like this simply never get released?