A Pyromaniac's Love Story

I caught the film as a lark while looking for movies under 100 minutes. This is a nice little contemporary fairy tale about love. There is an artificial quality to the performances which I think is intentional, but that's offset humor in the script and an artful score. If you liked "Moonstruck" check this out.

1995 NY rom-com "A Pyromaniac's Love Story" over-laps three romances via a bakery's arson. Owners Armin Mueller-Stahl & Joan Plowright have money woes, so he wants the insurance. Worker John Leguizamo digs neighbour Sadie Frost (daughter of Michael Lerner) who wants to travel the world. And whacko William Baldwin digs posh Erica Eleniak who seems to dig Leguizamo (but does she?)... and WHO torched the gaff? Some performances are weak (especially Frost, Baldwin & Eleniak), the first of Morgan Ward's only two screenplays is jaunty but too light, and though Joshua Brand directed his only full movie with warmth it still doesn't save it from being a tad forgettable.

I can't believe the low score this movie has. With only a bit more than 200 votes, i guess not very many people have seen it.

I would give this a 10 out of 10 in the category of the romantic comedy.

The casting is superb. Armin Mueller-Stahl is awesome as always. Joan Plowright, John Leguizamo, Sadie Frost. Each is simply perfect for their characters, and the characters are so varied and interesting. The music is lively and sets the stage nicely for the crazy twists the story takes.

Not having any idea what this film was about, but based on the fact that John Leguizamo was appearing in it, we decided to watch it. Well, it turned out not to be the wisest decision. In fact, as another commentary in this forum puts it, we felt embarrassed for the actors that participated in this movie.

While the film is by no means horrible, it doesn't make sense at all. The over the top performance by William Baldwin doesn't help the situation either. John Leguizamo is a multi-talented actor who deserved better. The basic problem it seems to be the film was a project that started with good intentions in making a little comedy and the people in charge ran out of ideas along the way. The result is an uneven film.

This was an attempt toward a romantic comedy, and one which did not work. Although the film was cast in an interesting manner, the dismal script betrayed the best efforts of all. The director's fey mannerisms may have succeeded if he had adopted a point of view. It was embarrassing to watch William Baldwin and, in particular, Armin Muller-Stahl.