A Pyromaniac's Love Story

I recently thought of this film due to the hype of the fire in the tv show This Is Us. I was on set of this movie during filming many times and it was very eye opening to see how the fire segments were filmed. In the movie it really looked like building were on fire but the real fire was actually quite a far distance away but merged into what really appeared as fire coming out of the windows etc. But ... I digress.

The movie was soooo very bad and most of the actors knew it and just went about full filling their contract to do it. One actor who tried to get out of his contract but couldnt was able to get his name taken off the movie and even though he is there in a few key scenes .... he is not mentioned anywhere. A few years later when someone brought the film up he said he was never in the movie .... the other person was arguing with him "he was in it" .... Richard Crenna stood firm and said he was not in that movie. I was off to the side and just laughed. His name in no where associated with this movie.

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.

This was one of my favorite 90's flicks. It was right there with Singles. It was quirky and weird, yet also had the rom com feel to it. I loved Billy Baldwin back then in this because he just looked like he had bed head through the whole movie, and if you were young in the 90's, that was the "hot guy" look. I've always been a fan of John Luguizamo, so his starring in this just added to my love of the film. It's funny how it has low IMDB ratings by todays standards, because my friend group all loved this movie because it had that same kind of odd/weird vibe that a lot of the cool 90's films had.

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.

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.