Here's an oddity. A sequel to a movie that was unsuccessful.
"Eddie and the Cruisers," though it has attained some cult status since its release in 1983, was hardly a box office smash. In fact, it's notable that the soundtrack album was a much bigger hit than the film.
But even cult films can spawn sequels, so here's "Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!"
The first film was told with a "Citizen Kane" approach, through flashbacks as a TV reporter investigated the mysterious "death" of Eddie Wilson, the legendary lead singer of a short-lived '60s band called "Eddie and the Cruisers." He drove off a bridge, but his body was never found.
The idea was that the band released one album in 1963, which was a huge success, then in 1983 it was rereleased and became a hit all over again with a new generation.
The main plot of the first film concentrated on the search for the missing master tape of a second album that was recorded shortly before Eddie's disappearance but which was never released. With revived interest in Eddie Wilson the album could be a best-seller if the tape were found.
At the end of the first film the tape was found, the album, "A Season in Hell," was about to be released and Eddie Wilson was more popular then ever. But — surprise — the last scene reveals that Eddie is alive after all, as we see him with a beard, looking in a storefront window at television screens that carry images of his younger self.
Michael Pare was Eddie, a surly grouch who kept saying the music was more important than anything else while he bullied his band into being "the best." But in the end it was apparent that he "quit the scene" more because he couldn't handle success than because he felt his music wasn't up to par. One record producer didn't like "Season in Hell" so he split. Couldn't he have taken it to another producer or another record label?
In "Eddie II" his personality doesn't seem to have changed much in 20 years. While most of us have mellowed, settled down and even started families of our own, Eddie has apparently remained a loner without having developed any relationships — including any real friendships — and is hiding in Canada under a mustache, an assumed name and a job as a construction worker.
He's also trying to deal with his revived success as the radio plays his old hits incessantly. Hearing them again has prompted him to pick up his guitar and try writing new songs.
Soon Eddie links up with a small band and starts making music again, though he seems afraid to perform in front of an audience. When he finally does, he wears his old "Eddie and the Cruisers" uniform — a black T-shirt — sings with the same style and voice (the voice, by the way, belongs to John Cafferty), and yet, mustache notwithstanding, hardly anyone seems to notice the resemblance.
While the most of the music here is quite good — the soundtrack album will no doubt take off again — the script is banal. Pare's brooding style suits the character as written, but it would have been much more interesting if we learned something about him: What's he been doing for 20 years? How did he end up in Montreal? Does he have parents or any family he will have to reconcile with after dropping of the face of the earth for two decades?
Nothing so rudimentary is approached, and Eddie's only relationships, aside from the new band's members, are an artist (Marina Orsini) who goes on the road with the band after spending one night with Eddie (and who apparently abandons her painting as well as her first show), and a reunion with one of the old band's members, Sal (Matthew Laurance, the only other actor reprising his character from the first film), who says constantly that he and Eddie were best friends, though "Eddie I" doesn't necessarily back that up. (Tom Berenger and Ellen Barkin, who helped bring some spark to the "Eddie I," are sorely missed.)
"Eddie and the Cruisers II" is recommended only for die-hard members of the cult that has formed around the first film. And, except for the music, they too will likely be disappointed.
"Eddie II" is rated PG for some mild violence, a few profanities and a brief nude sex scene.
-MICHAEL PARE is near the end of shooting a film in Palermo, Italy — a film that has gone over its schedule. But he's flown into New York for a day of interviews to promote another film — "Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!"
He's getting ready to fly back to Italy immediately after the grueling spate of sit-downs and phone-ins with reporters from around the country.
The Italian picture is his third back-to-back effort without a break, and Pare sounds tired on the phone. Of course that also might have something to do with this being his 60th or so interview of the day.
"It's massacre publicity, but I wanted to do my best to help sell the picture," Pare said.
Initally, he was reluctant to do his first sequel. "They had written and rewritten scripts and I was skeptical until got this script we ended up shooting.
"I was worried about how they were going to shoot it, whether they would be able to put together a band like the first one. After all, that's what it's really about, a rock 'n' roll band.
"We used a lot of musicians with just a little bit of acting background, except Anthony Sherwood and Bernie Coulson, who have all the dialogue. A major part of the magic of the first movie is that the audience believed we were a rock 'n' roll band. We even got an offer to tour, even if it was just a lip-sync tour, from the promoters for Bon Jovi."
Asked why the first "Eddie and the Cruisers" didn't find an audience until its later release on video, Pare said, "We got a funny release date on that first one; it was late October, which is not exactly a summer rock 'n' roll release date. But this time we're excited about the Aug. 18th date. It's also the anniversary date of Elvis' death, and there's all kinds of stuff in the news about '60s rock 'n' roll coming back. The Who and Stones are touring."
Pare said he was genuinely affected by the script for "Eddie II." "Honestly, I read the script and the scenes with Sal (Matthew Laurance) and Eddie — I cried. After that, rather than worry about whether it was a great story, I most wanted to pull off the dramatic scenes, to take it from quiet, enigmatic Eddie to talkative Eddie. It's like his approach to rock 'n' roll hasn't changed at all. The change is in how he's learned to express himself.
"Y'know, there's no `Word Man' (Tom Berenger's character in `Eddie I') in this one. This time he (Eddie) has to come up with his own words.
"It's another point of view."
Before filming "Eddie II," Pare co-starred with Malcolm McDowall in a science-fiction picture called "Moon 44." He went directly from that to "Eddie II" and then directly to the Italian film he's shooting now. "It's called `The Dark Sun,' and it's a love story, a drama with a Mafia backdrop. There's no violence, no rock 'n' roll, no chase scene. It's a nice romantic drama."
Pare said he doesn't feel typed by casting directors, but there is apparently a perception of him as a tough guy hero. "I get a flood of action-adventure pictures offered to me. But I really don't react to them. I've done four action-adventure pictures, a comedy, period pieces, a space movie — there was a chance of me getting typed with `Streets of Fire,' but it didn't explode like they thought it would, so it didn't happen. I was disappointed."
And he tries not to think about whether a movie will be a success — at least in the initial stages. "A lot of it is the character I play and what the story is about, but once I get the job I start hoping it will be a big hit.
"I'm pretty notorious in the industry.
"It's not a bad record — 11 films in eight, nine years, as well as two TV series." One of those movies, of course, was "The Philadelphia Experiment," shot partially in Salt Lake City.
And if "Eddie II" is a hit? "There's no script yet, but my agent has a contract for `Eddie III.' "