Originally
on cable television in 1999 as All the Rage,
the feature film It’s the Rage, released in
Hollywood on July 7 and directed by James D. Stern, has two
heavy bookends sandwiching a story about how several people
die because of the easy availability of handguns. Before the
movie starts, actual news clippings flash on the screen reporting
how several persons died under odd circumstances because they
were shot, sometimes unintentionally, by individuals possessing
handguns. The film begins at a house (and cast) reminiscent
of Pleasantville
(1998). Warren Harding (played by Jeff Daniels) lies in wait
to shoot his wife’s lover Justin at 5 a.m. and then pretends
that he was shooting at an intruder, not knowing that he was
Justin. Warren then beats a murder rap, thanks to attorney
Tim Sullivan (played by André Braugher), but his wife Helen
(played by Joan Allen) walks out on him. The attorney, who
is bisexual, in turn receives a handgun as a present from
his mentally disturbed male lover Chris (played by David Schwinner),
but later ends up accidentally shooting Annabelle Lee (played
by Anna Paquin), a female prostitute. Many of the lines evoke
laughter, but the audience stops chortling as several other
characters, who are mentally disturbed, acquire handguns and
use them, resulting in further murders. The bookend after
the film consists not only of the hypnotic song "If It Were
Up to Me" and titles explaining the fate of some of the characters
in the movie but also a dedication by scriptwriter Keith Reddin
to his college roommate who was shot to death at the age of
23, presumably from a bullet fired from an easily acquired
handgun shot by someone who did not know what he was doing.
As a statement against the use of violence to settle disputes,
the Political Film Society has nominated It’s the Rage
for an award as best film on peace for the year 2000. Filmviewers
are urged to stay to the end to hear the final song, "If It
Were Up to Me," which accompanies credits of the film; after
reciting a long litany of alleged causes of violence in contemporary
America, the song concludes "I’d just take away their guns."
MH
I
want to comment on this film
