Director Michael Hodges and star Mickey Rourke both disowned "A Prayer for the Dying." I'm not sure what issues they had with this formulaic but suspenseful adaptation of Jack Higgins' novel, but I thought it was a good thriller. Rourke plays Martin Fallon, a seasoned IRA gunman who prefers a sawed off shotgun but abandons his IRA convictions after he witnesses a dreadful but senseless accident over which he exerts no control. Fallon and IRA associate Liam Docherty (Liam Neeson) watch in horror as a school bus mini-van transporting children accelerates past two British lorries, hits a tripwire meant for them, and detonates an explosion that wipes out the kids. Everybody flees, and Docherty is sent to break Liam back, after Fallon has fled country. In London, Martin encounters more trouble. A murderous mortician, Jack Meehan (Alan Bates of "Zorba the Greek") wants to hire Fallon to knock off an adversary. Meehan is prepared to forge Fallon a passport and pay him $50-thousand to eliminate his opponent. Fallon kills Meehan adversary, but things go awry here, too. An unsuspecting priest, Father Michael Da Costa (Bob Hoskins), witnesses Fallon's execution style killing. Instead of shooting the priest on the spot, Fallon turns and walks away. Later, Fallon confronts the Da Costa in the confessional, and Da Costa refuses to identify him. The police question Da Costa, but he refuses to divulge his knowledge about Fallon. This is where "A Prayer for the Dying" lifts part of its plot from the Alfred Hitchcock movie "I, Confess." As it turns out, Da Costa has a relative, Anna (Sammi Davis), who falls in love with Fallon even though she cannot see him. Meanwhile, Docherty and his woman Siobhan Donovan (Alison Doody of "A View to a Kill") track Liam down with order to bring him back or kill him. Docherty cannot bring himself to kill Fallon, but Donovan cherishes no such convictions. She kills Docherty as he is sitting up in bed, blowing his brains out. Meanwhile, Meeham's sleazy brother tries to assault Anna, but she stabs him to death with a pair of scissors. Fallon's death scene is memorable. The performances are all superb, especially Hoskins who plays priest who was once a soldier. Like I wrote, I'm not sure why Hodges and Rourke didn't like this atmospheric thriller.
Review of A Prayer for the Dying
