Great Balls of Fire!

Directed by Jim McBride, Great Balls of Fire! follows Jerry Lee Lewis (Dennis Quaid) as his burgeoning fame is threatened by his scandalous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin (Winona Ryder’s Myra Gale Brown). Filmmaker McBride, working from his and Jack Baran’s screenplay, delivers a mostly entertaining (yet thoroughly erratic) biopic that never quite becomes as engrossing as one might’ve anticipated, as the movie, which runs a slightly overlong 108 minutes, boasts an episodic midsection that doesn’t contain much in the way of forward momentum – which ensures, in turn, that the picture is really only effective in fits and starts. (It’s impossible, for example, not to get a kick out of the sequence wherein Jerry Lee almost literally burns the house down while opening for Chuck Berry.) There’s little doubt, then, that Great Balls of Fire! receives plenty of mileage out of its captivating, magnetic lead performance, as Quaid’s stirring work here, in addition to remaining a consistent highlight, goes a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls (and it’s clear, too, that Ryder acquits herself just as well in the tricky role of Myra). The final product is a decent-enough endeavor that’s at its best when focused on Jerry Lee’s music-oriented exploits, as McBride’s ongoing difficulties in sustaining a consistent tone results in a relentlessly (and woefully) uneven true-life tale.

**1/2 out of ****