Under The Cherry Moon

Today we lost one of great's in the music biz, Prince. He made a name for himself in the movies as well in his big screen debut Purple Rain. His follow up efforts didn't have the same impact. Today, I thought I'd take a look back at his second film, 1986's Under The Cherry Moon.

Prince stars as Christopher Tracy, an American gigolo and con man residing in France. Along with his partner in crime Tricky, Jerome Benton, the two swindle the rich, mature, and married women along the riviera. Things get complicated when Christopher falls for a wealthy heiress named Mary Sharon, Kristin Scott Thomas. She resists his advances at first, but soon falls into temptation. Much to the disapproval of her father, Steven Berkoff, who plots to get Christopher out of the picture.

This feels like a total vanity project for the late star. He took over the directing reigns, firing the original choice Mary Lambert. He also spent a lot of money to have the film transferred to black and white. Prince not only clashed with Lambert, but the cast as well. Morris Day was originally set to play Tricky, till the two had a falling out. Madonna was the original choice to play Mary Sharon. When she bowed out, he brought on Susannah Melvoin, the sister of a bandmate. He then replaced Melvoin with Scott Thomas because he felt she couldn't act. Scott Thomas supposedly hates the film and is ashamed that this was her debut. Berkoff was even a last minute decision.

I think a lot of people, myself included, were disappointed because they were expecting something great like Purple Rain. In recent years, I've went back and rewatched Cherry Moon and have appreciated it more. No, it's not as great as Purple Rain, but it does have a lot going for it. The soundtrack is amazing. It's also a great looking movie. Very slick. And Benton is really funny as the sidekick.

Not a great film, but not the worst way to remember this music icon.

It's available on dvd.