Miss Cast Away
From Jackopedia
| Miss Cast Away | |
| Directed by | Bryan Michael Stoller |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Island Productions Richard Shintaku Bryan Michael Stoller Gloria Pryor |
| Written by | Bryan Michael Stoller |
| Starring | Michael Jackson Eric Roberts Charlie Schlatter Brande Roderick Jerry Lewis Bob Denver Pat Morita Bernie Kopell. |
| Music by | Greg Edmonson |
| Cinematography | Bryan England |
| Editing by | Michael Murphy |
| Distributed by | Showcase Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | January 2008 |
| Running time | 90 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,000,000 |
Miss Cast Away (also known by the title Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls and as Silly Movie 2 in Australia.) is a 2004 spoof anarchic comedy B-movie written and directed by Bryan Michael Stoller. It was produced on a US$2 million budget. It features Bob Denver, Pat Morita and Michael Jackson in their final film performances.
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[edit] Plot
As the film opens, a plane carrying beauty contestants has crash-landed on a deserted island. Captain Maximus Powers (played by Eric Roberts) and co-pilot Mike Saunders (played by Charlie Schlatter) have to take care of their passengers, while also avoiding the dangers of Jurassic Pork (a giant prehistoric pig) and a group of apes who are busy building an ark.[1]
Agent M.J. (played by Michael Jackson) arrives in the midst of them, having been sent by the Vatican to manipulate them to the Vatican's own purposes.
[edit] Cast
- Eric Roberts: Maximus Powers
- Charlie Schlatter: Mike Saunders
- Joyce Giraud: Julie
- Stuart Pankin: Noah
- Evan Marriott: Joe Millionaire
- Michael Jackson: Agent M.J.
- Eugene Greytak: Your Holiness (as Gene Greytak)
- Richard Halpern: Groovy Guy
- Lyle J. Mortensen: Vice President
- Douglas Dunning: Commander Harry
- Patrick Mares: The President
- Thomas McKenna: Ron Philips (as Stuart Rigby)
- Kamilla Bjorlin: Holly
- Audra Wise: Tina
- Juanita A. Romano: Alaska
[edit] Cameo appearances by famous actors
Director Bryan Michael Stoller was able to get famous actors, such as Jerry Lewis, Pat Morita, and Bernie Kopell to appear in cameo roles for the movie.
Bob Denver also appeared in a cameo, playing his famed character Gilligan. This later turned out to be the last movie featuring Denver, as he died a year later, in September 2005.[2]
Michael Jackson's scenes were filmed on Neverland Ranch, where Jackson lived during that time.[1]. The film marked the final film appearance of Jackson, who died in June 2009.
[edit] Film production and release
Bryan Michael Stoller was given permission to shoot Michael Jackson's scenes at Neverland Ranch. He later said that while this was exciting to be given such a rare privilege, it presented its disruptions to the filming process at times. In an MTV interview, he said:
"It's his home. It's all normal to him that there's a train running around the property tooting its horn," the director recalled of a noisy interruption that appears among the DVD's bonus features. "[Another time] his staff brought us soup, so we were sipping soup and talking, and these two elephants walk by outside. Michael's continuing to sip his soup like a fly flew by, and I turn to Michael and look at him and he's not even acknowledging the elephants.[1]
The movie was due to be released in theaters in the summer of 2004, but Jackson's legal problems during that time made the movie's distributors wary of releasing the movie. Director Stoller explained in a news release: "We've sort of had to put things on hold. It's a shame because Jackson has an amazing vision." The movie release date was also put in doubt due to worries of executives at 20th Century Fox that the title was too close to Tom Hanks' hit movie Cast Away.[3]
The movie was shown in three film festivals during 2004, was shown on television in Russia in 2005, and was finally released to DVD in the USA in July 2005.[4][5]
[edit] Reception
Reviews of the movie are mixed. A review in the Washington Post calls it "a disjointed mishmash of Zucker Brothers-style comedy and fantasy-adventure." The author later goes on to add that fans of "schlock cinema" should not buy the movie on DVD, but might enjoy it as a rental.[5]
Jonathan Hickman, in his review for the website EInsiders, is kinder to the film. He says "To my delight, the film is coherent and hardworking to the end making a conscious decision to stick by its original story-line and follow it to a zany conclusion."[6]
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carroll, Larry (2005-07-29). "Michael Jackson Chases His Movie Dreams In Bizarro Spoof". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1506702/07292005/story.jhtml.
- ↑ "Actor Bob Denver Dies at 70". IMDB. 2005-09-06. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0549166/.
- ↑ "Legal Problems Thwart Jackson's Movie Career". World Entertainment News Network. 2004-06-02. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395669/news?year=2004#ni0069290.
- ↑ "Miss Cast Away Release Dates". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395669/releaseinfo.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jen, Chaney (2005-07-19). "'Miss Cast Away': You Know It's Bad". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071800641.html.
- ↑ Hickman, Jonathan W. (2004-08-19). "Miss-Adventures In Neverland". EInsiders.com. http://www.einsiders.com/reviews/archives/show_theatrical.php?review_theatricle=155.
