Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 12/13/1989(USA)
Release Date: 04/06/2004
SubTitles: Espanol/English
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Flags: Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video
Blaze is a comic-strip re-telling of the curious late-1950s relationship between famed striptease artist
Blaze Starr (
Lolita Davidovitch) and Lousiana governor
Earl Long (played in gorgeously flamboyant fashion by
Paul Newman). Their romance is counterbalanced with the story of
Long's efforts to win voting rights for Louisiana's black citizens. The governor's political enemies ruin his chances at re-election, then try to put him out of the way permanently with a trumped-up insanity charge. But with faithful
Blaze at his side (and in close proximity to other portions of his anatomy),
Long confounds his foes by winning a congressional seat. On the eve of this triumph,
Earl Long dies, bringing this boisterous story to a sobering conclusion. Since the film is based on
Blaze Starr's own reminiscences, one might prepare oneself with several grains of salt. The real
Blaze Starr shows up early in the film as a stripper named Lily.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide