Great Balls of Fire!

Great Balls of Fire makes the most of this abundant raw material by keeping its focus tight (barely two years in a career that has spanned 30), its characters outrageous and the conflict between Lewis and his self-righteous cousin Jimmy Swaggart unresolved. [30 June 1989, p.H5]

Winona Ryder is wonderful as the naive child bride. Dennis Quaid, as Lewis, mugs and struts in a colorfully unreal caricature, miming to new Jerry Lee renditions of classic tunes.

A loud, careering thunderbolt of a bipoic, that leaves behind an imprint of the myth, if not enough of the man.

Great Balls of Fire is fun to watch, especially Quaid's gymnastics and clownish grimaces. But the movie lacks authenticity; it seems to be laughing at itself and at the era it purports to chronicle. [29 June 1989]

Most of the cast of accomplished actors are wasted in these roles, although two do manage to stand out: Ryder as the innocent-savvy Myra and John Doe, in an underplayed performance, as her father. The musical sequences are entertaining and energetic.

It's a thin, cartoonish treatment of the hellbent, musically energetic young Jerry Lee Lewis.

More fanciful than factual, less likable than either The Big Easy or Breathless, McBride's previous two features, the movie tries hard to re-create the euphoria of 50s rock films, but the poor-white milieu is treated with such crude derision that all the characters wind up seeming like two-dimensional geeks.