John Hudson and the mighty Bobby Hazzard return to discuss
this late 80’s mystical mystery filmed in Miami.
Directed by Sergio Martino, AMERICAN RICKSHAW (1989) surely would
not be nearly as entertaining or as coherent if it had been handled by someone
with less experience behind the camera. Juggling enough disparate elements for
two movies Martino somehow makes it all come together in a mad mishmash of sex
criminals, televangelists, magical fires, mysterious ladies and the stolen pig
idol that starts the whole crazed affair. Along the way we are witness to
Donald Pleasance drifting in and out of a Southern American accent which might
be worth the price of the Blu-Ray all on its own. Our hero is played by Olympian
Mitch Gaylord and, for some reason, his performance gets better the more
unshaven and sweatier he becomes. Maybe desperation breeds more believable acting
in professional athletes?
Our conversation meanders all over the film and its various strange
elements as we attempt to come to grips with the way that the plot is both
insane and – eventually – straightforward. Of course, it is impossible from the
start to realize that this tale of a poor college student working as a rickshaw
driver in Miami will transform into the endgame of a decades long mystic war
between rival sorcerers so I think it is understandable that we can’t maintain
a straight-line plot discussion. In fact, it might just be impossible to talk
about AMERICAN RICKSHAW in a completely linear fashion. There are simply too
many things going on all at the same time! Luckily, I think we only lose track
of what we’re doing a couple of times with the worst moment being when we are
nearly derailed by tales of small-town strip clubs. And Hudson is still
obsessed with transparent simians. Of course.
If you have any comments or questions thebloodypit@gmail.com is the email
address where notes or recordings can be sent. Thank you for listening to the
show and please let others know if you enjoy what we do here.
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