Prick Up Your Ears

One of the most controversial and unusual films of 1987 arrived in April-Stephen Frears' biopic of the late playwright Joe Orton. Played to the hilt by Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy), Joe Orton was a smashing '60s success with his comedies Entertaining Mr. Sloane and Loot; he was also a promiscuous homosexual. His lover Kenneth Halliwell (a fine performance by Alfred Molina) killed Orton in a fit of jealous rage. So, this is a love story ...of sorts. But it's also so much more than that. The real bone of contention between the two lovers was Orton's fame which eclipsed Halliwell's failed efforts both as an artist and a playwright. Halliwell was a cultured, sensitive, artistic but untalented type; while Orton was a direct, crude, insensitive, but extremely talented slob. Echoes of both Amadeus and Star 80 can be found in Prick Up Your Ears. But from the double entendre of the title to the closing credits, Prick Up Your Ears is its own movie -and one of the most curious ones, at that. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 6, 2015—Olive, 110 min., R, DVD: $14.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1987's Prick Up Your Ears features a solid transfer and a DTS-HD 2.0 soundtrack, but no extras. Bottom line: Frears' early film featuring a young Gary Oldman makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]