In Reno, the former successful trumpet player Nate Poole (Mickey Rourke) has one night stand with the wife of the powerful and ruthless mobster Happy Shannon (Bill Murray) and one gangster of his gang abducts Nate to kill him in the desert.

Out of the blue, Nate is saved by Indians and he walks through the desert until he reaches a side show owned by Sam Adamo (Rhys Ifans). Nate asks if Sam has a telephone to make a phone call to his friend Harriet (Kelly Lynch),but he sees a beautiful woman with wings called Lily Luster (Megan Fox) and he asks a drink to her. Then he invites Lily to move with him to Reno. However Sam kidnaps Nate to kill him with a snake, but Lily rescues Nate with a truck and they head to Reno.

Nate plots a scheme to raise some money, offering Lily to Happy. Along their journey back to Reno, Nate falls in love with her and he decides to call off the agreement with Happy. But the criminal finds Nate's hideout and abducts Lily and keeps the angel with him. Nevertheless Nate is decided to rescue Lily from Happy's fortress.

"Passion Play" is a weird film with an awful story, with Mickey Rourke absolutely miscast in the role of a washed up musician that falls in love with an angel performed by Megan Fox. In the 80's, Mickey Rourke was cool and one of the most handsome actors of cinema; but recently, he is deformed and one of the ugliest actors. Therefore, his romance with Lily is absurd and hard to believe and there is no reason for the gorgeous Megan Fox to fall in love with the old Mickey Rourke.

There are also inconsistent situations, especially when the conclusion is disclosed to the viewer. Last but not the least, there are many fake reviews promoting this flick. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Anjo do Desejo" ("The Angel of the Desire")

This is a slow moving neo-noir modern western. Mickey Rourke plays Nate Poole, a jazz player has-been who has been caught with a mobster's wife. He is taken out into the desert to be shot when suddenly a group of Native Americans, dressed in white, shoot his killer. Nate walks until he reaches a sideshow carnival, complete with a woman with huge angel wings (Meagan Fox) named Lily Luster (short for Lilith, a fallen angel?). As the carnies are ready to kill Poole, Lily rescues him.

Rhys Ifans plays Sam Adamo (another Biblical reference as Lilith in mythology was Adam's first wife). He is the head carny and Lily's caretaker. Nate plans to exploit Meagan by going back to the mobster Happy Shannon (Bill Murray) who is anything but happy, as he is a "recent widower." Nate is aided by Harriet (Kelly Lynch) who runs the "Dream Lounge" in case you thought we were running out of symbols/metaphors. Oh yes, Happy's real name is "Michael" like the angel.

Poole seems to ruin his chance for redemption when he decides to exploit "angel." The movie contains tons of slow, seemingly useless, endless dialouge. The Sartre ending was expected as soon as the first shot was fired. This is more of an "indie" style movie or perhaps an "art" film. I think everybody will find something boring in this film in spite of the haphazard use of metaphors.

F-bombs, one dimly lit sex scene, nudity (not Meagan).

An angel (Megan Fox) under the thumb of a ruthless gangster (Bill Murray) is saved by a trumpet player down on his luck (Mickey Rourke).

This film, both written and directed by Mitch Glazer (Scrooged),has a lot going for it. Of course, obviously, the amazing cast. Murray never fails, Rourke is strong, and strangely enough Megan Fox puts on the best performance of her career (at least so far) in this film. If you think of her as just a pretty face, this film might prove you wrong.

And the story is compelling. There is an angel (or "bird woman") and it passes as a realistic story without any fantasy. The CGI is hit and miss on the wings, unfortunately, but the general concept is pulled off and makes for quite an interesting story... and with Murray as a gangster, blending his serious and humorous sides in one role.

Having an angel as a character calls to mind some religious thoughts, and indeed they play on the concept of things being "heavenly" and with "redemption". There is a good angel and an evil angel, too. I asked Glazer if the religious symbolism runs deeper, and he assures me it does not. But even on this surface level, the story works -- a man can return to his depths or rise to new heights.

Mickey Rourke, old with a mutant face and sagging pectorals, really owes Glazer for this film. In no way should we believe that an angel would want to be with a loser like this. Granted, he is kind to her and she admires his musical talent. But really, I mean wow... Rourke twenty years ago maybe, but today he should be glad when he gets a female to share a screen with him at all, let alone get naked or kiss him.

The film falls a bit short, and I cannot even pinpoint why. I just felt like there was a next step that should be taken that never was... this could be explored in a sequel, I guess, but this is not the kind of film you make a sequel to. Is love stronger than death, as the tagline suggests? Maybe, but the film never really explains why.