MAD PROPS

(director/writer: Juan Pablo Reinoso; cinematographers: Hatti Beanland, Rick Carmona, Karleah Del Moral; editor: Kevin Hartman; music: Eric Gillette; cast:  Robert Englund, Mickey Rourke, Lance Henriksen, Danny Boy O’Connor, Alec Gilis, Tom Biolchini; Runtime: 90; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Keli Price, Juan Pablo Reinoso, Melanie Brooke Sweeney; Virgil Films; 2024)

“The pop culture film had enough zip and diversions to hold my interest without exciting me.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Juan Pablo Reinoso (“Down the Road”/”Approaching Heaven”) directs this “nostalgia fueled” documentary about movie props collected as if art treasures.

Tom Biolchini, a wealthy lawyer-turned-banker from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a prop collector of movie sets, who shows us his home prop collection while on screen the actual films are shown. There are film props from films like Star Wars, The Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and the Last Crusade.

In the second half of the film there’s a visit to where Hip-Hop singer Danny Boy O’Connor is the owner of The Outsiders House, ‘the largest prop in the world.’ Other visits are to see the collections of movie actors Mickey Rourke, Lance Henriksen and, the Freddy Kruger actor, Robert Englund. Interviews explain why even film stars feel the urge to be prop collectors, and their stories spice things up. Henriksen’s take on aliens caught my interest.

There’s also a visit to a popular prop store in London, museums and art curators in Italy.

It’s supposedly a fun documentary for movie fans. I could see the appeal such movie props has for both movie stars and fans, and I’m okay with the hobby though it doesn’t rock my boat. I’ve on occasion collected cheaper memorabilia like movie posters, which I framed and hung on the walls in my house.

The pop culture film had enough zip and diversions to hold my interest without exciting me.

REVIEWED ON 3/5/2024  GRADE: B-