Pass the Ammo

Pass the Ammo
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by	David Beaird
Produced by	David Streit (line producer) Bill Yahraus (associate producer)
Written by	Joel Cohen Neil Cohen
Starring	Bill Paxton Annie Potts Tim Curry
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Mark Irwin
Editing by	Bill Yahraus
Studio	The Vista Organisation
Distributed by	New Century Vista Film Company
Release date(s)	March 1988
Running time	93 min
Country	USA
Language	English

Pass the Ammo is a 1988 film starring Bill Paxton, Annie Potts, and Tim Curry. The film is a spoof of televangelism released right after the real-life Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. The movie's working title during production, "...And Pass the Ammunition," references the phrase "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."

Synopsis

Curry is the Rev. Ray Porter, who runs a Pentecostal faith healing and televangelism empire based in Arkansas. A small group of stereotypical rednecks, one of whom was bilked out of her inheritance by Rev. Porter's ministry and another of whom just got out of prison, try to rob Porter's ministry. A series of wrong turns inside the church during the robbery leads the robbers onstage right in the middle of a broadcast, and the three robbers turn what was supposed to have been "just" a robbery into a hostage situation. During the hostage negotiations, a series of snowballing scandals involving the ministry come to light. The robbery, hostage taking, and scandal revelations are all broadcast live over satellite television as locals gather in bars to watch. Rev. Porter and the robbers develop a rapport during the hostage situation that resembles shop talk among thieves, as they discuss the best ways of investing stolen money. One comic subplot involves the Christian network's producer, a drug-addled electronics wizard named Stonewall who decorates his workspace with Pink Floyd posters, but was hired by the network because "he has found the Lord...he told us so himself." Another subplot involves a local sheriff, himself also an archetypal redneck whose duck hunting trip was interrupted by the incident, who seems to sympathize with the would-be robbers. The film is partly about his moral struggle in trying to enforce the law when his sympathies lie elsewhere. He just wants to see the situation end with nobody getting hurt, and butts heads with the network's owner and federal agents who demand harsher action. The owner of the satellite network, whose character is based on Jerry Falwell, demands that the National Guard be called in leading to a siege and climactic ending.

Availability

The film was released on VHS by International Video Entertainment sometime after its theatrical run and later in 1991 by Avid Home Entertainment in the SLP Mode. The movie has not been released on DVD and as of December 21, 2009, Lions Gate has yet to announce any plans for a DVD release.

Starring

• Bill Paxton as Jesse Wilkes
• Linda Kozlowski as Claire
• Tim Curry as Rev. Ray Porter
• Annie Potts as Darla Porter
• Dennis Burkley as Big Joe Becker
• Glenn Withrow as Arnold Limpet
• Leland Crooke as Sheriff Rascal Lebeaux

External links

• Pass the Ammo at the Internet Movie Database
• Pass the Ammo at AllRovi