The Dark Backward (also known as The Man with Three Arms ) is a 1991 American black comedy film written and directed by Adam Rifkin . It stars Judd Nelson , Bill Paxton , and Wayne Newton . It follows a garbage man who tries his hand at stand-up comedy , failing miserably until a third arm mysteriously grows from his back.
37-559: The film was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 26, 1991, by Greycat Films. It received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, but has since become a cult film . For his performance, Newton was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor . Marty Malt ( Judd Nelson ) is an unhappy garbage man who moonlights as an atrociously unfunny standup comic . He lives in
74-451: A talent agent , Jackie Chrome ( Wayne Newton ), to check out Marty's act. Jackie isn't impressed. Marty's luck seems to take a turn for the worse when a large lump starts growing on his back. He goes to a quack doctor ( James Caan ), who calls him a wimp and puts a Band-Aid on the lump. The lump continues to grow, eventually becoming a full-sized arm . While Gus uses Marty's newfound freakishness to impress his morbidly obese girlfriends,
111-573: A Los Angeles serial killer hunted by two police officers ( Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi ); he provided a cameo in the Adam Rifkin road film Never on Tuesday (1989) along with Nicolas Cage , Cary Elwes , Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen ; and appeared in Tommy Chong 's Far Out Man (1989) with Rae Dawn Chong and C. Thomas Howell . Key TV roles in the 1980s included Moonlighting (1986) – episode "Camille" – in which he played
148-615: A courtroom thriller based on actual events; his performance earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Mini-Series. In late 1988 he played Konstantin in Chekhov's The Seagull directed by Charles Marowitz at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, earning praise, as did the entire production. Nelson closed the 1980s with the William Lustig thriller, Relentless (1989), in which he plays
185-461: A dark, grimy, garbage-strewn urban netherworld, where a company named Blump's apparently owns everything. His best friend and fellow trash collector, Gus ( Bill Paxton ), is the only one who laughs at his jokes, and his sincerity is questionable. The obnoxiously exuberant Gus plays an accordion , which he always carries with him. Marty is seeing Rosarita ( Lara Flynn Boyle ), a waitress, but she doesn't seem too interested in him. One day, Gus convinces
222-536: A four-season run. He had a starring role in the Shaquille O'Neal movie Steel (1997). The film also starred Annabeth Gish and Richard Roundtree ( Steel was a commercial flop). Nelson wrapped up the 1990s with another urban gangster thriller, Light It Up (1999), which featured an ensemble cast including R&B singer/actor Usher Raymond (in his first leading role), Rosario Dawson , Forest Whitaker , and Vanessa L. Williams . He played Alan Freed in
259-581: A horrified Rosarita breaks up with Marty, and he gets fired from the club where he does his act. Marty is despondent until Gus brings him to see Jackie, who, it turns out, has always dreamed of finding a real three-armed comic. Re-christened "Desi the Three-Armed Wonder Comic," and with Gus now providing musical accompaniment, Marty gets a fresh start on his career. Marty and Gus have a few semi-successful shows and eventually meet Hollywood talent agent Dirk Delta ( Rob Lowe ), who offers them
296-419: A job. Marty, Gus and Jackie celebrate this big break and everything seems to be looking up until Marty wakes up the following morning and discovers his third arm has inexplicably vanished. He goes with Gus to see Jackie, who is furious at first but calms down and decides to tell Dirk the truth upon Marty's suggestion. After calling Dirk and telling him the bad news, Dirk surprisingly asks them to send Gus to fill
333-643: A limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada has been defined by Nielsen EDI as a film released in fewer than 600 theaters. The purpose is often used to gauge the appeal of specialty films, like documentaries , independent films and art films . A common practice by film studios is to give highly anticipated and critically acclaimed films a limited release on or before December 31 in Los Angeles County, California , to qualify for Academy Award nominations (as by its rules). Highly anticipated documentaries also receive limited releases at
370-784: A police officer opposite Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis . Nelson began the 1990s with a starring role opposite Max von Sydow in the World War II drama Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990). The film focused on the horror of the Hiroshima bombing . It co-stars Mako Iwamatsu and Pat Morita . In the Fall of 1990 he appeared on stage in Chicago and New York in Jules Feiffer's Carnal Knowledge with Jon Cryer . He then worked for
407-1034: A recurring role in Two and a Half Men (2010) with Charlie Sheen. Films include the psychological thriller Cabin by the Lake (2000), its sequel Return to Cabin by the Lake (2001), and a cameo appearance in the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ; the film's writer-director, Kevin Smith , had been a long-time fan of Nelson and the "Brat Pack" films. In 2002 he co-starred with Lauren Holly in Santa Jr. and reprised his role as John Bender in an episode of Family Guy (2007). Later, Nelson reprised his role of Rodimus Prime in Transformers Animated (2009) and appeared in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009),
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#1732794290109444-606: A second time with Adam Rifkin, this time starring in The Dark Backward (1991) with Bill Paxton . This quirky comedy featured fellow actor Rob Lowe, as well as Lara Flynn Boyle , James Caan , and Wayne Newton . Nelson plays the worst comedian in stand-up comedy history. In 1991, he had a starring role in the Mario Van Peebles -directed New Jack City , an urban gangster film with Wesley Snipes , Ice-T , Vanessa A. Williams , and Chris Rock . The film
481-444: Is a work of real craftsmanship that builds well and boasts superlative production design, incorporating thrift-store kitsch from the past couple of decades, fine moody camera work and a driving, cockamamie carousel music score." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone commented, "Adam Rifkin wrote the script for this comedy six years ago when he was nineteen. The result would be more excusable if he had written it nineteen years ago when he
518-483: Is influenced by the business at large. […] I wrote it purely from my heart. It was something I wanted to write because it was something I wanted to see. Because that will never ever happen again, that's why it holds such a place in my heart." Limited theatrical release Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994,
555-493: The 90th Academy Awards were announced was the film expanded to 800 theaters. Distributor Sony Pictures Classics sparked criticism for not expanding to more cities sooner. Some journalists and industry sources defended the rollout, arguing an immediate wide release for such a film with a specialized audience was not a viable option. In 2021, some films that were awards contenders ( Belfast and Spencer ) were opened in wide release. The shift away from platform releases
592-705: The Santa Barbara International Film Festival on March 9, 1991. It was released in New York City on July 26, 1991, and in Los Angeles on November 22, 1991. The film was released on VHS in the United States by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video in 1992. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later released a special edition DVD on October 3, 2007. The Dark Backward grossed only $ 28,654 in North America. On
629-665: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 45% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated, " The Dark Backward concentrates only on stomach-turning trivia and on the kind of exaggeratedly stupid behavior that amounts to directorial condescension. […] The film's efforts to say something about success and its capriciousness never succeed in rising above an elbow-in-the-ribs obviousness." Maslin opined that Judd Nelson "gives
666-567: The US (1985). It was written by David Foster and John Parr and performed by John Parr . Nelson appears in the video. He also appeared on a video for the Simple Minds ' song " Don't You (Forget About Me) ", from The Breakfast Club , in which members of the "Pack" feature prominently. A subsequent article in New York magazine , which focused primarily on the success of these films, resulted in
703-413: The United States, even a limited theatrical release can help trigger a variety of ancillary revenues, like home video, pay television, streaming , international sales and others. A platform release is a type of limited release in which a film opens in fewer theaters (typically 50 or fewer) than a wide release . If the film receives positive word of mouth, it is gradually expanded to more theaters, as
740-580: The comedy Airheads , with Gina Gershon in the psychological thriller Flinch , and with then partner Shannen Doherty in the thriller Blindfold: Acts of Obsession . Nelson wrote, produced, and starred in the thriller Every Breath in which he co-starred with Joanna Pacula . He headlined the Australian thriller, Blackwater Trail (1995), with Peter Phelps . He had a starring role on the NBC television sitcom Suddenly Susan (1996), which saw success for
777-463: The distributor can withdraw from the campaign, thus minimizing advertising and promotional expenditures. In the early stages of a platform release, the key metric is the per-theater/screen average gross , not the total box office gross . Arthouse and independent films that garner high per-theater averages are seen as likely candidates for a successful wider release. A distributor using this release strategy must take care not to expand too quickly in
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#1732794290109814-713: The documentary, and it maintains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He starred opposite Burt Reynolds in the ABC Afterschool Special Shattered If Your Kid's On Drugs , which also featured Megan Follows and Dermot Mulroney . In 1987 he starred in the Bob Clark courtroom comedy From the Hip , which co-starred John Hurt and Elizabeth Perkins ; he also provided a stand-out performance in Billionaire Boys Club ,
851-458: The early stages to prevent the (limited) audience from being spread too thin, which would reduce the per-theater average and so cause the film to appear weaker. Platform releases are commonly used by studios and distributors seeking to position their films for awards success . These films are typically released in the largest markets first, with a gradual rollout depending on audience hype and interest. These releases are usually scheduled towards
888-490: The end of the year to coincide with major awards events. When a film garners awards attention during this period, critical praise and strong word-of-mouth can translate into a higher per-screen average, and thus expansion to more theaters. Awards attention benefits films from smaller companies or distributors who do not have the larger budgets needed to spend on advertising. With streaming technology making films more accessible to audiences regardless of geographic location,
925-543: The film's best performance, which is not to say anything pleasant about the others." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, " The Dark Backward is ultimately a tale of liberation with the notion that only when you are truly free can you be truly funny. These may seem awfully sober thoughts for what looks to be a candidate for a midnight cult movie . However, for all its gross-out humor The Dark Backward
962-903: The latter with Julie Benz , Billy Connolly , Sean Patrick Flanery , and Peter Fonda . He portrayed Father Charley Lock on Brookwood Sleazebags (2010), a pilot he did for HBO. In 2012, Nelson played the role of Headmaster Nash in the live-action feature film Bad Kids Go to Hell , based on the graphic novel of the same name. The same year, Nelson co-wrote and starred in the short film The Spin Room: Super Tuesday . Nelson reprised his role as Rodimus in Transformers: Animated and voiced Ben 10,000, Eon, and Atomic-X in Ben 10: Omniverse . In 2013, Nelson authored four books released on Kindle: The Power of Speech , Nine of Diamonds , The Gig , and Water Music . Nelson played
999-451: The latter's life story, Mr. Rock 'N' Roll: The Alan Freed Story (1999) opposite Mädchen Amick and Paula Abdul . In the 21st century, Nelson has appeared in such TV series as The Outer Limits (2000), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006), CSI: NY (2007), Las Vegas (2007), Eleventh Hour (2008) as a psychologist researching soldiers returning from Iraq who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder , Psych (2010), and
1036-407: The marketing campaign gains momentum. A successful film released in this manner has even the possibility of expanding into a wide release. The advantage of the strategy is that marketing costs are conserved until a film's performance has been established, when the distributor may opt to increase advertising and push for a wider release. On the other hand, if audience turnout is not successful,
1073-930: The mid-1980s, starring in Making the Grade (1984), and in Fandango (1985) opposite Kevin Costner . It was his roles in John Hughes 's The Breakfast Club (1985) and Joel Schumacher 's St. Elmo's Fire (1985) that made Nelson a star. He was affiliated with the Brat Pack of young 1980s actors, along with Emilio Estevez , Anthony Michael Hall , Rob Lowe , Andrew McCarthy , Demi Moore , Molly Ringwald , and Ally Sheedy . The St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) music video – also directed by Schumacher – reached No. 1 in
1110-476: The platform release strategy has been criticized as an outdated model as it limits specialty films to metropolitan areas. A notable example is the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name , which debuted at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and began its limited theatrical run on November 24, 2017, in New York City and Los Angeles, with a wider opening on Christmas Day. Only until days before the nominees for
1147-553: The same time in New York City , as the rules for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature mandate releases in both locations. The films are almost always released to a wider audience in January or February of the following year. One notable exception is The Rocky Horror Picture Show , which premiered in 1975 and is still shown only in limited fashion; it is the longest-running theatrical release in film history. In
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1184-579: The spot with his accordion playing. Gus is ecstatic and leaves almost immediately. Marty is sad but gets his job back at the club and uses the story of his third arm in his act and finally gets a few laughs from the crowd. The Dark Backward was the first screenplay that Adam Rifkin ever wrote. He was just 19 years old when he was inspired to write it after watching a night of stand-up comedy in 1985. Principal photography began on August 14, 1990, in Los Angeles , California , and concluded in mid-September 1990. The Dark Backward had its world premiere at
1221-1198: The television series Suddenly Susan . Nelson was born in Portland, Maine , the son of Merle Nelson ( née Royte ), a court mediator and former member of the Maine House of Representatives , and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish home although his family did not keep kosher . His father was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra . He has two sisters, Eve and Julie. He went to school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Waynflete School in Portland, Maine . While at St Paul's School, an Episcopalian school, he started embracing his Jewish identity after experiencing antisemitism . He studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania , leaving during his sophomore year. He subsequently moved to Manhattan to study acting with Stella Adler . Nelson began acting in
1258-624: The term "Brat Pack" being coined. In 1986 Nelson provided the voice of Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie and teamed up with Breakfast Club alumna Ally Sheedy for a third time in Blue City . He also provided narration for Bill Couturie 's Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam , a critically acclaimed war documentary that featured a cast including Tom Berenger , Robert De Niro , Willem Dafoe , and Matt Dillon . Film critic Roger Ebert praised
1295-677: Was a commercial success. He then had a special guest appearance in the HBO TV series Tales from the Crypt – on the episode What's Cookin (1992) – with Christopher Reeve and Meat Loaf , followed by a starring role with Richard Jordan in the thriller Primary Motive (1992), and a similar role in Entangled (1993) opposite Pierce Brosnan , which was set in Paris. In 1994 Nelson appeared with Steve Buscemi , Chris Farley , and Adam Sandler in
1332-828: Was seen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic 's impact on theaters and the streaming age. Judd Nelson Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. His acting roles include Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie , John Bender in The Breakfast Club , Alec Newbury in St. Elmo's Fire , Alex in Cybermutt , Joe Hunt in Billionaire Boys Club , Nick Peretti in New Jack City , Billy Beretti in Empire , and Jack Richmond in
1369-555: Was six." Travers also stated, "Instead of the high satire of How to Get Ahead in Advertising (in which a boil on Richard E. Grant's neck grows into a talking head), Rifkin has conjured up a new low in cinematic ineptitude." The film has gained a cult following over the years. In 2018, Rifkin said that " The Dark Backward is and forever will be my sentimental favorite. It is the only thing I ever wrote that isn't influenced by outside voices. Every script you write, to some degree,
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