Great Balls of Fire!

Great Balls of Fire! tells the story of rock and roll pianist and singer Jerry Lee Lewis, whose raw talent and volatile personality carried him to fame in the late 1950s. In Memphis in 1956, he records with a producer who had previously worked with Elvis Presley, and a string of hits follows. He continues living with the family of his cousin J.W. Brown, where he falls for Brown's thirteen-year-old daughter Myra. The two marry in secret, and when the British press learns of the union during a tour of England, the resulting scandal damages his record sales after he returns home. Myra stands by him, and he stays committed to his music.

The film was directed by Jim McBride, who wrote the screenplay with Jack Baran. It followed McBride's Breathless and The Big Easy and came before Uncovered. Dennis Quaid plays Lewis and Winona Ryder plays Myra, with John Doe, Stephen Tobolowsky, Alec Baldwin and Lisa Blount in supporting roles. It is a drama with a credited cast of 59.

Produced by Orion Pictures on a budget of about 17 million dollars, the film took in roughly 14 million dollars worldwide, less than its cost. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.3 out of 10 from 351 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 5.9 out of 10 from 27 reviews, placing the two closer together than is often the case.