The Fruit Machine

R

1988

1 hr. 42 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

List

71%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Two gay teens (Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth) flee Liverpool with an old opera singer (Robert Stephens) after witnessing a machete murder.

Read More

Read Less

PridePosterStudios

This was an odd one! I remember dolphins. Lots of dolphins.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/26/24

Full Review

colin m

'The Fruit Machine' (known as 'Wonderland' in the US). Enjoyed re-watching this 1980s movie, available free of charge on YouTube. Slightly spoilt by its goes-off-at-a-tangent ending. [A 20-minute medley of the music soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, called "The Fruit Machine Suite", is on YouTube, well worth listening to after you watch the movie.]

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very poignant and well portrayed film that deals with a point in time at which gay people were still being beaten up, but were no longer beating themselves up. The two main protagonists were well rounded characters that avoided most of the usual stereotypes. Well worth watching as a piece of social history ( and to see Robbie Coltrane in a frock!)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I remember seeing bits of this film in the early 90s so thought I would check it out again now its on DVD and have always wanted to see all of it. It was not really as good as I remember it, it trys to be a bit too surreal and arty, it does not come off. Robbie Coltrane is great in this film as the dodgy club entertainer. Great music, but a really dodgy plot which gets abit lost in itself, with some dodgy acting at times, only worth checking out if its on film 4 or something.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is my all-time favourite movie; it's British and I can relate to it on five different levels. Not an easy film to find nowadays, but if you DO come across it, don't ignore it. Two Liverpudlian boys, each with his own problems witness a murder and go on the run from the hit-man. They tag along with an ageing Opera singer who takes them to Brighton. As payment for this deed the opera singer takes the body of Michael who when in Liverpool was "on the rent" and innocent and homely Eddie discovers a performing dolphin in "Wonderland" (otherwise known as the Brighton Sea Life Centre) who he wants to rescue and set free. In the midst of all this mundane activity, the killer suddenly turns up, having traced the pair to the South Coast. Robbie Coltrane is brilliant as Annabel; an incredibly unusual role for him but realised beautifully. The commercial soundtrack is wonderful, and there are some surreal dream sequences that make perfect sense by the end of the film. Be warned, you cannot fail but to be deeply moved by the end and you will need a huge box of Kleenex tissues. I have seen this film more times than I would freely admit and have cried floods of tears EVERY time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/10/08

Full Review

Audience Member

I remember mail ordering the VHS from Britain. It's an endearing though predictable little film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/30/07

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Philip Saville

Director

Emile Charles

Eddie

Tony Forsyth

Michael

Robert Stephens

Vincent

Clare Higgins

Eve

Bruce Payne

Echo

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Mark Sanderson

Time Out

It's as camp as Christmas, and if it rarely hits the jackpot, playing along with it is wildly enjoyable.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Hal Hinson

Washington Post

Not a great deal of a common sense has been expended here.

Apr 10, 2001

Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

[The film's] structure appears to have been ineptly drawn from the farce masterpiece, Some Like It Hot. It's also judgmental in ways that abjure character development.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Michael Bronski

Gay Community News (Boston)

That rare sort of film: accessible and enjoyable, it also quietly undermines our very perceptions of it,

Sep 15, 2022

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 27, 2005

Full Review

Randy Shulman

Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Rated: 3/5

Nov 4, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Two gay teens (Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth) flee Liverpool with an old opera singer (Robert Stephens) after witnessing a machete murder.

Director: Philip Saville
Screenwriter: Frank Clarke
Production Co: Granada Television, Ideal Communications Films
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 14, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.5K