Musician Movie Cameo Monday: Tom Petty In THE POSTMAN

In Kevin Costner’s ridiculously awful 1997 sci-fi adventure, THE POSTMAN, legendary rocker, the late, great Tom Petty, appears in an odd, and amusing cameo. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic America, Costner plays a drifter that finds an old postman’s uniform and mail sack, and goes about delivering its contents which leads to the rebuilding of society.

We’re never told what exactly caused the collapse of civilization, but we assume it was a nuclear war. In his travels, Costner, only credited as “The Postman,” comes upon a city built on top of a dam. He is encountered by Petty, dressed in MAD MAX-style garb, as “The Mayor of Bridge City.” Seems that nobody wanted for these characters to have proper names, but since the Postman in the book the film was based on by David Brin was named Gordon Krantz, maybe that’s for the best.

The first exchange between Petty’s Mayor and Costner’s Postman, goes like this:

The Mayor: “You’re in Bridge City! Where we don’t allow guns. Sentry said you were coming.

The Postman: “I know you, you’re famous.”

The Mayor: “I was once. Not anymore.”

Get that? One has to think that Petty is playing himself. THE POSTMAN was released in 1997, and takes place in the then near-future of 2013, which means the 47-year old musician was playing a 63-year version of himself. There was no attempt to make Petty look older than he did in 1997, but since, albeit aging, he basically looked the same as he turned out to look in 2013. 

There are no mentions of his music in the movie, and no other reference to Petty’s past stature. All you need to know is that this guy used to be somebody, but now he’ll do what he can to help you rebuild the good ole U.S. of A. It’s an extended cameo, as he appears in more than one scene, and has around a dozen lines, but they are mostly about pushing the plot forward, and then The Mayor’s screen-time is over. He may be in the crowd at the film’s climax, but I’m not re-watching it to find out.

 

I can’t find any mention of Petty’s involvement in THE POSTMAN in any of his interviews, or any info on how the part came to be, but this is Petty’s only major motion picture appearance - that is if you don’t count his brief pop-ups in the 1978 comedy FM, and in the long-forgotten 1987 fantasy film, MADE IN HEAVEN, in which he is billed as “Stanky.” Yeah, let’s not count those. So let’s say it’s his only movie appearance where he’s not credited as himself, yet he is playing himself.

 

On the small screen, Petty portrayed comic versions of himself on It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, King of the Hill, The Larry Sanders Show, and The Simpsons. In each, Petty is a very funny, appealing presence with great timing. 

Petty’s close to humorless, and lackadaisical walk through THE POSTMAN can be read as lazy, but it’s still consistent with his well-known persona. In other words, the man seems just as stoned as he is in his television cameos, but his purpose is more gravitas than levity.  

 

It’s still a very scene in a very silly, pretentious movie, which most likely even hardcore Petty fans have long dismissed. Maybe the only thing worth taking away is that there may be a connection to a music video that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made for their 1982 single, “You Got Lucky.” The video was also set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, and obviously was based on the aesthetics of the aforementioned MAD MAX movies.

It’s doubtful that many people in the actual future will remember Petty as an actor, or even remember THE POSTMAN for that matter. His cartoon cameos will likely be the appearances that will be thought of as his show-biz side-hustle. 

 

THE POSTMAN was a critical and financial disaster, which swept the Golden Raspberry Awards in 1998 taking home awards for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Original Song. If Worst Cameo had been a Raspberry category, I bet Petty would’ve been spared because he’s actually the most likable element of the film.

More later...