In the many peaks and valleys of his long career – and he’s still working! – the Mickster has never shied away from taking on difficult or questionable roles in his relentless desire to perform and entertain. While this adventuresome spirit might alienate his fan base that prefers to remember him as Andy Hardy or Judy Garland’s musical partner, it has won him an entirely new set of admirers who have seen and been amazed by his participation in such eclectic fare as THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ADAM AND EVE, PLATINUM HIGH SCHOOL, Roger Corman’s THE SECRET INVASION, HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI, EVERYTHING’S DUCKY (with Buddy Hackett and a talking duck), the Mafia-Hippie comedy SKIDOO (showing on TCM’s Underground on Jan. 4^th), and THE MANIPULATOR (aka B.J. LANG PRESENTS) to name only a few.  

And you have to admit his range is impressive from his desperate loser of  QUICKSAND to his subdued, underplayed supporting turn in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT and more recently his bizarre cameo in BABE: PIG IN THE CITY.

But I’m willing to bet that LA VIDA LACTEA (aka THE MILKY WAY), made in Spain in 1992, is probably the weirdest thing he’s ever done. Directed by Juan Estelrich, Jr. who has only made one other film (PINTADAS, 1996), this is a black comedy in the spirit of Luis Bunuel though without the sure touch of that master of the surreal. Yet, despite its uneven tone which wavers between broadly played social satire and a melancholy character study, LA VIDA LACTEA is often fascinating in ways that probably weren’t intended.

Here’s the set-up: Barry Reilly (Rooney) is a billionaire who decides on his 80^th birthday to retire but his announcement comes with an unexpected zinger that is a shock to his greedy family and in-laws. Reilly intends to spend his twilight years reliving that carefree, pre-consciousness state when he was a new born infant. He wants to regress to a state where he can be coddled, bathed, fed and loved – and he has the money to replicate the conditions and environment necessary for his indulgence. His vulture-like family has no choice but to humor him if they expect an inheritance and their devious schemes to sabotage the grand plan provide an intriguing subplot. But the main focus is on Reilly who wastes no time in hiring Aloha (Marianne Sagebrecht), a wet nurse, and getting down on all fours, crawling around in an oversize diaper and communicating in babytalk gibberish (which is dubbed into Spanish by an actor whose hilariously incongruous voice adds another layer of bizarreness to Rooney’s performance).

The make or break moment – the one where you decide to either flee the room or continue watching in astonishment – is when the Mickster begins breast-feeding on Marianne Sagebrecht’s more than ample bosom. Did she read the script and say, “I have to do this role”? Or was it the idea of working with the legendary Rooney regardless of the front and center suckling? Of course, this is just one aspect of their relationship which also involves the inevitable bathtub scene, playtime activities and the odd detail – Mickey rolling around in his giant crib or stuffing his overweight body into a high chair. It’s a brave performance – or maybe it’s an insane performance. And kudos to Ms. Sagebrecht too who is courageous beyond words.

LA VIDA LACTEA takes a dark turn in the final third that in some ways is a purer form of Reilly’s desire to return to a state of infancy – in some ways you could say he finally gets his wish – but the final fadeout is still decidedly downbeat. The director might have been aiming for profound tragedy but the climax feels anticlimactic instead as if he never found the desired resolution to his story. Still, if you’ve looking for a Mickey Rooney film that will make people’s eyeballs pop out of their skulls, this is it.

Unfortunately the only way to see it is via a bootleg print from Video Search of Miami which is in Spanish with English subtitles. And the third generation visual quality is less than desirable but once the weirdness begins you’ll forget about THAT. Mickey, you’ve come a long way since Andy Hardy!!