At Close Range (1986)
Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man. Inspired by the real events that led to the end of the Johnston Gang, who operated in the northeastern United States in the 1970s.
- James Foley
- Frank Capra III
- Ric Kidney
- Margaret Krueger
- Kerry Lyn McKissick
- Nicholas Kazan
- Elliott Lewitt
- Nicholas Kazan
Rating: 6.9/10 by 261 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 51 minutes
Budget: $6,500,000
Revenue: $2,347,000
Plot Keyword: small town, rape, pennsylvania, usa, money laundering, 1970s, tractor, based on true story, sociopath, organized crime, drugs, witness to murder, teenage love, crime family, courtroom, jobless, grand theft auto, police investigation, farm house, police interrogation, farm girl, criminal organization, life of crime, desperate, father son relationship, criminal life, malicious, cruel, demeaning, harsh
The last twenty minutes of this rather enliven it, but otherwise it's rather dull story of "Brad" (Sean Penn) who is rather in awe of his criminal "Dad Brad" (Christopher Walken) and hopes to one day emulate what he sees as his glamorous lifestyle. One such day arrives when the father agrees to plan a robbery for his son to execute only things don't go to plan and just about everyone discovers just how vicious the older man can be when it comes to his own self-preservation. Most of this is really just an excuse for Penn to wander around shirtless showing off his pecs whilst a few variations of Madonna's "Live to Tell" serenade us from the sidelines. The two women who feature here - Mary Stuart Masterson's "Terry" and Millie Perkins's "Julie" make little impact on the Penn family beauty pageant (his brother Chris also features as his younger sibling "Tommy") and though Walken emanates just an hint of menace as the plot thickens, it's all just too little too late by the end when I really wasn't bothered about this repetitive tale of a dysfunctional family with testicles where their brains ought to be. It's based on a real life family in Philadelphia, and maybe that notoriety is all that helps this remain memorable. Neither the writing nor the vaguely pugilistic Penn and his John Wayne walk can do that.
