Anthony Michael Hall leaves the farm to visit his brother in Los Angeles; his parents are going through a bust-up. When he gets off the plane, he picks up the wrong bag, one full of drugs. When he wakes in the morning, he finds his brother and sister-in-law dead and im on the run. His only help is Jenny Wright, a woman he met on the plane, and who came on to him.
There are some nice bits of writing here, simple solutions to obvious problems. Why doesn't he call his parents? Because his father is traveling and his mother is visiting in Kansas..... and he wrote down the wrong phone number! But while Hall, who was trying to break out his his 'nerdy teen' phase, is very good in the early scenes as an unsure farmboy, after one day in the city he moves through a punk club with an air of assurance. In addition, there's little to interrupt the increasing level of apprehension throughout. A few breaks, a la Hitchcock, would have been nice.
Miss Wright has a far more nuanced and interesting performance to give that would seem to foretell a longer career. Alas, a dozen years later, she made her last film. It's mildly surprising. She's what makes this movie watchable.
There are some nice bits of writing here, simple solutions to obvious problems. Why doesn't he call his parents? Because his father is traveling and his mother is visiting in Kansas..... and he wrote down the wrong phone number! But while Hall, who was trying to break out his his 'nerdy teen' phase, is very good in the early scenes as an unsure farmboy, after one day in the city he moves through a punk club with an air of assurance. In addition, there's little to interrupt the increasing level of apprehension throughout. A few breaks, a la Hitchcock, would have been nice.
Miss Wright has a far more nuanced and interesting performance to give that would seem to foretell a longer career. Alas, a dozen years later, she made her last film. It's mildly surprising. She's what makes this movie watchable.