At Close Range (1986) User Reviews

Disturbing.

[karen-128 · 8/10 · 6 February 2006]

This is such a well crafted film in so many ways, I urge you not to watch it alone. The writer has dipped into Greek mythology as well as modern newspaper tabloids, and come up with a frightening collection of kids and adults that you absolutely believe could exist down the street in a 'lesser' part of town.

I won't go into the plot, except to say that it's centered around kids need for love from their parents- and what they'll do to get it.

Chris Walken walks away with the film- every time he's on screen, it lights up and all sense of time stops. I'm not exaggerating! He's stunning.

The Penn brothers, Sean and Chris, do fine work as well. But I was most surprised by Chris Penn, he's open and sad and really quite a terrific actor.

I think this is James Foleys best film, and worth a rent.

"Is this the Family Gun, Dad?"

[PredragReviews · 8/10 · 30 April 2016]

The look of the film says rural poverty. There are broken-down cars in the front yards and trash in the streets. People don't say much during supper; they're too involved watching the television. The main story is based on the real life story of killer Bruce Johnson. With the accepting of the character's names being changed, the film features an accurate interpretation of events. It is truly a shame that no one really knows about this film. It features a powerful and emotional tale of an American criminal family.

This is a gritty movie, with great questions about family ties and what to do with your life when you have no real options. Most of the cast was relatively unknown at the time, so check out actors like Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, and Mary Stuart Masterson at the beginning of their careers. Credit should also go to director James Foley and scriptwriter Nicholas Kazan for not only delivering a powerhouse film but for also getting it right.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Will Mercilessly Break Your Heart!

[mackey3000 · 8/10 · 4 July 2005]

AT CLOSE RANGE is one of the bleakest, coldest, scariest, and most depressing films I have ever seen...it was made even more depressing when I learned at the end that it was based on a true story. A very young but already magnetic Sean Penn is heartbreakingly convincing and predictably terrific in the lead role of a tough but generally good kid with family problems that range from a poor home with his mother and grandmother to having a lowlife, evil-to- the-asshole scumbag for a father. As the father, Christopher Walken, in what may be the greatest performance of his career, gives one of the most despicable, hateful, and frightening in it's believability performances in the history of film. He is the epitome of an evil person who has turned amoral with a lot of practice. I can't remember the last time I hated a character in a film as much as I despised Walken. The remarkable final confrontation scene between him and Penn, after a tragedy has happened, is an example of how limitless the raw power that film can evoke truly is when it is in the hands of amazing character actors who get inside their characters in such an awe-inspiring way that they make you feel like you are watching a documentary. The scene makes you so sad and angry at the same time that it just breaks your f**king heart! It is one of the very best scenes of both actors' stellar careers, and it is a scene that I'm sure will be shown every time either actor receives a Career Achievement Award in their future. Mary-Stuart Masterson, a talented actress who unfortunately seems to have gotten lost in the Bermuda Triangle after FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, is also touching and convincing as Penn's underage girlfriend. After watching GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and now this, I think James Foley is clearly one of the modern masters when it comes to directing and setting the stage for great acting. It's not an entertaining movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a powerful, honest, unmercifully human one that will be hard to forget. B+

Gritty, dark, exceptionally vivid drama

[cchase · 26 December 2000]

Sean Penn, who has now effectively established himself behind the camera as a fine director as well, once expressed that he didn't care that much for acting. When one reflects on the more brilliant achievements he's made in his career, and can contemplate how physically and emotionally exhausting his best and most difficult roles have been, it's not a statement that comes across as being that unusual. And nowhere can the toll a role can take on an actor be felt more keenly, than in AT CLOSE RANGE, with his portrayal of ne'er-do-well, small town knockabout Brad Whitewood, Jr.

The chilling poignancy of the film and the events it portrays are even more stunning (and depressing) when it is revealed that everything is based on true events.

The direction, photography, editing, scoring and most of all the acting work wonders to convey the ennervating malaise of small-town life in middle America, and how it can affect and motivate people to act or react in ways that propel them into situations that people in more metropolitan areas may smugly observe that they would never find themselves in.

Brad Whitewood Jr. (Penn) and his little brother, Tommy (Chris Penn in an amazing early performance) don't have that luxury. Caught in the inescapable pull of the dying farming community in which they live, like lost stars drifting near the event horizon of a black hole, they have nothing better to do than cruise the main square, get drunk, get high and get into trouble.

The one bright spot in their ocean of darkness is their frequently absentee dad, Brad Whitewood, Sr. (Christopher Walken at his best and most frightening). Suave, cocksure and charismatic, Brad Sr. represents a world of fascinating danger and adventure that has his boys enthralled. Brad Sr. runs a black market ring that deals in stolen equipment parts, amongst various other unlawful and unsavory activities, and as it is revealed early on, when it comes to protecting his bottom line, Brad Sr.'s vicious wrath recognizes no allegiance to loyalty or kin.

To prove themselves worthy of their dad's attentions, Brad, Tommy and their friends (which include future stars John Laughlin, Kiefer Sutherland and Stephen "Fright Night" Geoffreys), decide to start their own gang, with disastrous results. The federal authorities, who have been after Brad Sr. for a long time, decide to use the boys as leverage to nab him, and subpoena them as State witnesses against him. But even they underestimate his capacity for evil, as he demonstrates in one of the film's most graphically shocking setpieces.

Only an actor worth his mettle can hold a scene with Christopher Walken, let alone take it away from him, and Penn proves to be more than worthy of the challenge. You will find both actors doing some of their best, most gut-wrenching work here. A fun time at the movies this is not, but in terms of acting ability, the efforts on display here are damn near flawless, and should have been recognized at Oscar time.

Also commendable are subtle turns by Millie Perkins as the boys' mom, who is adamantly against the idea of having her hooligan estranged husband influencing her boys, yet isn't beneath accepting his guilt money every now and then, and Mary Stuart Masterson, who shines like a beacon as Brad Jr.'s inspiration to dream of a better life, even with a menacing threat to her own from his father, whom she defies, with tragic results.

James Foley's tight direction, the atmospheric and almost surreal lighting and shadows captured masterfully by DP Juan Ruiz Anchia, Nicholas Kazan's sure-handed screenplay, Patrick Leonard's haunting score (the basis for Madonna's hit "Live To Tell"), and as mentioned before, the superb acting, make for an experience that you may not enjoy, but it will most certainly stay with you for a very long time...

One of the more realistic portrayals of criminals

[drystyx · 7/10 · 7 March 2007]

This movie is about criminals, but it is a more realistic portrayal than many of the more famous movies in which the action and characters are comically drawn (such as spaghetti crime movies), and the events, although never fully explained, have a ring of logic about them, and don't lose the viewer (such as the Godfather movies do). Walken portrays a very vicious criminal with a true criminal mind. Penn plays his son, who tries crime out for a living, and brings some of his friends into the business with him. Like all modern gangster movies, what they actually do is never explained, but the explanation of each person's part is better understood by the viewer than most movies of this genre. Walken is much like the criminal who really exists in our country. He can come across as fairly glib, but never hesitates to commit senseless acts of horror. He gives the excuse early on that he has some reason. The first real horrible act is murdering a man he claims is a snitch. But after a while, it is evident he just concocts these reasons to perform murders. As in real life, the criminals always find easy prey and then call such prey "snitches", in order to rationalize their actions. In real life, the real snitches are left alone and are feared by criminals, because a snitch is just someone who refuses to knuckle under. Meanwhile, the Walken character wipes out those most faithful to him. The most realistic movie of this genre in the last thirty years.

Overlooked gem

[JennyP · 10/10 · 13 December 2001]

I saw this movie when it first came out, and it's remained one of the most memorable films I have seen since. Sean Penn & Christopher Walken especially produce very powerful, realistic performances. Walken's evil father is a spot-on echo of a relative of mine - right down to the mustache & body language. <shudder> Sometimes, though, Walken's low-class accent is so thick I couldn't make out just what he's saying.

The dialogue is just subtle enough to feel realistic. Although the movie moves along at a slow, deliberate pace, the plot still feels nice & tight. And the cinematography is stylish. An instrumental version of the song Live to Tell, that Madonna turned into a hit, is actually used as the main theme running under almost every scene. It's not often that a pop song associated with a film is actually used in the film itself - usually it's just tacked on at the closing credits. But it was used to great atmospheric effect here.

Chilling and poignant

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 29 January 2023]

Sean Penn plays Brad Jr., an aimless young man in late-1970s rural Pennsylvania who gets into it with his mom's latest boyfriend, so he decides to move in with Dad (Christopher Walken) for awhile. Dad turns out to be the head of a gang of thieves, and will stop at nothing to keep from winding up back in jail, including having potential witnesses murdered.

Brad Jr. Doesn't like seeing people murdered, but doesn't figure out that not engaging in crime might be the solution, so when he and his friends try to carry off a heist and get caught, the prosecutor puts the pressure on him and his friends.

Based on a true story, this one is incredibly brutal, reminding me at times of Animal Kingdom (2010) and Badlands, the latter because Brad Jr. Falls in love with a 16-year-old girl (a young Mary Stuart Masterson) and tries to run away with her at one point. The movie also has small roles from a young Crispin Glover and Kiefer Sutherland among others, and introduced the Madonna (remember, Sean Penn was married to Madonna at the time) song "Live to Tell".

Better than I thought (revised review)...

[The_Core · 9/10 · 7 December 2000]

Having recently purchased this movie on DVD and viewed it again, I feel compelled to amend my prior comments. On the most recent viewing, I watched the movie much more carefully than on prior viewings, and can now see the motivations of the character(s) more clearly, and how the 'situation' portrayed in the film spiralled out of control (click on my username to read my prior review for "At Close Range," in which I questioned the actions of the villain). On more careful viewing, the whole thing makes a lot more sense.

I want to revise my prior comment -- this is a superb film, and I've voted again and now give this film 9/10. If you haven't seen it, now's a great chance. Great acting by *everyone*, especially Sean Penn and Christopher Walken (this is one of Walken's best parts ever).

The DVD version of the film just came out (I had it on preorder and received it yesterday), and I have to say how impressed I am with the transfer. Absolutely superlative, clear picture quality, although I can't evaluate the sound because I have only stereo speakers, no dolby surround. But the video transfer itself is one of the best I've seen for a movie this old, looking like the film might just have been made six months ago. It appears that quite a bit of work went into restoration. If you have a DVD player, you owe it to yourself to get this film on DVD, although the only 'special feature' is the original theatrical trailer. The film is offered in both widescreen and pan-and-scan formats (two-sided single-layer).

Revised Review: 9/10

Thoughtful, Violent, and Bracing. And Beautifully Shot.

[d_fienberg · 7/10 · 31 January 2001]

It's funny, but all evidence to the contrary, James Foley is an excellent director. For some reason his choice in projects is quite faulty. He's made a botch of a John Grisham adaptation (The Chamber), a sappy Al Pacino film (Two Bits), and a really bad Madonna film (Who's that Girl?). But when the material is correct, there aren't many visual stylists who are superior. Foley's talent makes even a B exploitation thriller like Fear into something far more entertaining that it has any right to be. And with the right script and right actors, you can get something like Glengarry Glen Ross, or At Close Range, a 1986 heartland crime drama with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. At Close Range is smart, beautifully composed, and the acting from the two leads is as good as anything either has done.

Set in rural Pennsylvania (you know it's really rural because an Amish buggy passes by in one scene), At Close Range is the true story of Brad Whitewood (Walken) and Brad Whitewood Jr.. The older Brad is the head of a local crime syndicate, robbing safes, stealing tractors, and committing murder when the situation calls for it. Young Brad is adrift, smoking pot, drinking beer, and sitting around his house with his even duller brother Tommy (Chris Penn). Brad Jr. has energy, but no outlet until he meets the girl of his dreams (Mary Stuart Masterson) and the father who abandoned him. Getting into his father's business could insure Brad Jr.'s financial future, but it's possible that that's not what he wants.

At Close Range was written by Nicholas Kazan, who began his career with a series of successful true life stories including Frances and Reversal of Fortune. With this story he knows that the dialogue isn't the most important thing. These aren't flashy mobsters and they don't speak in Runyan/Tarantino poetry. What the script does, though, is make every word count. Some of the most emotional scenes don't involve any speaking and in the most menacing scenes, it's the power of the limited words, or their placement that makes it work. A perfect example is a meeting between Masterson and Walken in which an invitation of a bowl of corn flakes becomes chilling.

James Foley has an eye for lighting and he uses diagetic light to enhance the development of characters. Note the way a refracted light bulb gives Walken a halo in one crucial scene, perhaps a divine justification for his actions. Foley (and cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchía) create a mood of pastoral tragedy, the perfect setting for criminals who aren't as big as they think they are and punks who don't have anywhere else to turn to for role models.

Even in his worst films, Foley is an excellent actor's director. And for my money, this is Christopher Walken's best performance. His line readings are consistently unique, spinning icy dread out of the most casual comments. This performance is also surprising because Walken frequently isn't creepy. You always know that it's under the surface, but for a limited period he actually seems like a warm funny father. And as for Penn, the best you can say is that when he's on-screen with Walken he never gets upstaged. Playing a slightly underdeveloped role, he finds a perfect balance between muscular physicality and fear. He's touching to watch. Various members of the supporting cast are recognizable faces and do quality work, including Crispin Glover, Keifer Sutherland, Candy Clark, Millie Perkins, and David Strathairn.

At Close Range resists melodrama and as a result comes off as more thoughtful than powerful. The movie works, but it isn't going to blow you away. Its plot seems familiar throughout, but this genre is rarely played much better. I'd give this one an 8/10.

Brilliant Acting - Dark Subject!

[wow88 · 9/10 · 24 March 2002]

A very good film that I recommend highly if you are in the right frame of mind to view truly evil subject matter. The acting by Walken, Penn, Penn and Masterson is brilliant. Espescially the last few minutes. Sean Penn's performance is my favourite acting moment of all time. Even writing this makes me take a deep exhale.

filled with a sense of impending doom

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 17 October 2014]

It's 1978 in rural Pennsylvania. Brad Whitewood Jr. (Sean Penn) is an angry young man. He lives with his brother Tommy (Chris Penn), his mother, grandma, and her mother's boyfriend for the last few months. They can best be described as white trash. He has an eye for Terry (Mary Stuart Masterson). His absentee father (Christopher Walken) runs a crime family and drops by to give the family money once in awhile. After a fight with his mother's boyfriend, he goes away to his father.

The first thing one notices is the great Madonna song. It gives the movie the perfect mood. There is a desolation and a sense of impending doom running all throughout this movie. Its bleak tone fits the based-on-a-true-story movie. The acting is close to perfect. The story doesn't have a good flow but its randomness feels like a true story.

It's in the genes.

[Doctor_Bombay · 19 April 1999]

This raw look at small town hoods brutally exposes us to a portion of society rarely depicted in movies. Souped-up cars and small time heists are nothing new, but `At Close Range' is really more ‘The Godfather' than `Bonnie and Clyde'.

Disobedient kids, worthless mom, ineffective stepfather. Every day we hear tell of it on Montel, Jerry Springer, and Sally. Here, we see it, here we live it.

James Foley does his best work here, you might think it funny to call a film with a lot of 4x8 paneling and muscle shirts ‘stylish' but this film has its own distinctive style, in many ways reminding me of Michael Mann's very stylish `Thief'

Christopher Walken is nothing short of spectacular. Both the Penn brothers (Sean and Chris) do very strong turns as sons of this verrry badddd man.

Great story, powerful performances. All too real. Even a bit of a storybook ending doesn't tarnish this one.

A Moody, Rural Classic

[whm332 · 7/10 · 26 March 2006]

Few movies do rural places well w/o lapsing into hick stereotypes. Sean Penn and Walken both act their tails off, this being before each became a caricature. For me, this movie was great for Penn on the way from "Racing With the Moon" to "Colors" a few years later. He catches an adolescent macho vibe that is very charismatic. (I think Mary Stuart Masterson is cute and non-threatening as the love interest. Somebody like Diane Lane would really have bumped it a notch, though!) Dark? Oh, yeah...it's not Faulkner, but Kazan puts great lines in mouths of champion weirdos like Tracey Walther. If you grew up in PA and don't feel this movie, "Flashdance" and "All The Right Moves" back to back won't get you there.

Acting duel between Penn and Walken...

[cesarat37 · 7/10 · 8 June 2022]

Quite an unpleasant drama/thriller about a criminal who reunites with his 2 sons after many years, and incites them to join his "business". This movie is so dark and risky that it probably wouldn't have worked without Sean Penn and Walken's magnetic performances. Walken is really disturbing as the passive-agressive, manipulative thug, and...I don't want to imagine what the real life criminal was like. (7/10)

This one remains in my essentials collection.

[Nanx · 10/10 · 10 February 2002]

This movie is an old favorite. I think this is the one work by Sean Penn that became the pivotal interest in him for me. He was, as usual in anything he does, absolutely convincing. Same for Christopher Walken. The casting was perfect, the scenery and soundtrack done beautifully. I've been recommending this one to friends for ages.

Stark, terrifying crime cautionary tale

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 9/10 · 3 July 2015]

At Close Range is a sadly forgotten crime drama from the 80's that is ripe for re watching and praise from new generations. It's a diobolically suspenseful cautionary tale about sins of the father, burying the past, and the violent, tragic things that can happen when you don't leave it buried. Sean Penn plays Brad Whitewood, an aimless young man who along with his brother (Chris Penn, Sean's real life sibling) tries to reconnect with his estranged father, Brad Sr. (Christopher Walken). Brad Sr. is a a charming, hospitable and all together evil son of a bitch, a small time rural crime lord who makes do by hijacking expensive farming equipment. Brad Jr. is enticed by his father's easygoing alpha male aura, and takes up keep with him, if for nothing else than because he has nothing better to do. Big, big mistake. Walken turns out to be a sociopathic monster, coldly turning on his two hapless sons quicker than a venomous cobra. In fact I was reminded of the scorpion and the rabbit story while observing his character. Here is a man so evil that no matter how familiar or close a person is to him, he Wil turn sadistic and destructive on them at the drop of a hat, simply because it is his nature. Walken is a demon daddy in the role, turning a character that could have fallen into clichéd melodrama into a nuanced, intriguing fiend. The Penn brothers, still very young here are tragic and realistically relatable. The supporting cast is also fantastic, with Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover and Mary Stuart Masterson all diving excellent turns. Films this prolific, provocative and tragically entertaining shouldn't get overlooked, especially deadly, downbeat, serious minded scorcher of a thriller like this. Highly recommended.

Bent twigs.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 17 December 2005]

Watching a movie like this, you can't help wondering why Christopher Walken didn't get more and better roles. He's got everything an actor ought to have. He's not plain looking. He has a dancer's physical presence, a voice that twists its phonemes into pretzels, and seems able to compellingly interpret any part he's given. The guy just cannot be ignored on screen.

He does his usual superlative job here as a socialized, aggressive type of antisocial personality, convincingly smooth, while he lies his rear end off. "You don't rat on your family," he coaches his two sons (both Penns) as if he were Don Corleone, before he murders one of them and tries to rub out the other. The only time he shows what might be REAL emotion in when Sean Penn confronts him at the climax and comes close to blowing his ears off with a .45 automatic. He gives an extremely good impression of being scared.

Sean Penn is all bulked up here. I'm not sure it fits him too well. He ought to be skinnier. His muscles don't "drape" that well. It's as if he's wearing a "muscle suit" instead of the "fat suits" we've become familiar with. Penn invariably puts a great deal of effort into his performances but, like his muscles, it kind of shows at times. He's good enough here, but is better I think in weasel parts like those in "The Falcon and the Snowman" and "Carlito's Way." Mary Stuart Masterson is a real filly in this movie. She was about 20 when it was shot. She's not staggeringly beautiful, which is all to the good, but in her boyish haircut and with her sinewy limbs and broad forehead she looks as if she's just finished her adolescent growth spurt. There is something coltish about her. She runs about as fast as Penn can run.

There is some evocative photography too. You can just about feel the summer's humidity and hear the locusts buzzing.

Landscape aside, the lifestyle we see on screen is pretty lousy, and in fact the movie starts off in a rather leisurely manner. Characters don't rush through their dialog. They pause between statements, the way people do naturally. But (expletive deleted), how dull things are! They sit around and drink beer and watch TV and never talk. Walken is about the only animated person around. No wonder his boys idolize him.

But it's a small life. You know the kind of heavies that Joe Don Baker as Buford Pusser fought in "Walking Tall"? The guys that hung out in a saloon and ran some hookers and cheated customers -- that kind of small-time stuff? Those seem to be the offenses that Walken and his cronies commit, so it comes as a big surprise when the FBI enters the scene and starts passing out subpoenas. For heisting tractors? And the murders that follow are even more of a surprise. I missed the beginning of the movie so maybe that accounts for the incongruity.

At any rate, though the film has its longeurs, a good deal of attention has gone into putting this production together. It isn't overburdened with a loud score. There are no exploding fireballs. The violence, at least in the print I saw, was muted. The murders are quick and, with one exception, bloodless. The director has passed up a chance to cheapen a rape scene by showing us a lot of skin. Instead, he cuts as soon as we've got the idea.

Overall, a pretty good job, a lot better than most of the junk on screen these days.

A sharp and very unforgiving tale of betrayl.

[mhasheider · 9/10 · 9 January 2002]

Tender yet painful story about a rural Pennsylvania teen, Brad Whitewood, Jr. (Sean Penn) who along with his half-brother, Tommy (real-life brother Chris Penn) finally meet their estranged father, Brad Sr. (Christopher Walken), decide to join their father's crime network only to discover how brutal that he can be to them while dodging the feds at any cost. (Sean) Penn and Walken are well-cast here and to watch the pair on-screen at the same time is a delight. Director James Foley guides the film where it should go and the script by Nicholas Kazan is made to near perfection in handling the mood and tension. It's also a surprise that the film itself is based on a true story that took placed in 1978. A sharp and very unforgiving tale of betrayl.

Muted Drama.

[AaronCapenBanner · 5/10 · 22 September 2013]

Christopher Walken and Sean Penn play Brad Whitewood Sr. & Jr., father and son who are reunited after the fathers long absence. The father belongs to a criminal gang specializing in theft, and his son(along with his friends, and other brother Tommy) want to join the gang, without realizing what a bad role model he really is, since he counts his ties to the gang far tighter than his family, which they will learn to their regret, as they get involved deeper into the stealing of farm equipment.

Though well acted by the leads, with intense direction by James Foley, any emotional involvement is utterly muted, since the viewer is kept at arms length throughout, and it is difficult to care about any of them; you'll just want to see them arrested...

Penn & Walken at their career best

[george.schmidt · 27 February 2003]

AT CLOSE RANGE (1986) *** Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Tracey Walter, Crispin Glover, R.D. Call, J.C. Quinn, Candy Clark, David Strathairn, Jake Denzel, Stephen Geoffreys, Kiefer Sutherland. Excellent casting of Penn and Walken as son and father sharing two generations of crime with some modulated tense moments and violence perfectly calculated with a fine ensemble character actor cast. Walken is indelibly chilling. Excellent use of light and shadows in cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchia's choices and excellently directed by James Foley.

twisted family ties

[mjneu59 · 6/10 · 5 November 2010]

The bonds between a wayward father and his delinquent son become lethally tangled after dad introduces his boy to the seamier side of criminal life. Although based on actual events, this story of a disenchanted Pennsylvania teenager adopted into a family of thieves certainly doesn't look like the usual cautionary docudrama, employing an up-to-the-minute visual vocabulary to present a perhaps too stylish look at the boredom, restlessness and violence of lower middle class America. Cosmetic attractions aside, the best reason to recommend the film is the formidable acting team of Christopher Walken and Sean Penn as Big Brad Whitewood and his son Brad Jr. Walken, in particular, radiates an almost irresistible malevolence as the sly but murderous elder Whitewood, a man for whom the idea of family values doesn't stop at homicide. James Foley tackles his debut feature by indulging his DP's flair for seductive imagery, a perfectly understandable strategy for a not untalented freshman director trying to attract a little attention, but the often gratuitous flourishes of style are inconsistent with the otherwise uncompromising slice-of-trash scenario.

Not For Gen Y or Z

[lavaside-60237 · 7/10 · 11 August 2023]

This movie was made for the young of Gen X.

Gen Y and Z have grown up with nothing but high production value, zero story - dopamine inducing displays their whole lives.

They will find this movie worse than death.

I'll admit, after 45 years of love stories, any parts of a movie involving a romantic interest I find tedious.

This is no exception to that rule.

But watching Penn and Walken is always fun.

And Madonna's 'Live to Tell' for this movie is timeless; providing an ambience all throughout that's probably better than the actual movie deserves.

A very RARE case of a 'song made for a movie' that was a better choice than having a score.

I'd also like to add, I don't know how Crispin Glover ever had a career. At least his role is small in this, and he didn't ruin 'Back to the Future'. Dude is a HORRIBLE actor. Lol.

Wow. A scary and chilling ride.

[arthurclay · 10/10 · 23 March 2008]

This is one hell of a true story. Almost too wicked to be true yet true it is. Sean Penn is electric in At Close Range. Penn plays the role with the attitude of a 16 year old, who thinks he's smarter than his dad. He isn't. This becomes obvious about 1/3 thru the film. Christopher Walken is the Main Attraction here make no mistake about that. God he was a perfect choice and I mean perfect. Walken's Big Brad Whitewood is very clever, alluring, charming, and extremely deadly. Penn's Little Brad is like the apple who fell from the tree and rolled down the hill it was on for a quarter of a mile. Walken has a crew that is capable and proficient. Penn has a crew that couldn't even complete high school. Dim bulbs is the term I would use. Walken's men are the suburban versions of Scorsese's Goodfellas. They don't look like thieves, they look like killers who are also professional thieves. At Close Range starts off looking like your basic crime film and then escalates to Walken and his gang committing acts of unspeakable evil that some criminals wouldn't even contemplate. All of these guys were bad bad bad people and whom no one would be sorry to see go to prison for the rest of their lives. Why Walken has not given an Academy Award nomination for this I am still trying to reason out. Perhaps because he was given one for the Deer Hunter I suppose but still one was in order. When you see Walken's face come out of the dark of night into his house's screen door and see Penn, he doesn't show shock. He doesn't show fear. He doesn't even blink. That is the mark of a true master criminal and/or psychotic. He gives him no emotion whatsoever then slowly the Cheshire Cat smile and invites him right in. You can't buy that kind of sinister inhumanity. You have to be born with it or learn it for yourself. And what Big Brad Whitewood did defies belief. Certainly without question one of the best films of 1986.

Strong Acting From Lead Actors

[eibon09 · 9/10 · 16 August 2001]

At Close Range(1986) is a powerful story about the conflict between father and son that leads to tragedy. The film is loosely based on a true story. What happens in the course of the film is enough to exhaust the reactions of the viewer. The story is made powerful from the tense moments and strong emotions. The director lends some brilliance in creating a tight and compact crime drama.

Excellent companion to the similarly themed but different storied Out of the Blue(1980). Both deal with the angst of the main characters who are big time misfits. In At Close Range(1986) and Out of the Blue(1980) the father is first beloved then despised by the main characters. The fathers played by Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken are selfish jerks who care only about themselves. The two films share with each other a bleak and dark portrait of the family structure.

The main theme song called "Live to Tell" goes well together with most of the film's motif. The song represents what the whole story is about. The masterpiece of James Foley who has done a couple of other terrific films besides At Close Range(1986). The relationship between Brad JR and his girlfriend adds more to the antagonistic relationship between father and son. Way better than the lousy Fear(1996) or the horrible The Corruptor(1999).

Christopher Walken gives one of his top great performances in the role of Brad Whitewood SR. He does a convincing job at playing an evil character with deceptive charm. Not many actors can be charming and despicable in the portait of a character like Christopher Walken. This is a film where the talents of Chris Walken are put to good use. It also helps that he acts aside another terrific talent in Sean Penn.

Sean Penn brings out the performance of his life in an otherwise inconsistent acting career. Despite being a talented actor, Sean Penn rarely fullfills in some films his capabilities of being a great actor. At Close Range is one of the few times where the talents of the actor are filled to the top of the glass. His character is someone that many can identify with. He puts every ounce of emotion into making Brad Whitewood JR a believable person.

The acting is very good as a total sum. Mary Stuart Masterson gives a solid turn in one of her best roles. Kiefer Sutherland makes a film apprearence before he became a well known actor. The other actors contribute with some believable and solid performances. The acting makes it worthwhile to see the film many times.

The father of At Close Range(1986) is an unforgettable villain in 1980s cinema. Brad Whitewood SR makes Darth Valder look like Santa Claus by comparison. Brad Whitewood SR can be charismatic and evil in the same breath. This character is a cowardly and sleezy person who will do anything to save his own skin. Only the yakuza father from Fudoh:the New Generation(1996) surpasses Brad Sr in cold blooded and ruthless behavior patterns.

The growing conflict between father and son leads to a tense confrontation towards the end. The confrontation with Brad SR and Brad Jr are some of the best acting moments in the careers of Christopher Walken and Sean Penn. This moment is tense to the point where everything else in the scene slows down. Its sad to see Brad JR our out his soul in anger to a father who doesn't care about him. Its the conflict of the two people that the movie center around.

One of the most emotionally draining film experiences I have been apart of as a film viewer. The high engery emotions are brought to live with the three dimensional acting of the main cast. A big emotional moment for me is the confrontation between Brad Jr and Brad Sr. For a film like At Close Range(1986) emotional content is a main part of the story. Not many films today have the heart or feeling of a film like At Close Range(1986).

In the tradition of films such as In Cold Blood(1968) and The Onion Fields(1981). Its too bad that a film like Fear(1996) never reached the emotional altitude of this picture. The writing of the story and characters are deeply realized. The director, James Foley is excellent in displaying realistic problems and situations. At Close Range(1986) is one of those neglected classics from the 1980s that is worth seeing for the performances of the main actors.

Dark movie

[cananny · 7/10 · 6 November 2018]

Not one for everyone. Sean Penn and Chris WALKEN play well together. I personally think that evil Brad Sr is one of walken s best. Very dark. He scared me and surprised me.