The Indian Runner (1991)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Sean Penn

Writer (WGA):

Sean Penn (written by)

Release Date:

20 September 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An intensely sad film about two brothers who cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One...

Plot Keywords:

Nudity | Beaten To Death | Welder | Stars And Stripes | Bar

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Morse	...	Joe Roberts
Viggo Mortensen	...	Frank Roberts
Valeria Golino	...	Maria
Patricia Arquette	...	Dorothy
Charles Bronson	...	Mr. Roberts
Sandy Dennis	...	Mrs. Roberts
Dennis Hopper	...	Caesar
Jordan Rhodes	...	Randall
Enzo Rossi	...	Raffael
Harry Crews	...	Mr. Baker
Eileen Ryan	...	Mrs. Baker
Trevor Endicott	...	12-Years-Old Joe Roberts
Brandon Fleck	...	7-Years-Old Frank Roberts
Kathy Jensen	...	Lady at Carwash
James Devney	...	Deputy #1 (as Jim Devney)

Also Known As:

Indian Runner (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language, and some drug use.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Germany:12 (f) | France:-12 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The first movie in 16 years where Charles Bronson does not sport a mustache.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the chase scene near the end of the film between Joe in the police car and Frank in the Buick, Joe turns off the red police lights, then the car's headlamps and steps out of the car and stands next to it. In the final scene we see Joe still standing next to the police car but the car's headlamps have mysteriously come on again.

Quotes:

Frank: I see a guy like that, I want him to look at me cross-eyed!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bruce Springsteen: The Complete Video Anthology 1978-2000 (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

FRESH AIR

8/10

There are a few of us who feel that Sean Penn is one of the major driving forces in American cinema, an actor of pure artistic intentions, utter sincerity and empathy, and thoughtful (if often misconstrued) politics. He's kind of an heir to a few different giants -- Brando, in terms of rough sexuality and pugnacity; Nicholson, in terms of intelligence as an actor (he shares with both a volatile, sometimes over-the-top acting style and tendency to play human beings with emotions rather than playing acting techniques); and Cassavetes, emphasized with this film (which he dedicates to him). He's more meticulous and crafty than Cassavetes, but just as emotionally direct. (And like him, there may be times where you don't know what to think of what you're seeing; I think that's true of anything original, or anything that eschews typical film conventions.) But despite that similarity, the film isn't quite real -- the Indian mythos, the narration of David Morse, Viggo Mortenson hopping on a moving train. It's the stuff of hazy dreams. The whole picture is imbued with a quiet feeling -- you wish you could show it to those on the right who hate Penn for his outspoken politics, just to prove that he cares deeply about exactly the type of people they think he and his Hollywood friends are against.

At first the Indian stuff is a little cheesy, but it leads up to a climax where it really works and feels organic. More than being an actor who can direct, Penn is at times a real master -- he's got a rare gift of ending films with a real punch, without it being cheap. Here, the film gets more technically flamboyant as it goes along -- the camera moves a little more, the inter cutting between a few different scenes gets quicker -- and it ends wonderfully. You have to have a certain willingness to go along with the story that Penn's telling (many times characters do things that don't make any logical sense, but emotionally it fits), and the semi-metaphysical closing really worked for me.

Part of the value is in the chance to see good actors work; it's strange that actors known for their histrionics so often direct films that are completely devoid of showiness in terms of acting. That is to say, when Mortensen freaks out on his wife (Patricia Arquette, whose constant squeals are incredibly -- and aptly -- uncomfortable), it's tense because of the exchange of emotions and not because of any actorly shaking or screaming. Penn is a very generous director, and I think that's shown by his allowing Charles Bronson to do some of the finest work of his career. The movie feels very indebted to the '70s, what with a few of the zooms, the folk/rock music, and the kind of small, rural movie this is that rarely gets made anymore. (It owes something to Dennis Hopper's own films, I think; specifically in Mortensen's speech about the "math kids.") 8/10