At Close Range

source: At Close Range

Hello. From what i gathered on the websites, the names have been changed in the movie. This may be why a lot of people do not believe this is a true story. The real people are the Johnstons. Bruce johnston raped his stepson, "Brad" girlfriend in the motel. "Tommi" being subpoenaed to court did get him killed by Bruce. The part about the money laundering and theft is true. They killed "Terri" in the car while "Brad" was driving it. Graves were never dug when they led those boys out into the woods. They were burned on a pile of wood. The writer may have had all the facts, but did not play them out right in the movie. It is possible that is why the movie only got 2 1/2 stars. Bruce and Norman Johnston are in separate prisons to this day. Search under bruce johnston in 1978 or similar. Enjoy.

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.

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.

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.

I was so excited about seeing this film, mainly because I think Sean Penn and Christopher Walker are two of the greatest actors in Hollywood. It started off kind of good, with Penn arriving in town and helping his brother and a friend get their money back from a guy that ripped em off. After that, the movie just never has anything. It is extremely depressing, very slow, and very annoying at times. There is not one ounce of happiness in the movie. The movie focuses on the Penn brothers (playing brother in this, as well), trying to get close to their gangster father (Walken), so the movie had potential, it just ended up being horrible. I try and give every movie the benefit of the doubt, but this one was just not up to par.

I am going to have to disagree with most of the reviews of this movie. Good acting and writing was let down by POOR direction. Some have referred to the lighting as `Surreal', it is more like RIDICULOUS. Where is the light coming from, and why is it only shining on the actor's faces? Also someone should have controlled makeup for the male characters. The scene with Masterson sitting between Walken and Glover in the truck had the male actors with more eye shadow and makeup then her! And the Corn Flakes scene was so over the top. Walken looked like a gay hairdresser. That was supposed to be scary? Did Foley even watch the dailies? But the final straw was the (so-called) climactic ending where after a main character survives a botched hit where his loved one dies beside him, he simply staggers out of the car and washes his multiple gunshot wounds up with a garden hose to prepare for the mandatory Hollywood show down. Hell, at least the director of a bad Arnold or Sylvester movie would have at least realized that the main character needs to have some sort of grief over watching a loved one die right in front of them. Even if only shock. While not a bad movie, certainly not a great one either.

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...

A very over-rated film, dull and tedious, with flat performances, and uninspired writing. The look of the film is like those of Jerry Bruckheimer, in that it looks like a music video. Smoky rooms, with light bursting through one open window. Although tolerable in a three minute video, it gets tiring over the course of a feature film. What's more, except for the cars, it doesn't at all resemble the time in which it is set. The dialogue is basic, the plot is predictable. I'd include spoilers, but you can see everything coming. Though not long at 111 minutes, it feels much longer. This is due to the labored manner of the actors, as though everyone is trying to emulate Christopher Walken. One Walkenian performance per film is enough. Sean Penn has never looked worse, with his seeming wannabe-intensity. Which basically describes this entire film. It is a pantomime of grittiness.

A lot of over acting with very little depth in the characters. A lot of very slowly waste of time and film - time and film that could have been used to put more depth into the characters and make what little action there was interesting. There were many attempts to make a good movie but every time the director and actors almost hit something right - then for some reason, the clip, directions, tempo and or music simply just ruined it. This film should be used at film school as an example of what to do and then what not to do if you do not want to ruin your work. Madonnas music is a strange choice in a movie that makes such an effort to appear - into the smallest detail - to be a study of 1978. Maybe the crew behind the film have tried to stick to much to the original story/events - but sometime you got to let go - this movie just came on my list of bad movies not to be seen again - sad because I believe that very little effort could have made this a great movie