INDIAN RUNNER
A film review by Jeff Inman
Copyright 1991 Jeff Inman
Written and Directed by Sean Penn Starring: David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette, Jordan Rhodes, Charles Bronson, Dennis Hopper.
An Indian runner was more than a courier. He *became* the message he was carrying. What danger is a bear, to a message?
I used to think Sean Penn was an immature, arrogant, photographer- punching, Madonna-marrying, loudmouth. But all that has changed now. The guy has grown up. And that's not all. It seems that Sean Penn has talents both as a writer and a director, if this film is any indication.
One might imagine a movie with plenty of ruthless rage and showy machismo, given Penn in charge of Bronson and and Hopper. But, no. This film is about a real struggle, and the victories and defeats are not simple. Penn lets the story unfold at a pace dictated by the lives of the characters, without unnecessary rush or flash. The focus of the story is two brothers. David Morse is the brother who has grown up in the small midwestern town in which they were raised, tending a failing farm and finally becoming a police officer. Viggo Mortensen is the wild brother, whose wild behavior seems to be a reaction to some ancient pain that he can't name, much less resolve.
The film picks the story up on the day when Mortensen returns from Vietnam, and Morse coincidentally encounters an armed youth fleeing for the state line. It becomes clear that some kind of conflict threatens the link that the brothers once shared. The film is unobtrusive, simple, direct, plain, and sincere. It isn't exactly perfect, but its sincerity is well invested in the struggle of the two brothers to identify the sickness before it destroys them. Life seems to move forward a little faster than they can get a handle on their problems.
This is a good film without big budget sets, or big name stars pushed into your face. In fact, I'm reviewing it because I suspect that it may not get much marketing. There were perhaps 10 others at the showing I saw. I thought the structure was clean and not oversimplified, though there are a few free-form sections which also work very well. The obligatory 1960s music seemed a little cliche, but what are you going to do--this movie *does* take place in the 1960s after all. In my opinion, it is worth full-price admission.
Violence: Yes. Some. Not gratuitous. Sex: Um, not emphasized. Playing Time: I don't know. Bring your watch.
My Rating: 8/10
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews