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 | 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:

Sandy Dennis's last movie

Goofs:

Continuity: Frank's prison tattoos change position throughout the movie.

Quotes:

Frank: There's only two kinds of men in this hell...

Movie Connections:

Features "Gilligan's Island" (1964)

Soundtrack:

GREEN RIVER

An intelligent and seriously moving melodrama.

A great melodrama in a small town during the seventies about two grown-up brothers; Joe (David Morse), is married and a deputy sheriff who seems to be highly devoted to his job. Frank (Viggo Mortensen), who is the younger one of the pair, comes back from Vietnam even though he has the habit of being a troublemaker.

Morse and Mortensen are nothing short of excellent in their performances and are backed up by a solid supporting cast (Valerina Gorlino, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Sandy Dennis, and Charles Bronson). Out of the bunch, Bronson is the one to watch here as the boys' quiet and solemn father and he treats it to perfection. In one scene, he tells Joe while they're sitting out on the porch that he was wrong about Joe marrying Maria (Gorlino), who is Mexican.

There another surprise that makes the film more compelling to watch is that it's the directing and writing debut of actor Sean Penn. The movie was inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song that's called "Highway Patrolman".

Anthony Richmond's cinematography is extroadinary and the musical score by the late Jack Nitzsche is very solid.

"The Indian Runner" presented a rare and very interesting question to me: "Why doesn't any movie director make a film that shows the two sides (bright and dark) of the director themself?"

In conclusion, this movie is intelligent and seriously moving. And it shows that Penn can write and direct beside act.