At Close Range
Itâs hard to believe that with all the overwrought displays that Sean Penn has put on in recent years, that there was a time that he actually had a definite PRIME as an actor, mainly in the early to mid 80s starting with his legendary Spicoli in Fast Times to this role in director James Foleyâs 1986 crime drama. Introduced in a great rebellious opening scene that takes its nod from Cool Hand Luke, Penn plays Brad Whitewood Jr., a small town Pennsylvania teen going nowhere fast in life until he decides to get into a life of crime with tragic results. Whether itâs smooth-talking a pretty girl into taking drugs with him or showing fear and consternation as he realizes how deep in the darkness he is, Penn keeps the performance tight and believable until the unfortunate closing shot where he gives a sign of things to come with his now trademark forced crying fit while testifying in court. Pennâs work is certainly aided by the fact that he costars here with Christopher Walken in undoubtedly the most underrated performance of his storied career as Pennâs criminal mastermind father: Based on the real life Pennsylvania criminal Bruce Johnston Sr., Walken eschews his trademark detached otherworldly acting style (his âWalkenismsâ so to speak) which have earned him many quick paychecks to instead play a highly intelligent, yet somewhat rough around the edges, bad guy who leads a gang of white trash criminals on a crime spree across the state that includes stealing tractors, cracking safes, and eventually murdering potential witnesses before the FBI can get to them. Itâs especially interesting to note that Walken brings more masculine machismo to the part than what weâre normally used to from him, including sporting for the only time in his career a thick mustache (which looks good on him) and coming off like an evil, badass, alpha male that certainly marks a departure from his usual style. The casting director should also be commended for putting together a solid supporting ensemble which includes Mary Stuart Masterson as Pennâs underage girlfriend, Seanâs late real life brother Chris Penn as his brother in the film, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Tracey (Bob The Goon) Walter, David Strathairn, Candy Clark, Stephen âEvil Edâ Geofferys, Crispin âGeorge McFlyâ Glover, and even an extremely young Kiefer Sutherland (who gets exactly one line of dialogue as a member of Pennâs junior gang). The filmâs top drawback is the at times execrable pacing allowed by Foley where the story moves along very slowly with too many scenes of characters just hanging out and one too many pointless romantic interludes between Penn and Masterson, driven home by a late scene in which a minor character is shown having an epileptic seizure which is perplexing since he (and many others) were not all that well developed to begin with. In addition is the fact that the filmmakers severely overuse the theme song âLive To Tellâ (a good song actually, and maybe the best Madonna ever recorded) constantly using the same chords as a motif whenever director Foley wants to give us an emotional high point, which is fine in the first ten minutes but is irritating after about the twentieth time. Regardless, this remains a must watch for Walken fans, as his scummy, raping, stealing, murdering bastard is one of the more fascinating villains of the decade, and manages to redeem a film that many should be forewarned from the outset is quite a bit of a downerâŚ
8/10