At Close Range **** (1986, Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson) – Classic Movie Review 3094

Director James Foley’s eye-catching 1986 thriller is based on the true story of Bruce Johnston Sr and his sons, from Chester County, Pennsylvania, though it is filmed in Tennessee.

Written by Nicholas Kazan, it has an extremely powerful story about two teenage sons (played by real-life brothers Sean and Christopher Penn) who in 1978 fall prey to their terrible gang leader father, here called Brad. The trio formed one of suburban Philadelphia’s most notorious crime families during the Seventies, with their activities starting from theft and leading to murder.

Christopher Walken gives another superbly deranged, impressively show-stopping performance as the boys’ father, and there are also top performances from the then underrated Penn brothers. However, the acting is remarkable throughout the remarkable cast.

Foley indulges himself in an impressively flashy, moody filming style in cinematography by Juan Ruiz Anchía that is curiously at odds with the realistic performances and story. If you can accept the rock-video-style visuals, the especially composed Madonna song and the unemotional story-telling, it’s clearly a major movie.

Also in the key cast are Mary Stuart Masterson, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Candy Clark, Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, David Strathairn, Tracey Walter, J C Quinn, R D Call, Stephen Geoffreys, Jake Dengel and Alan Autry.

The TV version edits the strong language.

Foley is also known as the director of After Dark, My Sweet (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Fear (1996), The Chamber (1996), Confidence (2003), Perfect Stranger (2007) and TV’s House of Cards, with Kevin Spacey. It was announced in November 2015 that Foley will shoot both Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed back-to-back in 2016.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3094

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