The Indian Runner **** (1991, David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette, Charles Bronson, Sandy Dennis, Dennis Hopper) – Classic Movie Review 5006

The actor Sean Penn writes and directs this powerful 1991 film that tells the Seventies-set tale of two brothers, one the surprisingly nice, ordinary, well-adjusted highway patrolman Joe Roberts (David Morse), the other the handsome tearaway Frank (Viggo Mortensen) driven by violent, criminal and anti-authoritarian impulses.

War veteran Frank (Mortensen) returns home to his small town from Vietnam with problems and Joe (Morse) tries to re-establish the close bond they once enjoyed, but Frank clashes with the rules his brother has vowed to uphold.

In a prodigally good cast, Valeria Golino and Patricia Arquette play Maria and Dorothy, the women in the brothers’ lives, and Sandy Dennis and Charles Bronson play the brothers’ parents Mrs and Mr Roberts, while Dennis Hopper plays Caesar.

Penn can be well pleased with this début as writer and director. Under his encouragement, his actors give first-rate performances in difficult roles. Penn’s screenplay is compelling and telling, and his film-making style is always attention grabbing.

On the minus side, perhaps it is easy to lose patience with the bad brother, there is a slight slackness in pacing a long (129 minutes) film, and there are a few irritating directorial touches, while the piece is finally depressing and ends up in an inconclusive way.

But the special cast is great, and everyone is quite as brilliant as expected, though Bronson is a revelation, acting against type as the men’s father who can’t understand why his sons aren’t still as they once were.

The story is inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s song ‘Highway Patrolman’.

Also in the cast are Jordan Rhodes, Enzo Rossi, Harry Crews, Eileen Ryan, Trevor Endicott, Brandon Fleck, Kathy Jensen and James Devney.

The last film of Sandy Dennis, who died of cancer on 2 March 1992, aged 54. She won a Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

Penn went on to direct The Crossing Guard, The Pledge (2001), Into the Wild and The Last Face.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5006

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com