Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

MisterWhiplash Perhaps it's no accident that Sean Penn would later go on to star in She's So Lovely, a film written by John Cassavetes and directed years after his death by his son, Nick. From just the looks of The Indian Runner (not least of which the dedication to John), Penn is a fan. It's not so much in the camera style, as he's rarely if ever taking a hand-held approach to things or letting his cinematographer be as deliberately all over the place as Cassavetes would allow. But emotionally, it's like a wound slowly opening to reveal itself after the initial shock of glancing at it. It's about two brothers with distinctly different paths in life, but who love each other (at least one clearly does) and can't stand to see how things have gotten so bad. And somehow that Indian Runner, a symbol of a weird kind of pure freedom, is always somewhere around.It's not about plot in any stretch but about characters, plain and simple. With great characters comes everything else that's needed, and here Penn scores as good as he ever has had in his short but rewarding career as director (this goes up there with the underrated The Pledge). We see this story unfold of Frankie and Joe, played by Viggo Mortensen and David Morse, one is a Vietnam vet with nothing to win or lose (until he meets a girlfriend, Patricia Arquette plays her), and the other is a cop happily married with a kid. When Frankie gets in trouble with the law repeatedly- and the two brothers' parents die over a period of time- they try and regroup together back in their hometown. Things have a funny way of not quite working out though for Frank, a loose cannon who ultimately blames the world for his problems. Of course, Vietnam could be enough, but it's never that simple to peg (one thinks looking at their brotherhood that Frank has been this way before, only now it's amplified), and it adds a level of psychotic complexity that, again, calls back to Cassavetes. What is it to be afraid of life, or ready to risk it all, are some questions Penn seriously poses (and leaves open for some answer)? And how does death haunt you if it's close and personal. The opening scene of Joe chasing after a guy and killing him after the other guy shot first, is a key one: he is justified in shooting him, but it's not an easy thing to live with killing another person. Joe knows it, and whether Frank did know it is open to interpretation. But one thing is for certain, which is that walking a fine line between peace and anger is a tough one for Frankie, and Joe has little to do but sit back and watch it unfold.Penn takes care writing all of these characters, not just the two principles but also supporting players like those played by Valeria Golino and, in his last serious part, Charles Bronson (sans beard) as the father, who is shook to the core after the death of his wife. Hell, even bit players get some quality screen time, as one scene with a woman sort of pestering Joe at his work about being available to listen if he needs it, or Dennis Hopper's two brief scenes as a bartender. All of the characters, and subsequently the actors, are given something to do, scene after scene, even if it's something we don't look forward to like Arquette's character screaming every other scene (she probably has the least depth of any character, but then not given much to do aside from being a stay-at-home to-be-mom watching her love go down the tubes mentally). Not every directorial choice made by Penn works, such as the cutaway to the actual 'birth' going on in the climax of the film, but enough are really strong to make it a must-see. It's really his gift in handling actors- even a lessor work like The Crossing Guard has its moments with its players- and here Mortensen is the one that gets to shine completely. Morse gives as good as he can, and it's a performance I won't forget, but Viggo is giving a De Niro Mean Streets kind of turn here, a completely honest and tortured performance of a man who doesn't quite know who he is, but he knows what he isn't which is at peace with himself. It's a sad, awesome portrayal that is as unforgettable as anything he's done in recent memory, Cronenberg films included.

Jakealope There is something in most of us, especially guys, that admires some really working class small town "real men" populist fare. And Sean Penn serves it up for us with a cherry on top. Hey, A lot of people use Penn as a political whipping boy, but I don't rate movies or actor/directors based on politics or personality. That is what right wing commentators like excretable faux movie reviewer Debbie Schlussel does. While acknowledging he is one of our best actors and a good director, I think this picture was a simplistic piece of aimless dreck that he has atoned for since. Okay, you have the gist of this there is this good cop, a small town trooper, Joe, played against type by David Morse, who in the opening scene chases some guy on a country farm road in big sixties cars. The bad guy stops, gets out, shoots at him so Joe has to blast him dead. There was no explanation what drove this man to do such a desperate violent thing and the dead man's parents do some redneck freak out at the police station while Joe feels real sad and guilty that he had to kill someone. So we know that Joe, the farmer forced off his land into a cop job, is a good basic sort of guy. Then his brother Frank shows up, he is a sadistic, amoral bully, fresh out of the Army and Nam where the war got his blood lust up. Some people here and in other reviews called him just an irresponsible hell raising younger brother and Sean was trying to make some point about what our John Wayne tough guy culture and war does to otherwise good people but what I saw was an amoral, sadistic bully who enjoys hurting and ripping people off. Then there is mom and dad, Marsha Mason and Charles Bronson, who do the requisite turn as old fashioned country couple, then die off; she by illness and he by shotgun suicide, to advance the story for us. Both times Frank the bad guy is away being a miserable SOB. But good Joe brings him back to Podunksville from jail so Frank can straighten his life out by welding bridges and living with his utterly stupid screaming trashy pregnant wife. But Joe has a nice wife, played by Italian actress Valeria Golina, who is Mexican and Sean uses this as an exercise in some affirmative action embellishment of goody Joe and his real soulfulness underneath his uniform and crew cut. For me, that was an utterly pointless affirmative action subplot that Sean uses to burnish his tough guy creds by sucking up to Mexicans because Mexicans are so tough and cool.But Frank is bad and we get the requisite events like stealing friend's car, robbing gas station by beating the clerk over the head then torching the car and all those cool things that hell raisers do. Then there are the mandatory 8mm film childhood flashbacks of young Joey dutifully moving the lawn and cowboy dressed Franky jumping on his back and wrestling him and yadda yadda so we all know what deep bond there is between the two of them.So the film meanders around with a lot of small town schlock to warm the heart of any red stater. Accompanying the film was a great soundtrack of good sixties songs like Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin which were totally inappropriate, except for the 60's era effect, to win the hearts of old hippies. The worst offense is that, since the movie was inspired by a Springsteen song, "The Highway Patrolman", that song was not included. So Joe's brain dead wife goes into labor and Joe runs off to the bar to get loaded and spout some populists drunken victim's spiel about how tough things are while good Joey comes to drag him back to his wife. The bartender is good Ole Ceasar, played by Dennis Hopper. So Viggo - Frank whigs out for no particular reason and beats his pal Ceasar to death after good Joe the Cop leaves.So Joe has chase his bad brother down and I was so hoping that he would do the right thing and blow that menace to society away. Instead we get a scene where his brother stops ahead of him in some old 50's junker on some lonely road at night, and little Franky in his cowboy suit and cap guns gets out of the car to face good Joe, the kid from the 8mm flashback home movie sequence. Oy, such dreck! Then to top off this drecky sap fest, there is some Zen crap about the Indian runner, who is a messenger, becomes the message, ala Marshall MacLuhen? See what I mean, Sean has done much better than this so don't be afraid to miss this one.

whpratt1 Greatly enjoyed this film directed by Sean Penn with a great cast of veteran actors and a very interesting story which starred David Morse, (Joe Roberts) who plays the role as a small town chief of police. This film starts off with Charles Bronson, (Mr. Roberts) and Sandy Dennis, (Mrs. Roberts) who raised two boys Joe Roberts and Frank Roberts, (Viggo Mortensen). Frank went to the Viet Nam War and when he returned he met his brother Joe and told him he was not going to live with his father and mother and was going to leave and do just what he wants to do. Frank has some very serious mental problems and gets into all kinds of problems which cause great problems to his mother and father and it makes his brother Joe worry about him all the time. This film had great actors who gave great supporting roles, namely: Sandy Dennis and Charles Bronson. Sandy Dennis gave her last performance in this film and passed away at the early age of 54 years of age after winning an Oscar and appearing in many films and New York City Theater Stage Shows.

shattenjager777 Sean Penn's debut as director/writer is a rather uneven affair that in the end does seem to have more good points than bad. It's the tale of two brothers--or rather of one brother and his family trying to deal with the other's antics. The plot is fairly simple, though rather obvious, and surprisingly accurate to the reality of antisocial personality disorder, whether that was consciously Penn's intention or not.The direction itself doesn't jump out to me as particularly good or bad, sitting somewhere in the mainstream middle, though at times it seemed that Penn was either confused or trying to do too much. The film opens with a hauntingly interesting visual car chase scene, but while it draws the viewer in very well, it seems so much like a thriller that when the character drama that follows ensues, that scene seems somehow out of place. There are a few other moments where Penn seems to create an ominous mood that seems not to fit with the film overall and the reason is never really explained. It is perhaps apt to compare this problem to Peter Weir's "The Last Wave," except that the ominous mood is so often there that it fits--even though the film isn't quite the thriller it wants to be.The script, meanwhile, is similarly slightly unfocused. Penn can't seem to decide whether Joe is going to be the audience's stand-in as we watch Frank or Joe is going to be a deeper character. When he and Frank discuss "burning" and Joe says, "I want to burn again" in his voice-over, we get the sense of there being more to him; but it never really comes through. Frank, meanwhile, is an obvious case of antisocial personality disorder. He's a wonderfully charismatic and likable guy but he also has major authority issues and insists on doing things that seem inexplicable to the average person. The story that follows is very obvious and easy to see coming every step of the way until the last second and there is a little more repetition of emotions and ideas than necessary, but it's still interesting. However, the opening never really gets explained. While we do get it mentioned a few times in the film, its importance is never really adequately explained and when it seems it will at the end, Penn doesn't explain it but rather pulls the rug out from under it. I also found it difficult to follow the brothers' conversations at times, as they seemed to be sharing inside jokes without letting us know what they are. While they do heighten the film's reality, these moments are certainly not enjoyable.What really saves this film from mediocrity is the acting. Viggo Mortensen stands out in a wonderful performance that is really a stretch for the slimy boyfriend of the horrible "Psycho" remake and "A Perfect Murder" who has made a name for himself as Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings" films now. Mortensen has had a varied career, alternating from the aforementioned slimy roles to the aforementioned hero role to Satan in "The Prophecy" and even a dull, businessman-like deputy in "Young Guns II," and "The Indian Runner" is certainly part of that, as he gives a charismatic and interesting performance of a man who wants to be good and we can see it, but he just can't do it. Mortensen makes us identify with a character who is really difficult for most of us to identify with and brings him to life so that we can understand why those around him put up with him. The only other actor whose performance needs special mention is Charles Bronson, as the one-time tough guy uses very little screen time to create a perfect sad, lonely old man who feels like he has no purpose on earth--he was surprisingly excellent. David Morse meanwhile does what he can with a generally dull role that is never allowed to develop the complexities that seem possible, Patricia Arquette manages to be as child-like and annoying as possible, Dennis Hopper stands out as a somewhat bizarre presence but doesn't steal too much attention, and Valeria Golino is cute in a role that requires nothing else.One other point that I have to make is that much of the music in the film was terribly distracting. Like a few moments in David Lynch's "Lost Highway" and most of Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky," some bad music and out of place music really reduced the enjoyment of the film as a whole.All told, "The Indian Runner" is a character drama, so don't look for excitement, but a very well-acted one. While at times Penn doesn't seem to know where he wants to focus, he doesn't completely lose the film and Viggo Mortensen's fantastic performance keeps us interested and entertained despite the repetitious and formulaic storyline. Don't watch it if you're tired, but if you want to see antisocial personality disorder in action or fine acting from Charles Bronson and Viggo Mortensen--two men now better known for their heroic, rather unemotional work--this film won't disappoint.