At Close Range
| At Close Range | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | James Foley |
| Produced by | Don Guest Elliott Lewitt |
| Written by | Elliott Lewitt (story) Nicholas Kazan (story and screenplay) |
| Starring | Sean Penn Christopher Walken |
| Music by | Patrick Leonard Madonna |
| Cinematography | Juan Ruiz Anchía |
| Editing by | Howard E. Smith |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | April 18, 1986 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,500,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $2,347,000 |
At Close Range is a film based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston, Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s. It was released on April 18, 1986, and stars Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Millie Perkins, Candy Clark and Crispin Glover. The film is directed by James Foley. The Madonna hit "Live to Tell" was featured in the film.
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[edit] Plot
Brad Whitewood, Sr. (Christopher Walken) is the leader of an organized crime family consisting of his brothers and close friends. One night, his estranged oldest son, Brad, Jr.(Sean Penn), contacts him after a fight with his mother's boyfriend. Eventually, he becomes involved with his father's criminal endeavors, and starts his own gang with his brother, Tommy (Chris Penn), and friends. The boys get excited at the idea of easy money and decide one night to attempt a daring heist, which results in their arrest by the police. Their father believes that his sons and their friends will inform the police about his criminal activities, so he rapes Brad's girlfriend, Terry (Mary Stuart Masterson), as a warning to his eldest son. The attack results in the opposite effect as Brad, Jr. begins informing the authorities about his father's activities, including a murder of a snitch he witnessed. When the father's name is given to the grand jury by his own son, Brad, Sr. feels his only recourse is to eliminate every witness that can connect him and his crew with his sons and their crew, and he has them killed one by one (strangely, Tim, one of Brad Jr.'s crew is not killed and is seen at the courthouse at the end). Brad Sr. murders Tommy himself, but orders a hit against Brad, Jr. and Terry. Terry dies, but Brad Jr. survives, and shows up at his father's house. He threatens him with a gun, but decides that he wants Brad Sr. to "die every day for the rest of his life," and instead testifies against his father in court.
[edit] Production
The story was based on the actual crimes of Bruce Johnston, Sr., in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Three murder victims were shot and buried along the infamous Cossart Road on the Northern Delaware/Pennsylvania Border in Pennsbury Township, Pennsylvania. This road was also the location of where part of the picture was filmed. Other filming locations were Spring Hill, Tennessee, Franklin, Tennessee at the town square and at Fred J. Page High School.
[edit] Release
The film was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival.[1] It grossed a total of $2,347,000 at the North American box office during its theatrical run in 83 theaters.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Sean Penn | Bradford "Brad" Whitewood, Jr |
| Christopher Walken | Bradford "Brad" Whitewood, Sr. |
| Mary Stuart Masterson | Terry |
| Chris Penn | Thomas "Tommy" Whitewood |
| Millie Perkins | Julie |
| Eileen Ryan | Grandma |
| Tracey Walter | Uncle Patch Whitewood |
| R. D. Call | Dickie |
| David Strathairn | Tony Pine |
| J. C. Quinn | Boyd |
| Candy Clark | Mary Sue |
| Jake Dengel | Lester |
| Kiefer Sutherland | Tim |
| Crispin Glover | Lucas |
| Stephen Geoffreys | Aggie |
- Actress Eileen Ryan who plays Sean Penn's and Chris Penn's grandmother in the film, is their real-life mother.
- Director James Foley portrayed the assistant D.A. at the end of the film.
[edit] Music
There was no official soundtrack to the film but the main song, "Live to Tell", can be found on Madonna's album True Blue which was released two months after the film. The song was originally written for use in the film Fire with Fire but after the film studio rejected the song, Madonna decided to use the song in her then-husband's film At Close Range. Shots of the film also appeared in the music video for the song. Christopher Walken would later act in Madonna's video for 1993's "Bad Girl" and director James Foley would go on to direct Who's That Girl in 1987 with Madonna in the lead role.
Other songs used in the film include "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones, "It Started with a Touch" and "High Time" by Le Roux, "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey, "October" by Tom Elliott, "In Between Rainbows" by John Townsend, and "Technique" by Bill LaBounty.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Berlinale: 1986 Programme". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1986/02_programm_1986/02_Programm_1986.html. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
[edit] External links
- At Close Range at the Internet Movie Database
- At Close Range at Rotten Tomatoes
- At Close Range at AllRovi
- "It was Pennsylvania Gothic", Time, January 15, 1979 (news report of the real life events that inspired the film)
- Bruce Johnston Sr. obituary
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