Chilling realism
There are a lot of things that make this movie believable. It's very original. Great movie.
shareNearly everything depicted in the film happened. Very rare for Hollywood to stay so true to actual events.
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MovieChat Forums > At Close Range (1986) Discussion > Chilling realism
One of my favorites. Superb acting all around. Still gets me to this day.
shareI've always thought it was one of the best films to come out of the 80s. One of my all time favorites.
sharethis movie grabs you and holds on until it ends violently
shareThat's because it's based on a true story. The Johnston Gang in Pennsylvania in the 1970's. Bruce Johnston Sr. murdered his own son and tried to murder his other one. He was a real piece of work. So most of this movie is true except for the names.
shareYes it's a real story and this film was so well made. Top acting from everyone here, especially Sean Penn & Walken
shareYes, this is a very well made movie with superb acting and an incredibly heart wrenching true story. I always tear up along with Sean Penn at the end of the movie. Gets ya right in the gut!!
shareExcept for the confrontation between father and son at the end. Man, that was just ridiculous, like Sean Penn was some kind of Rambo.
shareI thought it was fine, Strat. The old man didn't expect him to show up like that. He'd ordered the hit and had to remain home to verify his whereabouts when the law came sniffin'. & he couldn't just off him on the premises. As he was trying to regroup Jr. pulled the gun.
Give the guy a break, Strat. Nobody wants to get shot. It's one thing to think about it, it's another when the hammer's been pulled and you're inches from the barrel.
Oh, it had nothing to do with Walken's reaction. What I couldn't give a break was that a guy who had 8 bullets in his body could just get up (without even checking his girlfriend), clean himself up, go over to his father's house, have a heated discussion and threaten him with a gun. Too far-fetched and melodramatic, especially compared to the gritty realism of the rest of the film.
shareUnderstood, Strat. Food for thought. And I agree it's (different) than everything that's come before it. You're right, by God, I've been sitting here running it back thru my gourd. Good stuff, Strat.
shareI never got the impression that he just ignored his dead/dying girlfriend from the editing. I think they just left that out because drawing out the mourning process probably would have taken away the vindictive drive he had for finding his father and confronting him.
shareIt's been 3 years since I saw the movie, so I can't really comment on this particular issue anymore. All I can say is that the editing was probably rather flawed if I did not get the impression that he checked on his girlfriend off screen.
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