At Close Range

Not sure why I missed this early (1986) Sean Penn effort for so long, I’m just glad I finally saw it. Director James Foley (who later did Confidence, Glengarry Glen Ross, and The Corrupters) sets this father v. son tale in rural Pennsylvania, pitting the building tensionof the story against the wide open corn fields of the area’s farms. In one crucial, naive scene, Penn and girlfriend Mary Stuart Masterson literally run out of her house and race through the corn stalks!

At Close Range has Penn as the son of Christopher Walken though Walken has never been more than a fleeting figure in his life. Penn’s younger brother Chris plays his younger brother Tommy, who still idolizes dear old dad, though Sean has few illusions. Walken is the leader of a crime crew, most of whom are his brothers (most prominently David Strathairn and the always sleazy Tracey Walter), and Sean wants to join up to earn enough money for him and Masterson to get their own place. Though Penn does fine with his assigned part of the first job things go pear shaped immediately afterwards. Walken is so good as the sociopathic Brad Sr. I sometimes wonder what he does away from movie sets.

Definitely recommended