Way back in the nineteen-fifties, Neil Sedaka had a song a hit song that told how breaking up is hard to do. As I watched this film, for the first time recently, I wondered whether Sean Penn, the writer/director, had been humming that tune as he wrote the script. That's not meant to be a disparaging question, simply because all ideas have to have a genesis somewhere, and a song actually did inspire this story...Highway Patrol Man from Bruce Springsteen, so I'm told.
Thinking about the theme however redolent of the biblical clash between Cain and Abel, perhaps I can't but feel that while Penn might have set out to make a fundamental statement about why some people do bad things, he ended up showing, instead, that a failure to come to terms with the world is merely an indication of immaturity, a failure to leave childhood behind. To that extent, the film succeeds, but it may have been unintentional.
The story, as implied, is well recognized: a good brother (Joe, played by David Morse) who is a cop tries to help his younger and wild brother (Frank, played by Viggo Mortensen) overcome his inner demons upon his return from the Vietnam war, in 1963 or thereabouts. Despite all his efforts, Joe is unable to get Frank to change his anti-social behaviour. Eventually, there is a parting of the ways.
What makes the film distinctive is, first, the very competent acting by Morse, Mortensen, Valeria Golino as Joe's wife, Maria, and Patricia Arquette as Dorothy, Frank's girlfriend. Second, Sandy Dennis and Charles Bronson appear briefly as the brothers' parents, with both older actors much subdued in their performances as you might expect. Third, the setting is well located in some small towns in Iowa and Nebraska, providing the necessary backdrop for Frank's dislike of settling down into a job, something that he despises. Finally, the script is well-written and rings true for most of the time, I think; in a crucial bar scene between the brothers towards the end, however, when Frank finally explains the essence of his angst, it left this viewer somewhat perplexed. Joe's response is, in a nutshell: Get over it! Me too...
Some of the back-story done via old home movies tells us that Frank was a bit of a hooligan anyway and sometimes a violent one; a number of his actions, upon return from the war, bolster that viewpoint. So, psychologically, Frank is a bit of a muddle, but maybe that's Penn's point. And, although, there is no specific reference to the after-effects of Vietnam upon returning soldiers, I cannot help feeling there is an implied message that what happens in the story is not all Frank's fault. But, I could be wrong.
However, just how the brothers come to part, finally, forms the multi-layered plot, with all the gruesome violence, coarse language and nudity including a full frontal shot of Mortensen for maybe ten seconds. Not until half-way, does filmdom's favorite crazy, Dennis Hopper, appear as Caesar, a coarse, philosophizing bar-tender to whom Frank takes a dislike, with predictably violent results. And that action sets up the denouement for when Frank must leave: break away from his extended family and make his own way, on his own terms, in an increasingly violent world. In that sequence, Joe finally sees Frank as he really is: a little boy, with two toy guns, ready to fight all-comers. From that perspective, the allusion to The Indian Runner is overblown, because that implies a sense of lost times, a romantic past, an independence of spirit that was noble, more or less. In the context of Frank's psychology however, I think Penn stretched the metaphor way out of proportion to the reality of the action.
Unless, of course, Penn's own philosophy is fundamentally nihilistic and hence much like Frank's...
Technically, though, the film is well done, with excellent editing and special effects; add to that, a host of old country and western oldies on the sound track, perfectly in keeping with small town America.
I very much admire Morse and Mortensen as actors, the latter reminding me of a young Jack Nicholson, while Morse has the size and demeanour of a young Martin Milner. Cinematically, they are a well matched pair for this story, with the physical disparities adding to the emotional and intellectual chasm that separates them forever. It's a sad story, yes, but there is, nevertheless, hope left behind as the tail-lights of Frank's car fade to black.
Not recommended for children at all.
Thinking about the theme however redolent of the biblical clash between Cain and Abel, perhaps I can't but feel that while Penn might have set out to make a fundamental statement about why some people do bad things, he ended up showing, instead, that a failure to come to terms with the world is merely an indication of immaturity, a failure to leave childhood behind. To that extent, the film succeeds, but it may have been unintentional.
The story, as implied, is well recognized: a good brother (Joe, played by David Morse) who is a cop tries to help his younger and wild brother (Frank, played by Viggo Mortensen) overcome his inner demons upon his return from the Vietnam war, in 1963 or thereabouts. Despite all his efforts, Joe is unable to get Frank to change his anti-social behaviour. Eventually, there is a parting of the ways.
What makes the film distinctive is, first, the very competent acting by Morse, Mortensen, Valeria Golino as Joe's wife, Maria, and Patricia Arquette as Dorothy, Frank's girlfriend. Second, Sandy Dennis and Charles Bronson appear briefly as the brothers' parents, with both older actors much subdued in their performances as you might expect. Third, the setting is well located in some small towns in Iowa and Nebraska, providing the necessary backdrop for Frank's dislike of settling down into a job, something that he despises. Finally, the script is well-written and rings true for most of the time, I think; in a crucial bar scene between the brothers towards the end, however, when Frank finally explains the essence of his angst, it left this viewer somewhat perplexed. Joe's response is, in a nutshell: Get over it! Me too...
Some of the back-story done via old home movies tells us that Frank was a bit of a hooligan anyway and sometimes a violent one; a number of his actions, upon return from the war, bolster that viewpoint. So, psychologically, Frank is a bit of a muddle, but maybe that's Penn's point. And, although, there is no specific reference to the after-effects of Vietnam upon returning soldiers, I cannot help feeling there is an implied message that what happens in the story is not all Frank's fault. But, I could be wrong.
However, just how the brothers come to part, finally, forms the multi-layered plot, with all the gruesome violence, coarse language and nudity including a full frontal shot of Mortensen for maybe ten seconds. Not until half-way, does filmdom's favorite crazy, Dennis Hopper, appear as Caesar, a coarse, philosophizing bar-tender to whom Frank takes a dislike, with predictably violent results. And that action sets up the denouement for when Frank must leave: break away from his extended family and make his own way, on his own terms, in an increasingly violent world. In that sequence, Joe finally sees Frank as he really is: a little boy, with two toy guns, ready to fight all-comers. From that perspective, the allusion to The Indian Runner is overblown, because that implies a sense of lost times, a romantic past, an independence of spirit that was noble, more or less. In the context of Frank's psychology however, I think Penn stretched the metaphor way out of proportion to the reality of the action.
Unless, of course, Penn's own philosophy is fundamentally nihilistic and hence much like Frank's...
Technically, though, the film is well done, with excellent editing and special effects; add to that, a host of old country and western oldies on the sound track, perfectly in keeping with small town America.
I very much admire Morse and Mortensen as actors, the latter reminding me of a young Jack Nicholson, while Morse has the size and demeanour of a young Martin Milner. Cinematically, they are a well matched pair for this story, with the physical disparities adding to the emotional and intellectual chasm that separates them forever. It's a sad story, yes, but there is, nevertheless, hope left behind as the tail-lights of Frank's car fade to black.
Not recommended for children at all.