Saturday, March 02, 2002

At Close Range (1986)

Some ASSHEAD wheedled me into watching this. And dammit... yet again, she's right. (I'll still never let you forget Spitfire Grill though, Ms. Sekwa!) I've been on a long dry spell lately (as I'm sure anyone reading this site has noticed), so it was nice to actually see a movie that gave me that special little thrill that comes from witnessing a genuinely gripping work of art. Interestingly enough, the film also serves as a perfect antidote to pap like Bully -- it's about a group of aimless teens who drift into crime, but it deals with them honestly as people, not as dead-eyed sex-and-drug machines or Araki-style disaffected hipsters. Make no mistake, it's a brutal and downbeat film. But it's also striking, compelling and absolutely riveting. Excellent performances from Sean Penn and Christopher Walken at his most chilling are the film's biggest assets (the climactic, cathartic confrontation in Walken's kitchen is spellbinding), but the film also benefits from well-modulated direction by journeyman James Foley. Foley does occasionally go overboard with the artsy lyricality, but it's a small sin. I'll forgive.

Grade: A-