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At Close Range

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6.9/10 • 274

1986-04-181h 51m

CrimeDramaThriller

Like father. Like son. Like hell.

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man. Inspired by the real events that led to the end of the Johnston Gang, who operated in the northeastern United States in the 1970s.

Directors
James Foley
Editors
Howard E. Smith

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Sean Penn

    Sean Penn

    Bradford "Brad" Whitewood Jr.

  2. Christopher Walken

    Christopher Walken

    Bradford "Brad" Whitewood Sr.

  3. Mary Stuart Masterson

    Mary Stuart Masterson

    Terry

  4. Chris Penn

    Chris Penn

    Thomas "Tommy" Whitewood

  5. Millie Perkins

    Millie Perkins

    Julie

  6. Eileen Ryan

    Eileen Ryan

    Grandma

  7. Tracey Walter

    Tracey Walter

    Uncle Patch Whitewood

  8. David Strathairn

    David Strathairn

    Tony Pine

  9. J.C. Quinn

    J.C. Quinn

    Boyd

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Dec 7, 2024

6/10

The last twenty minutes of this rather enliven it, but otherwise it's rather dull story of "Brad" (Sean Penn) who is rather in awe of his criminal "Dad Brad" (Christopher Walken) and hopes to one day emulate what he sees as his glamorous lifestyle. One such day arrives when the father agrees to plan a robbery for his son to execute only things don't go to plan and just about everyone discovers just how vicious the older man can be when it comes to his own self-preservation. Most of this is really just an excuse for Penn to wander around shirtless showing off his pecs whilst a few variations of Madonna's "Live to Tell" serenade us from the sidelines. The two women who feature here - Mary Stuart Masterson's "Terry" and Millie Perkins's "Julie" make little impact on the Penn family beauty pageant (his brother Chris also features as his younger sibling "Tommy") and though Walken emanates just an hint of menace as the plot thickens, it's all just too little too late by the end when I really wasn't bothered about this repetitive tale of a dysfunctional family with testicles where their brains ought to be. It's based on a real life family in Philadelphia, and maybe that notoriety is all that helps this remain memorable. Neither the writing nor the vaguely pugilistic Penn and his John Wayne walk can do that.

Media

  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster
  • At Close Range poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$6,500,000.00
Revenue
$2,347,000.00
Keywords
small townrapepennsylvania, usamoney laundering1970stractorbased on true storysociopathorganized crimedrugswitness to murderteenage lovecrime familycourtroomjoblessgrand theft autopolice investigationfarm housepolice interrogationfarm girlcriminal organizationlife of crimedesperatefather son relationshipcriminal lifemaliciouscrueldemeaningharsh