Film #10 of the March 2016 Scavenger Hunt
Item #10: A film that was the directorial debut of a well-known actor

I really love Sean Penn as a filmmaker so I was excited to watch the movie he cut his teeth on. Penn rounded up a fantastic cast, with the criminally underrated David Morse starring alongside the always superb Viggo Mortensen, along with Patricia Arquette and Charles Bronson in supporting roles. This felt like a true-blue freshman effort, a practice run to figure out the mechanics of making a movie. The cast is strong like I said, but the pacing is slow as hell and there's very little plot, as this is a serious character study. In the end I enjoyed this but Penn's later efforts The Pledge and Into the Wild are when he truly shined behind the camera.

Somebody was boring me, I think it was me.

Intense character study with Viggo Mortensen sleazing it up as self-destructive asshole. Old man Charles Bronson delivers one of his best performances and he doesn't even have to kill a bunch of people. Dennis Hopper only has a small role as a creepy bartender but he almost steals the show.

É quase uma ópera sobre a tragédia da tradição familiar americana. Um filme que encontra seu próprio tempo, construído sob uma estrutura elíptica. David Morse é um monstro em cena, Sean Penn foi quem mais soube compreender a expressão dura de sua face, tradicionalmente ligada a vilões em policiais. O filme é desavergonhadamente cafona. Certamente desagrada os mais cínicos.

Mostly a disappointment considering the strength of the cast and the source material. The expansion on themes and details fails to live up to the tragedy and empathy in the stark despair of the original Bruce Springsteen song that was its inspiration, and the addition of the Indian spirit guide motif (very in-vogue in the early to mid 90s) seems to come out of nowhere. It is, however, a treat to see actors like Viggo Mortensen and David Morse, so young and vital, already with the power of who they would become.

A quiet, reflective depiction of the tribulations of brotherhood, anchored by a collection of strong performances.

‘Yeah me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family, well he just ain't no good’

Sean Penn’s stunning Directorial debut. A script based around Bruce Springsteen’s song Highway Patrolman. All actors here do great work. From vets Dennis Hopper and a moustacheless Charles Bronson (in his second last role) , through to a young Patricia Arquette. But it is the two superb leads, David Morse and Viggo Mortensen that make this movie soar. There is a real rawness and honesty throughout this tale of two brothers who see the world in very different ways. Captivating drama of the highest order.

"My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state. I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville, barracks number 8. I always done an honest job, as honest as I could. I got a brother named Franky, and Franky ain't no good. Now ever since we was young kids, it's been the same come down. I get a call on the shortwave, Franky's in trouble downtown. Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away. But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way. Yeah me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood. Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood." I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would. Man turns his back on his family, well he just ain't no good."

-Bruce Springsteen, "Highway Patrolman"

Good actors. Excellent acting. Gray, depressing story. Too much metaphor for me.

This movie was and is my single biggest disappointment in all of film. So much potential wasted on Sean Penn's ego trip.

I am gosh damn shocked by the sheer magnitude of idiocy I’ve displayed for the first quarter of my life. To think that I, a foolish little child, could call myself a fan of Bruce “the Boss” Springsteen and not have seen the Indian Runner. 

It’s violent

It’s sad

It’s weird


      A calvacade of familial themes, Lynch-esq characters, and a soundtrack housing only the “daddest” of rock music, encompasses every frame of this Sean Penn directed film. 
       Sean Penn directed a movie with, not one, but two, self inserts. I’m concvinced that Sean Penn is the most Self Aggrandizing person to ever live. Even on days where my confidence is the highest it gets, I can never muster the self love to cast myself as Viggo  “Not afraid of nudity” Mortinsen as a personification of the most toxic aspects of my masculinity. That role, is of course, reserved for Tom Hardy.

Really interesting expounding on the text of Highway Patrolman that delves a lot more into the wherefores of Frankie’s misadventures. Joe chalks it up to a lack of responsibility at the end, but maybe some men just have to flee from it all, like a wolf that breaks from the pack. Maybe some men just aren’t meant for civilisation, at least not as we understand it.