Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

f-27753 The family is in control of the government, so they incessantly move the place where they live in order to keep their privacy hidden. In accordance with such family issue, their sons are also forced to switch their school one after another, but eventually the parents make a huge decision to set their oldest son free from such struggle. I think especially the beginning of the movie is very impressive. The scene, which the tow boys are desperate for escaping from something, makes you intrigued. Since you have no idea about the circumstance of the family at first, your attention will be drawn by it. Besides, you'll be thrilled by the story despite the fact that it is basically warm family drama. In the light of family drama, it is well-organized enough to move the audience. At the same time, however, it is really like a detective story from the point of the family being chased by the authority. In short, the movie can be highly evaluated from the unique way of editing and the story.

jpark4 Self-righteous radicals responsible for maiming a janitor in a bombing in the sixties, spending the rest of their life running from their heinous crime. Of course, we are supposed to feel sympathy for this pathetic duo, after all, their cause was righteous, and they only injured a what?-a janitor? Hell, this guy was a nobody who would have had a hard time justifying his existence to the committee anyway, right? The coming of age story is ruined by the presence of these two reprehensible individuals. The only good story about them would be one that ended in a fiery death, ala the SLA. Makes sense, though, that Hollywood would make a movie sympathetic to characters based on the likes of Bill the murderer Ayers and his doxie/moll "Burn-it-Down" Dohrn. Vomit-inducing crap.

preppy-3 In 1971 anti-war activists Annie (Christine Lahti) and Arthur (Judd Hirsch) Pope blow up a factory making napalm seriously hurting a janitor who wasn't supposed to be there. 17 years later they're on the run with two sons--17 year old Danny (River Phoenix) and 10 year old Harry (Jones Abry). At the place they're living Danny meets and falls in love with a wonderful girl (Martha Plimpton) and finds out he has enough talent to be accepted to Juilliard--but his father won't let him go.A quiet yet very moving movie. It doesn't judge its characters--it lets the audience make their own decisions. On one hand I felt sorry for all four of them--on the other I felt the parents should just turn themselves in and let the kids have a normal life. It's slow and a little drawn out but I was never bored. The acting was all superb--except for one person. Hirsch was TERRIBLE as the father. Very wooden and completely unbelievable. Plimpton was good as Phoenix's love interest and Lahti was excellent as his mother. Best of all was Phoenix. He was Oscar-nominated for this role and he's superb in every scene he's in. When he's on screen you can't stop watching him. Superb, quiet and very moving. Have plenty of tissues on hand:) For some reason the song "Running on Empty" is never heard--I'm assuming they couldn't afford the rights.

romanorum1 There is a dichotomy with this movie: Parents have rebuffed authority but demand complete obedience from their children. The "Pope" family consists of a father (Arthur = Judd Hirsch), a mother (Annie = Christine Lahti), and two young sons (River Phoenix and Jonas Abry). The parents have been on the lam from American authorities since 1971, when, as college students they belonged to an underground left wing violent activist group (like the Weather Underground). They bombed a napalm laboratory to protest the Vietnam War, seriously injuring a janitor in the process. As they are not accountable for their actions, they change their names and run away from place to place. Not only do the parents fabricate stories, they force their children to follow suit. When the Feds eventually close in, they pack up quickly and evacuate. In a very early movie scene, as they escape the grasp of authorities, they heartlessly abandon their family dog in a busy parking lot. They assume that someone will pick him up. I wish they could have dropped the little critter off to an animal shelter along the way, but it was not to be. While the fugitive parents may love their sons, they are plainly selfish. As they force their growing children to continually change their names, addresses, personal histories, how can these kids grow up normally? And that is, of course, the gist of the movie. Problems arise as the older son, Danny (River Phoenix) is coming of college age. There needs to be stability here. Because of the constant changing of schools, his academic records are not available. Danny is a talented pianist, a fact which often brings in unwanted attention. As lie upon lie piles on, it is almost impossible to get Danny a college education. His personal conflict is that, even if he gets into the college of his choice, Julliard, he may never see his parents again. The situation gets even more complicated when Danny falls in love with Lorna (Martha Plimpton) at his latest high school (in New Jersey). More situations arise, and when the ending comes, it is a bit of a tearjerker. But it is difficult for this writer to sympathize with the uncompromising parents (particularly the father) who care little about the fateful consequences of their extreme actions. But we continually root for the "normalcy" of Danny and his little brother. "Running on Empty" is sensitively produced and directed; it is not an expensive film. The performances of the major actors are excellent. And catch that poignant restaurant scene when Annie Pope meets her father (Steven Hill) for the first time in many years. Now the feature does not justify the lawless actions of the parents although some sympathy filters through to them. A plus is James Taylor's fine recording, "Fire and Rain." The real tragedy is that River Phoenix, a remarkably talented young actor, did not live beyond age 23. What a waste!