Truly Dreadful Film

Better Late Then Never

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The Late/Great Sidney Lumet was a filmmaker, who tackled various genres, with the distinctiveness, only a few filmmakers have achieved. He wasn't just a director, he was a man with a voice. And with 'Running on Empty', Lumet depicts Family in its truest & harshest form. And of course, The Late/Great River Phoenix is beyond excellence.'Running on Empty' Synopsis: The eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live a life of his own.'Running on Empty' isn't merely a tale about fugitives, its a tale, of family, bond & coming of age. Lumet, the master, presents a brutally honest story about a family running away from nothingness, until the eldest son realizes his righteous voice. And Lumet is up for the claps, as he exuberantly captures the restlessness of youth. Naomi Foner's Award-Winning Screenplay is genius. The Writing is at times, about nothing, and at times, about everything. Also, the sub-plot involving Phoenix's love-interest (played by Martha Plimpton) glues in wonderfully. The Writing takes each step with care & the result overall, is top-notch. Lumet's Direction is perfection. Cinematography & Editing are admirable. Performance-Wise: River Phoenix is extraordinary. His portrayal of a young boy coming of age & trying to break-free from his family's mistakes, is one for the ages. One of the most naturals actors ever, Phoenix who left us 25 years ago, was a performer with the strength of a true heavyweight. And in Lumet's hands, Phoenix left us spell-bound. Judd Hirsch, a legend in his own right, is fabulous, as always. I've never come across a single bad performance by Hirsch & I'd like to believe, that there are none. Christine Lahti is remarkably restrained; her sequence with her father, is truly commendable. Martha Plimpton shines, in one her earliest & finest performances to date.On the whole, 'Running on Empty' is a force. This Is Essential Viewing.

A pair of anti-war radicals on the run with their nuclear family, Annie and Arthur Pope (Lahti and Hirsch) are answerable for a napalm laboratory bombing in the 70s (with one casualty of injury), designated as an anti-Vietnam war protestation, and have been lying low with new identities every once in a while henceforth, until their eldest son Danny (Phoenix) reaches 17, a watershed is laying out, some big decision needs to contemplate by both parties. In Sidney Lumet's RUNNING ON EMPTY, River Phoenix starts his transition from child stardom to the perilous adult world, this is his only Oscar-nominated performance, although it is vexingly shunted to the supporting category as the default victim of the Academy's inherent bias towards tender-year performers or newcomers. Here, he is the bedrock of the movie, a piano prodigy in his making (hereditary from the mother side), but he cannot be forever cocooned in his family's unorthodox lifestyle, and the irony is pretty on the nose, this damning society is rife with all things against Annie and Arthur's counterculture tenets, yet in the context, there seems to be no better alternative at their disposal, making him a fugitive for something he hasn't perpetrated? That is just unfair, thus it is almost imperative that Danny must be released from the clutches albeit he is disposed to stick with the status quo in the end before bid farewell to his girlfriend Lorna (Plimpton, very good in her tomboyish, cool-girl complexion), whom he is besotted with. There is certainly a waft of elitism in the air, Danny is wanted by Juilliard, so how can any compos mentis parents thumb their noses at that proposition, which leaves them no choice but to cut their deeply bonded familial cord, it is very intriguing if there is a sequel to cover Danny's grown-up years, to see whether his parents' sacrifice is worthwhile. Apart from that, it is a thoroughly judicious melodrama and Lumet's low-key directorial gesture successfully elicits Phoenix's most touching persona as a youngster on the cusp of adulthood, whose caring nature is torn between the obligation to his family and a new world suddenly opens to him. The whole close-knit cast has done a cracking job, Judd Hirsch, although one can hardly condone that him and Phoenix are cutting from the same family tree from their physical appearances, pulls off an earnest father and an activist with ardor, whereas, Christine Lahti is viscerally sublime in her Janus-faced versatility: checking the scenes where Annie pseudo-cavalierly converses with Danny's teacher and later a lachrymose tête-à-tête with her own father for the first time in 15 years, that is the testimonial. Sensibly filleting the more sensitive political agenda (there are worms in their noble cause too) which is concomitant with the story-line, RUNNING ON EMPTY is in essence a well-meaning, good-natured encomium of family value and altruistic sacrifice, only its rushed finale (at least the logistics team could have packed some items in their departing truck considering they are fleeing from the place for keeps), hits like a fly in the ointment in a hearty 80s tale, incidentally, if the same story happens in a CCTV-rampant age like today, the family's fly-by-night endeavor will definitely not last such a protracted length to even face their offspring's growing pains.

Outstanding drama with incredible performances. The story it tells of radicals in hiding and on the run while trying to raise a family but actually living the half life of the hunted is compelling enough but contributions of cast, director and script make it something extraordinary. Lumet was an erratic director but when he was on his A game his films are some of the best around, this one ranks up with his masterworks Dog Day Afternoon and Murder on the Orient Express. Taut yet accessible you really care for this family, warts and all.Beautifully acted by all but there are several standouts. Christine Lahti, a great unsung actress, is achingly real in her conflicted duty to her family and sense of frustration at their rootlessness. The scene between she and her father in a restaurant is one of the most moving you'll ever see in any film. Her work her really deserved an Oscar nomination, in my opinion she should have won but an acknowledgment was at least her due. River Phoenix did receive a nomination and along with Martha Plimpton they offer the other really fine performances. His desires to remain loyal to his family and their situation versus his yearning for roots, the exploration of his talents and a chance to find his own way in the world make compelling viewing. The movie doesn't move at breakneck speed but for those viewers willing to invest in it's deliberate pace this is a great film.

7.5? Are you serious? Who is voting on this movie??! This is my third favorite movie of all time, behind Forrest Gump and Shawshank.Anyone who has kids should "get" what this movie is about.Can you imagine having to face the decision of giving up your child for their own "happiness", or keeping the family together as a unit? How fun would that be? I loved every part of this movie. The acting was amazing... my middle son looks just like River Pheonix. I've always liked him, especially in Stand by Me. What a shame what happened to him. He had so much potential :( What struck me most about this movie, was how the father tried to keep the family together at all costs. That's not easy! I also enjoyed the love story between River and the girl in the movie. I loved the basic story, of them being on the run, and sticking together as a family, trying to survive.I also loved the part where the "old friend" comes on to the mom and she tells him to take a hike... most movies nowadays would probably have some tack, "torrid" love affair going on, but this movie was realistic, they kicked the guy to the curb, he was a sleeze.And of course, the ending was, gut-wrenching... I still cry after seeing this movie a gozillion times.-Tracy Milburn