I’ve loved this movie ever since I saw it in a college film class. Definitely not talked enough about, especially being a part of River Phoenix’s unfortunately limited film credits.
I'm so glad you featured this movie. There's a scene between River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton that is so beautiful, honest and real. It's stayed with me for some reason. I also love Christine Lahti for reasons I don't fully understand! Saw her in a play called "Russian Troll Farm" in New York and she has a monologue that is just knock-out amazing. Will definitely be re-watching this very soon.
Thanks for spotlighting this one because it got unfairly lost in the shuffle. The Steven Hill scene alone makes it an all-timer. It's the kind of craftsman perfection Lumet brought to so many of his movies and was taken for granted.
I never connected this with CODA but now that you do it's so obvious. But reading this (and via association with Phoenix and Plimpton) it reminded me of THE MOSQUITO COAST. Nowhere near the pristine object this movie is, but it's one that's always resonated with me and also has a family thrown onto the stormy waves of a parent's idealism. In the case of COAST it's a particularly manic, unhinged idealism but that was my dad so I guess it hit more close to home. (In that home, my dad would be railing against the parents in EMPTY.) But I always felt that movie deserved more than "the failed follow-up to WITNESS."
An interesting parallel universe would be if Harrison Ford's post-WITNESS serious roles landed better with moviegoers and he continued in that vein into the '90s and beyond.
Completely agree. You get flashes of Ford where you can really see a different switch being thrown and it's always exciting. It would have been wonderful to have an 80s/90s where he's mixing the franchise/genre stuff with really challenging dramatic and wilder comedic stuff. It'd given him a whole other aspect before he took the freeway to stoic grumpiness.
This is such a tender, well-observed film in a predominantly minor key, with universally strong performances. One can even forgive it the "white people dance around in the kitchen and sing along to a '60s/'70s song" scene—which, to be fair, had not yet become the terrible trope it would be.
I believe this was the first movie I watched through The Reveal (https://thereveal.substack.com/p/oscars-aftermath-catching-up-with)! It's a great film and of course Phoenix is amazing in it (I always think of him in Sneakers, where he wanted to get the tough gal's phone number more than anything else), but I remember how utterly shocked I was at seeing Martha Plimpton so young (and thin!). And then I imagined what River would look like now, had he lived...I suppose he may look a bit like his younger brother. It's funny -- they would've probably become one of the best sibling actors ever.
Haven't seen it in years: now you're getting me to rewatch it. Have you ever written abt Phoenix ' other star turn in that nearly perfect movie MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO?
Watched this recently and it is just excellent. Just a perfectly built, completely impossible situation. Nobody is a villain, everybody’s doing their best- this situation is just impossible.
Also watched Daniel and it was also pretty great if insanely bleak stuff. Lumet likely deserves a complete filmography run-through.
Weird, just rewatched FAIL SAFE this morning, speaking of Lumet.
Going to give this a rewatch as well, as another comparison just leapt to mind: THE AMERICANS. And now I'm curious to see how the emotional beats of the final episodes compare and contrast with RUNNING ON EMPTY.
Adore this film. I don't think the "Fire and Rain" singalong scene ever gets enough love, but definitely feels like a precursor to moments like the Skeleton Twins lip sync, and the callback breaks my heart every time.
Also managed to fall in love with Christine Lahti all over again - having her in Housekeeping beforehand.
I knew this title but had no idea what this movie was about (or even maybe that it was a Lumet film), but this sounds great and extremely up my alley!
Also, for people who are interested in the history of the Weather Underground, Zayd Ayers Dohrn, the son of Bernadine Dorhn and Bill Ayers, did a podcast a couple of years back called Mother Country Radicals where he talks about the movement and also his personal experiences growing up on the lam, essentially. And it is really, really good.
If you can get your hands on the director's cut of SWING SHIFT it delivers some great Lahti. I generally love Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, but they thoroughly screwed Jonathan Demme over on that movie and by extension the rest of the cast. The theatrical cut is a bore.
I’ve loved this movie ever since I saw it in a college film class. Definitely not talked enough about, especially being a part of River Phoenix’s unfortunately limited film credits.
Saw this on TCM a while back, had never heard of it and was blown away by it. Everyone in it is great.
I'm so glad you featured this movie. There's a scene between River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton that is so beautiful, honest and real. It's stayed with me for some reason. I also love Christine Lahti for reasons I don't fully understand! Saw her in a play called "Russian Troll Farm" in New York and she has a monologue that is just knock-out amazing. Will definitely be re-watching this very soon.
Thanks for spotlighting this one because it got unfairly lost in the shuffle. The Steven Hill scene alone makes it an all-timer. It's the kind of craftsman perfection Lumet brought to so many of his movies and was taken for granted.
I never connected this with CODA but now that you do it's so obvious. But reading this (and via association with Phoenix and Plimpton) it reminded me of THE MOSQUITO COAST. Nowhere near the pristine object this movie is, but it's one that's always resonated with me and also has a family thrown onto the stormy waves of a parent's idealism. In the case of COAST it's a particularly manic, unhinged idealism but that was my dad so I guess it hit more close to home. (In that home, my dad would be railing against the parents in EMPTY.) But I always felt that movie deserved more than "the failed follow-up to WITNESS."
An interesting parallel universe would be if Harrison Ford's post-WITNESS serious roles landed better with moviegoers and he continued in that vein into the '90s and beyond.
Completely agree. You get flashes of Ford where you can really see a different switch being thrown and it's always exciting. It would have been wonderful to have an 80s/90s where he's mixing the franchise/genre stuff with really challenging dramatic and wilder comedic stuff. It'd given him a whole other aspect before he took the freeway to stoic grumpiness.
This is such a tender, well-observed film in a predominantly minor key, with universally strong performances. One can even forgive it the "white people dance around in the kitchen and sing along to a '60s/'70s song" scene—which, to be fair, had not yet become the terrible trope it would be.
And yes, the Lahti/Hill scene is an all-timer.
I believe this was the first movie I watched through The Reveal (https://thereveal.substack.com/p/oscars-aftermath-catching-up-with)! It's a great film and of course Phoenix is amazing in it (I always think of him in Sneakers, where he wanted to get the tough gal's phone number more than anything else), but I remember how utterly shocked I was at seeing Martha Plimpton so young (and thin!). And then I imagined what River would look like now, had he lived...I suppose he may look a bit like his younger brother. It's funny -- they would've probably become one of the best sibling actors ever.
Same here — also found the film through The Reveal and was overwhelmed.
Haven't seen it in years: now you're getting me to rewatch it. Have you ever written abt Phoenix ' other star turn in that nearly perfect movie MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO?
Watched this recently and it is just excellent. Just a perfectly built, completely impossible situation. Nobody is a villain, everybody’s doing their best- this situation is just impossible.
Also watched Daniel and it was also pretty great if insanely bleak stuff. Lumet likely deserves a complete filmography run-through.
Weird, just rewatched FAIL SAFE this morning, speaking of Lumet.
Going to give this a rewatch as well, as another comparison just leapt to mind: THE AMERICANS. And now I'm curious to see how the emotional beats of the final episodes compare and contrast with RUNNING ON EMPTY.
Adore this film. I don't think the "Fire and Rain" singalong scene ever gets enough love, but definitely feels like a precursor to moments like the Skeleton Twins lip sync, and the callback breaks my heart every time.
Also managed to fall in love with Christine Lahti all over again - having her in Housekeeping beforehand.
I knew this title but had no idea what this movie was about (or even maybe that it was a Lumet film), but this sounds great and extremely up my alley!
Also, for people who are interested in the history of the Weather Underground, Zayd Ayers Dohrn, the son of Bernadine Dorhn and Bill Ayers, did a podcast a couple of years back called Mother Country Radicals where he talks about the movement and also his personal experiences growing up on the lam, essentially. And it is really, really good.
I watched this and asked "Christine Lahti, where have you been all my life?" and it turns out she's the mom on Evil!
If you can get your hands on the director's cut of SWING SHIFT it delivers some great Lahti. I generally love Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, but they thoroughly screwed Jonathan Demme over on that movie and by extension the rest of the cast. The theatrical cut is a bore.
Finally caught up with this one thanks to this review as well as Filmspotting's Lumet marathon. That Father/Daughter scene is excellent.