RUNNING ON EMPTY
Main menu
Personal tools
Contents
hide
- (Top)
- Plot
- Cast
- Real-life inspirations
- ReceptionToggle Reception subsection
- See also
- References
- External links
Running on Empty (1988 film)
17 languages
Tools
Appearancehide
Text
- SmallStandardLarge
Width
- StandardWide
Color (beta)
- AutomaticLightDark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Running on Empty | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sidney Lumet |
| Written by | Naomi Foner |
| Produced by | Griffin DunneAmy Robinson |
| Starring | Christine LahtiJudd HirschMartha PlimptonRiver PhoenixSteven Hill |
| Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
| Edited by | Andrew Mondshein |
| Music by | Tony Mottola |
| Production companies | Lorimar Film EntertainmentDouble Play |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date | September 9, 1988 |
| Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7 million[1] |
| Box office | $2.8 million[2] |
.png){kind=link}
Running on Empty is a 1988 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Naomi Foner and starring River Phoenix, Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and Martha Plimpton. It was produced by Lorimar Film Entertainment. It is the story of a counterculture couple on the run from the FBI, and how one of their sons starts to break out of this fugitive lifestyle.
Phoenix was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Danny Pope in the film; Naomi Foner was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Phoenix was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes; Lahti was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. The film was nominated for Best Director and Best Motion Picture Drama, and it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. Plimpton was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture. In a backstage interview on March 21, 1989, at the 61st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Phoenix expressed his wishes for the film to have a sequel.[3]
The film marked the second time that Phoenix and Plimpton played romantic interests, having co-starred in the film The Mosquito Coast two years earlier.
Plot
[edit]
Parents Annie and Arthur Pope are on the run as they were responsible for the anti-war protest bombing of a napalm laboratory in 1971. The incident accidentally blinded and paralyzed a janitor who was not supposed to be there. They have been on the run ever since, relying on an underground network of supporters who help them financially. At the time of the incident, their son Danny was two years old. As the film begins, he is in his late teens, and the family, now with younger son Harry, are again relocating and assuming new identities.
Danny’s overwhelming talent as a pianist catches the attention of his music teacher at school. The teacher begins to pry into Danny’s personal life, particularly questioning why records from his previous school are unobtainable. While he pushes Danny to audition for Juilliard, Danny also falls in love with Lorna, the teacher’s teenage daughter.
As the pressure to have his own life and realize his own dreams intensifies, Danny reveals his family secret to Lorna. Meanwhile, Annie finds out about Danny’s audition and begins to come to terms with the fact that she must let her son go and find his own way. This does not sit well with Arthur even as Annie risks their safety to contact her estranged father and arrange a home and life for Danny if they should decide to leave him behind.
When Arthur hears on the radio that one of their underground colleagues has been shot and killed running from the authorities, he realizes that it is better for his son to pursue his dreams than to continue living a dangerous life on the run from crimes for which Danny bears no responsibility. The family leaves Danny behind and heads off for their next identity in a new town.
Cast
[edit]
- River Phoenix as Danny Pope
- Christine Lahti as Annie Pope
- Judd Hirsch as Arthur Pope
- Jonas Abry as Harry Pope
- Martha Plimpton as Lorna Phillips
- Ed Crowley as Mr. Phillips (Lorna’s father)
- Steven Hill as Donald Patterson (Annie’s father)
- Augusta Dabney as Abigail Patterson (Annie’s mother)
- L. M. Kit Carson as Gus Winant
- David Margulies as Dr. Jonah Reiff
- Lynne Thigpen as Contact at Eldridge St.
- Marcia Jean Kurtz as School Clerk
- Sloane Shelton as Mrs. Phillips (Lorna’s mother)
Real-life inspirations
[edit]
Politico‘s Jeffrey Ressner writes that Arthur and Annie Pope were loosely modeled after Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.[4] John Simon states that the characters’ bombing of a napalm research facility was inspired by the Sterling Hall bombing of 1970.[5]
Reception
[edit]
Box office
[edit]
Running on Empty was released on September 9, 1988, in 22 theaters, where it grossed $215,157 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $2,835,116 in North America.[2]
Critical reception
[edit]
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and called it “one of the best films of the year”.[6] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, “The courtship between Danny and Lorna is staged especially disarmingly, with Mr. Phoenix and Miss Plimpton conveying a sweet, serious and believably gradual attraction.”[7] Newsweek magazine’s David Ansen wrote, “A curious mix of soap opera and social history, Lumet’s film shouldn’t work, yet its fusion of oddly matched parts proves emotionally overpowering. You have to be pretty tough to resist it.”[8]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 81% based on reviews from 31 critics.[9] Metacritic gave the film a score of 67 based on 17 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.[10]
The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited this movie as one of his 100 favorite films.[11]
Accolades
[edit]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[12] | Best Supporting Actor | River Phoenix | Nominated |
| Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen | Naomi Foner | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards[13] | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Christine Lahti | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | River Phoenix | Nominated | |
| Best Director – Motion Picture | Sidney Lumet | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Naomi Foner | Won | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[14] | Best Actress | Christine Lahti | Won |
| National Board of Review Awards[15] | Top Ten Films | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | River Phoenix | Won | |
| PEN Center USA Literary Awards[16] | Screenplay | Naomi Foner | Won |
| Young Artist Awards[17] | Best Family Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated | |
| Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film | Martha Plimpton | Nominated | |
See also
[edit]
- Sara Jane Olson
- James Kilgore
- Silas Bissell
- List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- 61st Academy Awards
- 46th Golden Globe Awards
- 60th National Board of Review Awards
- 1988 in film
References
[edit]
- ^ “AFI|Catalog”.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Running on Empty“. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ River Phoenix – 1989 academy awards luncheon interview, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2021-04-19
- ^ Ressner, Jeffrey (2008-10-06). “Ayers script hopes to gain from Obama”. Politico. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ Simon, John (2005). Seven Types of Exiguity. Vol. John Simon on film: criticism, 1982–2001. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 187. ISBN 9781557835079.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (September 23, 1988). “Running on Empty“. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (September 9, 1988). “Running on Empty, A Family Underground”. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ Ansen, David (October 3, 1988). “A Crazy, Imprudent ’60s”. Newsweek. p. 57.
- ^ “Running on Empty”. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ “Running on Empty Reviews”. Metacritic.
- ^ Thomas-Mason, Lee (12 January 2021). “From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time”. Far Out Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ “The 61st Academy Awards (1989) Nominees and Winners”. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
- ^ “Golden Globes Honor ‘Working Girl’, ‘War’ Series”. Los Angeles Times. 29 January 1989. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ Easton, Nina (12 December 1988). “L.A. Film Critics Vote Lahti, Hanks, ‘Dorrit’ Winners”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ “Awards for 1988”. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
- ^ “PEN Center USA: Winners”. Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
- ^ “President’s Message”. Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
External links
[edit]
- Running on Empty at IMDb
- Running on Empty at the TCM Movie Database
- Running on Empty at AllMovie
- Running on Empty at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Running on Empty at Rotten Tomatoes
- Running on Empty at Box Office Mojo
- 1988 films
- 1980s coming-of-age drama films
- 1980s English-language films
- American coming-of-age drama films
- 1988 drama films
- Films directed by Sidney Lumet
- Films with screenplays by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal
- Warner Bros. films
- Films shot in New Jersey
- Films set in New Jersey
- Films shot in New York (state)
- Films set in 1987
- 1980s American films