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At Close Range

At Close Range

Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1986

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.

Movie details

At Close Range

“Like father. Like son. Like hell.”

1986 Crime · Drama · Thriller 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.9 / 10

20K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

88 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

67 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over At Close Range?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

James Foley

Written by

Nicholas Kazan · Elliott Lewitt

Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken

Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Sr.

Mary Stuart Masterson

Mary Stuart Masterson

Terry

Chris Penn

Chris Penn

Thomas 'Tommy' Whitewood

Millie Perkins

Millie Perkins

Julie

Eileen Ryan

Eileen Ryan

Grandma

Tracey Walter

Tracey Walter

Uncle Patch Whitewood

Court is in session

Put At Close Range on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.