Taglines: A father too dangerous to be close with. A son too dazzled to break away.
At Close Range movie storyline. Brad Whitewood, Sr. (Christopher Walken) is the leader of an organized crime family. One night, his estranged oldest son, Brad, Jr. (Sean Penn), contacts him after a fight with his mother’s boyfriend and stays with him at his home in Homeville, Pennsylvania. Eventually, he becomes involved with his father’s criminal activities, and starts a gang with his half-brother, Tommy (Chris Penn). The boys attempt a daring heist, which results in their arrest. All of them are bailed out except Brad, Jr.
During Brad, Jr.’s time in jail, another member of the gang receives a grand jury subpoena. Brad, Sr. believes that they will inform on him, so he rapes Brad’s girlfriend, Terry (Masterson), as a warning. Brad, Sr. feels his only recourse is to eliminate every witness that can connect him with his sons and their gang.
He kills Tommy himself and orders a hit against Brad, Jr., who is seriously wounded, Terry is also killed. Brad, Jr. threatens his father with a gun, intending to kill him, but decides that he wants Brad, Sr. to “die every day for the rest of his life,” and instead testifies against him in court. His father is sentenced to life in prison.
At Close Range is a 1986 American crime drama film directed by James Foley, based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston, Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s. It stars Sean Penn and Christopher Walken, with Mary Stuart Masterson, Sean’s brother Chris Penn, David Strathairn, Crispin Glover, Kiefer Sutherland, and Eileen Ryan (the Penns’ real-life mother) in supporting roles.
At Close Range (1986)
Directed by: James Foley
Starring: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Tracey Walter, Candy Clark
Screenplay by: Elliott Lewitt, Nicholas Kazan
Production Design by: Peter Jamison
Cinematography by: Juan Ruiz Anchía
Film Editing by: Howard E. Smith
Costume Design by: Hilary Rosenfeld
Set Decoration by: R. Chris Westlund
Music by: Patrick Leonard
Distributed by: Orion Pictures
Release Date: April 18, 1986
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