Running on Empty

RUNNING ON EMPTY (15)
D: Sidney Lumet
Warner Bros./Lorimar/Double Play (Amy Robinson & Griffin Dunne)
US 1988
116 mins

Drama

W: Naomi Foner
DP: Gerry Fisher
Ed: Andrew Mondshein
Mus: Tony Mottola

Christine Lahti (Annie Pope), Judd Hirsch (Arthur Pope), River Phoenix(Danny Pope), Martha Plimpton (Lorna Phillips), L.M. Kit Carson (Gus Winant)

A husband and wife political activist duo and long time targets of the FBI find their family life in jeopardy and they feel the need to relocate once again, but their teenage son wants to part ways so he can focus on his own life emancipated from his runaway parents.
A critical darling of 1988 which didn't quite engage with audiences, perhaps because it's difficult to sympathise with the parents' characters. River Phoenix, however, is a revelation, delivering one of the best supporting performances of the year and deservingly rewarded with an Oscar nomination for his part.
6/10
 
River Phoenix in Running On Empty
River Phoenix in Running On Empty