Sean Penn's Crime Neo-Noir Themed Trilogy: The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard & The Pledge

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[00:00:14] Well, hello, hello. Once again, guys, I'm going to continue talking about this awesome themed trilogy. We love doing themed trilogies because again, it allows a director and sometimes even an actor to do just a bunch of material that's all one cool formula, even if it's not a direct sequel.

[00:00:34] It shares a lot of the same material that they do so well and explore it on screen. In this case, we explored Sean Penn's, uh, not sure what you would call it, probably just unusual character themed trilogy, but many people have fortunately seen these movies and I don't know how because they're not on cable TV all that much nowadays.

[00:00:56] But yeah, tonight we're going to talk about 1991's The Indian Runner followed by 1995's The Crossing Guard and then 2001's The Pledge. So enjoy! My brother Frank was due back from Vietnam. We hadn't seen each other since I'd lost the farm in 65. The closeness I felt with my brother was with that rough and tumble kid I knew before high school. He looked like a hero.

[00:01:21] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't you do that! Don't you do that! You did it. I gotta try and get close to him again. I gotta try. Something. Frankie and Joe have one more chance to make everything right. I miss this Frankie. I've missed having a laugh with you. Me too.

[00:01:43] One last chance to be brothers. I'm an Indian runner. I'll get ya. There's only two kinds of men in this hell. It's heroes and outlaws. Which one are you?

[00:02:08] Why does it scare you so much? Why did it scare you? I get in a violent way. What can I say?

[00:02:15] Someone! You're the angriest man I know. Viggo Mortensen. Life must be great. You laugh it out.

[00:02:47] Valeria Golino. Joe, you've done everything you can. I know. Patricia Arquette. I'm married. Dennis Hopper. You ever want to kill someone? And you don't do it. Cause you're afraid. And Charles Bronson. He's a very restless boy, that Frankie. I look at him. And I see this little boy. With this little toy gun melt on. My little brother.

[00:03:16] The Indian runner. We missed. We loaded. We edited. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun.

[00:03:45] The reshuffled mini episode. So, the nuts and bolts of the Indian runner. This was a movie I just kept coming across.

[00:04:12] I saw it made many lists. You know, actors before they were famous. In this case, you know, it was Viggo Mortensen. David Morris. Fresh off St. Elsewhere's before he became a reliable character actor. I would often see it on the wrong kinds of lists. Like, it got some notoriety for the wrong reasons. I would see people say, oh, one of the few movies where there's male frontal nudity. I'm like, yeah, well, it's non-sexual. It's just someone, you know, washing himself in the desert.

[00:04:41] That's dumb. And then, in more recent years, people have talked about, oh, remember infamous political, you know, propaganda artist. Steve Bannon was a producer on this. It's like, well, yeah, that shitbag had many. He wore many hats before what he did now, which was, you know, making propaganda for the alt-right. But that's not what we're here for today. We're here to talk about why this movie rocks.

[00:05:07] You know, it's one of Charles Bronson's final roles. It's just very well-paced. You have all these unusual characters with tragic backstories, and Sean was maturing, not only as a person, but as an actor. And so he brought that behind the scenes, you know, coming up with this concept of, you know, two estranged brothers.

[00:05:31] You know, one of them who's a brutal policeman, played by David Morris, and the other who's just trouble-bound, violent-prone, you know, Vigo's character. And everyone plays off each other so well. You know the inevitable's coming up, but it never feels preachy, pretentious, drawn out. But I wouldn't dare say not even predictable. Because you can't call it predictable if you don't know how it's going to end. You know something bad will happen, but you don't know how, when, and where.

[00:06:02] And you're not looking forward to the next tragedy moment or violent outbursts. You're looking forward to finding out more about these very thick, troubled characters and what are their solutions. And so, yeah, it is in some ways, it's not really a Western, but you would call it definitely a noir-ish, you know, character study.

[00:06:22] It definitely has the lighting down and the actors just give it extra dimensions that, you know, the script is perfectly fine, but it just reaches out to you without just feeling like style over substance. It's so rewarding. Dennis Hopper also plays the bartender who, you know, is kind of instigating some problems with Vigo's, you know, violent-prone guy.

[00:06:47] He's not intending, but it's also interesting seeing, you know, Dennis being on a leash for once instead of hamming it up or being over the top like he's often asked to be.

[00:06:55] So, pretty neat. And yeah, another good thing that Mike mentions later that I'm going to get to is how, you know, Neil Young, you know, Hans Zimmer did the music for a lot of these kinds of movies, but Neil Young did most of the soundtrack.

[00:07:17] And this also features material by the band, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson's Airplane and Traffic. And I like this, you know, just everything from Green River to Coming Back to Me to Feeling Alright. These songs kind of complement the false illusions they want to be under. But yeah, Jack Nisage actually was, my bad, the main composer for this. It was on Elektra Records. And a pretty solid album.

[00:07:48] It's a good mixture of folk material and very well complemented. The Crossing Guard with him in it? I love that movie, man. Oh, I never saw that. He's not doing a Jack Nicholson parody or anything. That's true. Mike was mentioning The Crossing Guard. That is one of, you know, that's what I call part of Sean Penn's noir character study. You know, he does the Indian Runner with Viggo Mortensen, David Morse, and Charles Bronson in one of his final roles. Then, yeah, he does The Crossing Guard, which is a great revenge movie with Nicholson.

[00:08:18] And then he does The Pledge. Yeah. And once again, that's a... Oh, The Pledge. Jesus. Yeah. What was The Pledge about? Remind me what that was. That was the Nevada detective who goes after a serial killer. It's inspired by some of the same material that inspired Peter Lorre's M. Okay. Okay. And it's been... Did he direct that? Yeah. Sean Penn directed it. Okay. Nicholson, I think he had some free range on the character.

[00:08:44] I mean, Benicio Del Toro is like in the opening scene as a suspect who kills himself. But like, Helen Mirren's like the coroner. And just everybody just comes alive on this atypical story. But Nicholson was perfect for this because without giving it away, like, it just shows you how the detective is just constantly fear mongering. The danger is bigger to him than to other people. Yeah. And kind of like Arlington Road, kind of like other just very well thought out character pieces.

[00:09:12] You don't know if he's exaggerating it deliberately or if people really are in jeopardy and they won't believe him because he's such a hard ass. And is he a danger to himself and others? Or are people really just that stubborn and won't listen to him? It is just a solid slow burn. And aside from occasional play on TNT, I've never seen many talk about it. It just doesn't seem to get brought up much, even though it got some acclaim. Yeah. I mean, his stuff, you know, I hate it that, you know, people who really aren't into film

[00:09:42] probably don't know much about him. You know, they might have seen him in Batman. People, you know, for the last 20 years, fame is so fleeting. You know, it's... Right? Yeah. I was actually surprised by how much I didn't know about what he had done. Yeah. You know, looking over, you know, especially, you know, like his early stuff before Easy Right. I mean, he was around since his first show was, or his first paid acting gig was Wells Fargo. What was it? Wells Fargo. Yeah.

[00:10:12] And then it was, that was 55. Yeah. That was 55. And so, and he doesn't get really, doesn't break out into real stardom until Easy Right. The King of Marvin Gardens. Yeah. Like you talked about earlier, James. It's also important to mention that the song Highway Patrolman on the Bruce Springsteen album,

[00:10:33] Nebraska, since it played out like a dark movie itself, that, that was why Sean Penn used it for the Indian Runner. And I do think that's interesting. It's, it was one of those, Mike, yeah, it's a great soundtrack, but man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting how, even though that song is based off real life violence, how it complements

[00:10:58] this, how, you know, this Vietnam vet, you know, has returned to a small town and the sheriff, you know, unintentionally instigates it. It's not like a Rambo or Bad Day or Black Rock type premise, but it's similar in that the person you could probably compare to Unforgiven a year later, where the person who should be fixing the problem is part of the problem, you know, so little bill, the sheriff, Gene Hagman and Unforgiven very much what David Morse is playing off here.

[00:11:29] And yeah, it's just cool to see a very gifted movie and like this, just again, you know, we all hate, have our share of movies. We just don't care for because they're so drawn out or imitated. And this is a special gem of a movie where I don't see anyone imitating it because it's its own special oyster. You can't replicate it. It's its own deal. It's one of a kind. So thumbs up big time.

[00:12:00] He's traced the route. Harry, there's something that you should know. He's counted the days. I've got really great news. I mean, spectacular news. He's practiced the act. What's your great news? He's out. John Booth is out.

[00:12:30] Now, six years later, one man cannot forget. Your guilt. A little too. And the other cannot forgive. They threatened to kill me last night. Was he serious? It's a wonderful time. To this dream.

[00:12:59] Driving past the elementary school. There's a crosswalk. Across the guard is John Booth. John Booth. Whatever you're doing, stop it. She's not coming back no matter what you do. You want me to kill John Booth? That's my job in life. And your job is to go on as though nothing happened.

[00:13:27] Jack Nicholson. David Morse. Robin Wright. And Angelica Houston. Some men wait a lifetime to cross the line. Some can't wait another day. The crossing guard. Alrighty. Let's get into the next part of Sean Penn's trilogy.

[00:13:57] And that is none other than The Crossing Guard. And I remember seeing the trailer for this. I would always see the DVD once in a while. And have it a Miramax production. And I was always like, yeah, what is that movie? I got to check this out. It's wonderful. It really is. It's dynamite. And I think what makes this my personal favorite of this trilogy, like it's a full blown five stars.

[00:14:25] Again, it's all about a man having just vengeful thoughts. And then keeps in suspense. Will he go through with it? It's a movie not made by committee. It is on the record as being an independent film. It's unfortunately also the last one scored by Jack Nysedge, who had previously also done the Mick Jagger film performance,

[00:14:53] The Exorcist, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and worked with The Rolling Stones and Neil Young. So that's probably the connection there. But he did score The Indian Runner as well. And I think that's, again, it's a very appropriate melody, just showing this character who's been in the darkness for too long. And how ironic how it just shows how he's becoming no different than the very killer. Once again, David Morse is utilized by Sean Penn in this case. He's, again, part of the problem.

[00:15:23] He's playing John Booth. No relation. You know, the drunk driver who accidentally killed Nicholson's character's daughter. Nicholson is named Freddy Gell. And he plays this character unlike anything else you've seen him in. Most people are going to instantly jump into, you know, nowadays, hey, yeah, Batman, Cuckoo's Nest, you know, departed. And it's like, well, this is in my top 10 performances for him because it's not about being crazy.

[00:15:51] It's awesome how they show how he just can't get anything he wants. He ends up becoming a drunk his own self. He's had just too much. And he's been just, he's had all these seeds planted in him that he must do the inevitable. He must go and kill this guy. He must be a vigilante. And I'm not going to give it away, but the plot twist does also feed appropriately into that without compromising the integrity

[00:16:18] or contradicting all the actions that happened before. And I like how they establish he's got a girlfriend, you know, Valerie Galeno. She can't handle him. Carrie Wuhar is a date in this. So it's cool seeing the former MTV screen queen, B-movie gal make a rare mainstream appearance. And also without... being over the top and as risque as you would think. So it's also cool how they cast, you know,

[00:16:46] Jack Nicholson's longtime partner and co-friend, Angelica Houston, as his ex-wife in here because it really only adds to the authenticity here. And they established six excruciating years. And you're like, yeah, that's a lot to just want to... You know, and the accident is like barely shown, but without, you know, denying anyone any insight into it. It never feels like it's just the actor making it work. It really is just so layered.

[00:17:16] And anyone who wants another, you know, Sidney LeMay kind of movie, like Dog Day Afternoon, or even something like A Falling Down, will probably get even more out of this too. It is just showing someone on the breaking edge without descending into like, exactly like, shall we say, taxi driver territory where it's all about, you know, a guy who may or may not be a good guy is like, yeah, no, he's about to do a bad thing and he knows it's wrong, but he wants, he can't help but wonder

[00:17:46] if he should anyway. And yeah, Robin Wright, you know, also has a brief role in this. It's significant. And you know, again, the whole thing is just my favorite because it just, it does everything that it promises it's going to try and do. Just show this guy breaking down, being tempted instead of becoming totally inconsistent, you know, like, it may not,

[00:18:16] some people might list it as an action movie. You probably could because there is a lot of chasing around, but it's mainly just a drama, maybe a crime thriller. But yeah, I like how, again, you know, the guy is also becoming a drunk, so he's having to just, all this temptation, this desire to kill and wondering if it'll even, you know, it's not going to bring his daughter back, but he he is so tempted to. And it's not, it's not gun porn. It's not about, hey, let's see him get a buy a six shooter. It's all about,

[00:18:46] hey, here's him descending into the darkness. He's been alone for too long. Nobody can stand him. And it's driving him crazy. Eight years ago, we got a homicide. Same MO, same victim profile. He knows the killer is out there. You could expect another incident. He knows it will happen again. You don't know what you are dealing with. This guy is real and I know it. Crazy!

[00:19:13] He knows he's the only one who can stop it. Jack Nicholson. I made a promise. In a Sean Penn film. I intend to keep it. The pledge, rated R, starts Friday, January 19th. All right, let's dive into the last part of Sean Penn's unofficial trilogy. This again, reunites him with Robin Wright and Jack Nicholson. There's brief parts by Aaron Eckert as a deputy. Tom Noonan as a guy

[00:19:41] who may or may not be the killer. You know, this is most often considered a good movie, but some people consider it a well acted disappointment just because they don't buy into the ending. I don't have a problem with it at all, but I understand why some people, you know, it's not going for what you think it's going to go into. But yeah, there's cameos by Harry Dean Stanton, Mickey Rohr, Kellen Maron, Benicio Del Toro plays a serial killer who's not the real killer and he's only like in the very opening scene

[00:20:11] before he kills himself. And based on a novel by Peter Hadenck. And, you know, it's one of the many, you know, movies that is inspired by the real life material that inspired M, the Fritz Lang movie. So, it's been copied several times and as we were saying in the chat earlier, it's just Jack is just in it to win it. He truly dives into this character and again,

[00:20:40] it's a psychological movie. That's why it makes it different from everything and, you know, having seen it, I still want to rewatch it again just to see where the character may or may not have lost their true sanity. And, you know, I like how they establish he's, you know, a detective in Nevada. This one you could probably call action because there are some car chases, but, and, yeah, Hans Zimmer's score is good at creating kind of a just abstract

[00:21:09] kind of movie. You feel like the music is rushing through all the characters' heads while they're running around and, you know, Jack's, you know, Jerry character just takes it upon himself. He just feels like someone is in jeopardy, but is he actually endangering other people by overthinking this or is he legit in his assumptions? So, yeah, there's all sorts of other characters that are unusual, but I like them because they're not just, you know,

[00:21:39] great actors being cast in one brief, you know, role. They are, but they aren't. Like, they go beyond it by, they all just represent various suspects with unusual motives. There's a Navajo man with an intellectual disability. There's, you know, all kinds of other people who may have known the killer or might have known someone else

[00:22:09] who was just a suspicious drunken town and the SWAT team stuff at the end is interesting. Yeah, I've had fun looking up some trivia on this and I always did wonder that other than an occasional, you know, HBO or TNT airing, it never really played much and the Canadian scenery is nice and apparently Tom Noonan, you know,

[00:22:39] the supporting actor revealed that when franchise pictures, you know, that's Andrew Stevens' company that produced a lot of stuff for Warner Brothers and HBO, long story short, they're, you know, despite having some big movies like, you know, by David Mamet, a few other actors and directors come out, you know, they've had hits like the whole nine yards and their biggest flop was Battlefield

[00:23:08] Earth that some men in the company is making too many, you know, low-budget cheapies or expensive misfires and that was the latter and the company apparently got freaked out and pressured Sean Penn to finish on time and under budget which wasn't possible because they were shooting in the mountains and there were four or five scenes that still needed to be shot and apparently Tom Noonan hated, I don't think he hated it but he's

[00:23:38] annoyed because the character was written as just a suspect who didn't kill any kids but the movie leaves it to the imagination and well, yes and no. Watch the ending and you'll get the full story but yeah, it's interesting how people who I thought would love this hated it and people who I

[00:24:07] least expected to like it really love it so it is a divisive movie Roger Ebert loved it CinemaScore claims audiences gave it a D on average and I can understand that it's not some mainstream audience I think would like it but it's not, you know, it's not dumb but I could also see again, the ending might compromise it for some people and I thought it was a risk worth taking and again, I just dug Helen Mirren as the one corner, I dug the scenery

[00:24:37] building into it instead of just wanting to put someone to sleep Sam Shepard had a brief role in this too yeah, I really dug this one a lot actually and I just found it just again, Jack had a lot of meat to bite into on this one, it was just a really juicy role for him and I think the ending is just good at just being inserted and just making you show that

[00:25:07] assumptions can definitely you know a whole lot basically throw you over once the pendulum swings you know there's no guess where you'll end up and in this case like this man is teetering again between being unstable to you know being a brute and so I like that too it just shows that there's consequences for being just too intense all the time the man

[00:25:37] barely sleeps you know drinks a lot same kind of deal and so it's good at just giving Nicholson another human yet flawed role to play apparently another novel inspired this as well Swiss Hustler 1958 novella as well so that's just that there's all kinds of you know happened in broad daylight and comparisons are there

[00:26:06] but yeah there's all kinds of other stuff in here too and apparently competed at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and yeah I can't speak any more highly about it than I already have I think it is solid probably I can't decide though if it's my second or third favorite in the trilogy they're all very special in their own right much like when we did the Free Colors trilogy just good mixture of blurring the line between an indie thriller and an art house

[00:26:37] drama it was that right kind of balance so hats off guys check them all out if you haven't yet some of them will likely never get the blu-ray treatment but do not get all snobby about that check them out if they're on streaming or you can digitally buy them go for it please trust me we'll return after these messages we got a 90 minute weekly

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[00:28:05] and 10 p.m. eastern time 9 p.m. central 1077 ktwins find everything on house shack dot go house shack do you ever find yourself thinking about who would win in a fight between goku and superman hi i'm james gabsey and on the who would win show me and my co-host ray ignore anything important happening in the outside world and debate fictional battles between characters from comics movies and video games we got a new show every week

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