Don't Come Knocking
A new kind of road movie.
Sixty-year-old former movie star Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) uses drugs, alcohol and young girls to avoid the painful truth that there are only supporting roles left for him to play. One day he realizes that nobody in the world would miss him if he died. He returns to Elko, Nevada, the place he ran away from years ago and where his 80-year-old mother still lives. She tells him that he may be a father.
Though shocked by the thought that he has a grown son somewhere, this brings a ray of hope to Howard’s otherwise narcissistic and meaningless life and he sets out to search for him. He soon finds out that not only is he the father of a son, but also of a daughter, the product of another short fling that happened at about the same time. These siblings do not know about each other. That’s when the real complications of this American family reunion begin...
Member Reviews
Meh - sal33
I've seen three Winders movie and two of them were stinkers. This was one of the stinkers. Badly written, meandering story that was boring and uneventful.
Sam Sheppard and Jessica Lange are decent actor's but Sheppard's screenplay left alot to be desired. Any worse and this film could be classified as pointless.Simple, straightforward Wenders - Gaucho
One of the problems with Wim Wenders is that his ambition doesn't match his narrative skill. He usually has the great ideas, great messages and seeks to tell an panoramic story, involving lots of sub-plots, and then they get bogged down and unfinished (EX. Faraway, So Close!). This doesn't happen here.
It's a straightforward story about redemption. One man's journey. The characters he meets are along for the ride, having their exits and entrances.
A criticism of Wenders style is that he takes a long time to tell a story. Although that could bog down other movies, here the pace seems to be a part of the scenery. It works. Wenders long shots works within the characters and mood, which says a lot about the actors who don't always have the luxery of close-ups to pull off these characters.
Check it out.Don't Come Knocking - piph
Lange shines, as does Sam and Tim Roth is delightful. It was interesting on some deep levels, but took way too long to tell the story....... The son just made me angry - still not sure if it was the character, the writing or his interpretation of it I disliked. The additional features with the Director at the film festivals were interesting to watch - let me appreciate it all just a bit more, as the making of the movie is based on a deep friendship and belief in family. Interesting...
Member Reviews
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Meh - sal33
I've seen three Winders movie and two of them were stinkers. This was one of the stinkers. Badly written, meandering story that was boring and uneventful.
Sam Sheppard and Jessica Lange are decent actor's but Sheppard's screenplay left alot to be desired. ...Simple, straightforward Wenders - Gaucho
One of the problems with Wim Wenders is that his ambition doesn't match his narrative skill. He usually has the great ideas, great messages and seeks to tell an panoramic story, involving lots of sub-plots, and then they get bogged down and unfinished (EX. ...Don't Come Knocking - piph
Lange shines, as does Sam and Tim Roth is delightful. It was interesting on some deep levels, but took way too long to tell the story....... The son just made me angry - still not sure if it was the character, the writing or his interpretation of it I disliked. ...