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Excellent adaptation.

A Disappointing Continuation

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I used to laugh many times when people (around me) ask me : why do you watch this film too much! And the answer i guess was very simple: because it is a spectacular movie! For Example i still remember that i went to the cinema three times to watch Gravity back in 2013, because it was one of those films that really make you feel something. The first time when i watch a film i took a general look at the whole film ( Story line, Characters, music, etc..) and as for the second and third time, i just watch the actors performance( focusing on their faces expression, how they moved, did they delivered what we need to see, to know and hear, etc...) Running On Empty was one of those films that i had to watch three times, because it's a superb one.the story is about a family who are running away from justice after the explosion they made in a laboratory which made a guy blinded and paralyzed, and since then the family go from city to city in order to live.The movie deliver to us a superb performance by all the actors of the film, especially River Phonenix who was nominated for best supporting actor for this brilliant role. and Christine Lahti ( who was nominated for golden globe ). The character Danny which played by Mr, Phonexi is probably one of my all time favorite male characters on the screen, it gave me the same reaction when i first watched James Dean Character in rebel without a cause 1955, and no wonder why so many people considered Phoenix as the next Jame Dean, it is so sad that both of them died too young, almost at the same Age! (Dean at 24 and Phonexi at 23). But both of them gave us a real great performances in a few films.What is amazing about this film is the relation between the family members they really love each other and despite the problem they are living in, they are happy.And you can feel that they are like a one union. Now the most amazing part (or item) of this film was the music which was done by Tony Mottola (which worked also with James Dean in Giant 1956). he really did an amazing job the music is just superb and very touching and i don't know why he didn't get an Oscar nomination for his brilliant work in this film! Lumet also gave us one of his best films especially the way of telling the story of how Danny became a great pianist, we didn't know at the beginning of the film how he learned music, who taught him or from where he got his talent and at the end you knew that it was by his mother when she plays with him ( it really was a cleaver way to show it for the audience) .At the end if you are a big fan of drama and musical films, or even a piano lover, i would highly recommend this for you, because the story is great, the directing is fabulous and the acting is at the top. not to mention the great music, so what can you ask more.

Beautifully understated drama. Note how even the lengthy pauses add to the low-key impact. We keep expecting Danny (Phoenix) to cut loose at some point, so bottled up and controlled his life is. But then he's part of a "unit", his family, and if they're to stay together, they have to evade the long arm the FBI. That means military-like discipline at crucial times must be observed.Understandably, the screenplay doesn't want to prejudice audience reaction by making the parents (Lahti & Hirsch) organized killers (e.g. Symbionese Liberation Army). But the script does want to justify the crucial element of FBI pursuit years after the political crime. Thus, Mom and Dad are made guilty of blowing up a war facility that also caused an unintentional death. The "unintentional" part is morally crucial since the parents are then clearly guilty of a political crime, but not clearly guilty of a moral one. (After all, our gov't justifies "collateral damage" in its wars all the time.) Thus the audience is not necessarily repelled by the nature of their "crime", even though the family remains on the run.The performances are first-rate. I particularly like teen-age Plimpton as the different looking Lorna. Her lovelorn scenes with Danny are as affecting as any young love on film record. I also like the way Dad's change of heart is rationalized at the end, coming as a sudden realization of what the movement has come to (Gus's role) and its personal cost. Except for excluding mention of peaceful protests, the movie deals fairly and effectively with fall-out from a particularly turbulent period in our modern history. All in all, the movie's a low-key sleeper with many unexpected moments of quiet power.

Running on Empty is a gem of film, with some great performances, especially the late River Phoenix.This is one of those films in the late 1980s that looked back on the recent past. Mississippi Burning is another film that springs to mind.The Pope family are fugitives.They have been on the run from the FBI since the early 1970s.Arthur(Judd Hirsch)and Annie (Christine Lahti) were once student radicals who blew up a lab that produced weapons, as a protest against the Vietnam War. Think Weathermen Underground and you get the picture.Their act of terror resulted in a fatality. We meet met them years later, when they are the parents to two boys. One of them, Danny played by River Phoenix, is now a teenager. He is tired of running, never having time to put down roots or make real friends. Danny also has to assume a new identity each time the family move. Whilst enrolled at his latest school, Danny, under the alias of Michael Manfield comes to the attention of a music teacher who notices what a gifted piano player he is. The teacher's daughter Lorna(Martha Plimpton) also notices Danny and begins to fall for him.The scenes between Danny and Lorna are well done. He slowly lowers his guard and starts to trust herThis film covers so much ground. Its about identity, love and how your past can both trap and mould you. Danny learnt to appreciate music through his mother, Annie who was from a wealthy middle class family. She knows how good he could be, but can she and Arthur let him go? Can he keep running forever without being able to live his life?There are two stand out scenes for me in this film. Annie meets her father for the first time in years. She clearly rejected everything he stood and yet there is so much emotion between them. The other scene is the pivotal one where the Popes make a decision about Danny. It is a clear indication that River Phoenix would have been huge had he lived.Just watch the look in his eyes as they bid farewell.To execute that range of emotions, you got to have acting chops. River definitely had it.The late Sidney Lumet shows what a skilled film maker he was, taking a difficult subject matter and getting great performances from the main players.

This is a powerful movie about the lives of people on the run for their anti-war activities during the 1960's and 70's. These acts of protest at times crossed the line of legitimate protest and resulted in death and tragedy. The director, Sidney Lumet, has directed some great American films dealing with important issues, including Twelve Angry Men, Fail-Safe, The Pawnbroker and Network, among many others; he was no doubt aware of the lives of fugitives whose criminality came to haunt them because of social alienation or contempt for waging war in the Vietnam. In the opening scene of this movie about one such family, we find the elder son, played by River Phoenix, coming home to a comfortable house only to find FBI agents driving around the property. This is the signal that his parents are once more being stalked by the federal government for a crime that they have been avoiding for many years. The parents have paid a heavy price that has exacted a toll on them and their children. The movie is somewhat slow for the first half as we get to know this family, which has managed to eke out a comfortable life despite having to pull up stakes as they migrate from one community to another. The parents, played by Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti, have the know-how and social skills to make the best for their tight-knit family of four. I thought that Judd Hersch and Christine Lahti were excellent trying to protect themselves from arrest while being caring parents and active members of their communities. The crisis comes to a head when the older son is urged to pursue his talent as a gifted pianist. This could force the parents into the open or stop his progression to a career as a very talented pianist. The choice is agonizing but it cannot be avoided. The encounter between Annie, the mother (Christine Lahti) and her father, played by Steven Hill, is the most moving scene in this movie, bringing together regrets, heartbreak and lost opportunities. Another moment shows River Phoenix pretending to deliver pizza to his grandmother just to catch a glimpse of her.Together, these episodes capture the dilemma of the family. They have become a strong unit, but must now deal with the fact that their children's lives are entangled in the web of deception they have constructed. It is a moving film that comes face to face with the lingering reality of a traumatic time in history.