Don't Come Knocking (2005)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers (WGA):

Sam Shepard (screenplay)
Sam Shepard (story) ...

Release Date:

25 elokuu 2005 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his...

Plot Keywords:

Movie Star | Hotel Room | Melodrama | Video Arcade | Rock 'n' Roll

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

James Roday	...	1st AD
Jeffrey Vincent Parise	...	2nd AD (as Jeff Parise)
Majandra Delfino	...	1st Girl
Marieh Delfino	...	2nd Girl
Sam Shepard	...	Howard Spence
George Kennedy	...	Director
Julia Sweeney	...	Producer 2
Tim Matheson	...	Producer 1
James Gammon	...	Old Ranch Hand
Tim Roth	...	Sutter
Robin Twogood	...	Patrolman
Gabriel Mann	...	Earl
Fairuza Balk	...	Amber
Mike Butters	...	Businessman
Sarah Polley	...	Sky

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

122 min | 113 min (theatrical version)

Country:

France | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | Finland:K-3 | Ireland:15A | Sweden:7 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Germany:6 (f) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Reverse Angle International

Trivia:

According to the director's DVD commentary, the casinos in Elko were "too crummy" for shooting. The casino scene was shot instead in the Peppermill and Rainbow casinos at Wendover, Nevada.

Goofs:

Continuity: The blown tire on Howard's car changes sides between shots.

Quotes:

Earl: [singing] Where is Howard? Who is Howard? We wanna know, we wanna know. Where is Howard? Who is Howard? Where did he go, where did he go? He's down in the ditches. He's down in the ground. Disappeared himself. He's no-where to be found! Where is Howard? Who is Howard? He's long gone, he's long gone.

Movie Connections:

References High Noon (1952)

Soundtrack:

God's in the Kitchen

A joy to watch!

"Don't Come Knocking" is undoubtedly the best fiction film made by Wim Wenders since "Wings of Desire". Wenders joins forces with playwright/actor Sam Shepard and the result is a wonderful journey, in Wenders' best style, of a man who flees his life to search for himself. Howard is an over-the-hill western movie star who's had his share of sex, booze and arrests in the past. He never settled down and prefers the lush life. Until, one day, he decides to flee a movie set, apparently for no reason apart from an existential crisis. He searches for anonymity in his small home town, visiting his mother for the first time in 30 years and discovers he might have had a child with one of his on-the-road conquests. This realization sends the middle-aged man on a search which confronts him with his own past, the way he has lived his life and what he could have done with it, had he decided to live it another way. But don't expect a morality tale: Wenders and Shepard are too intelligent for that. True to his instincts, Howard will persist in his erratic behavior till the very end. In short, in an age of comic book movies, "Don't Come Knocking" holds you onto your seat with a story that lets us breathe a bit of humanity. Wonderful performances, with kudos to Jessica Lange, maybe in her best performance ever. And we still get a homage to John Ford with images of Monument Valley and the large expenses of the West. Truly, a gem of a movie!