IMDb > Don't Come Knocking (2005)
Don't Come Knocking
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Don't Come Knocking (2005) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 58 | slideshow) Videos (see all 8)
Don't Come Knocking (2005) -- Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol...
Don't Come Knocking (2005) -- US Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Classics
Don't Come Knocking (2005) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   3,972 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Sam Shepard (screenplay)
Sam Shepard (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Don't Come Knocking on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 elokuu 2005 (Austria) more
Genre:
Plot:
Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win & 7 nominations more
User Comments:
watching paint dry on a minor masterpiece more (58 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for language and brief nudity.
Runtime:
122 min | 113 min (theatrical version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

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. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Sky is first seen driving her truck, the gear shift is clearly in "Park". more
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. more
Movie Connections:
References High Noon (1952) more
Soundtrack:
Lonely Man more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
51 out of 64 people found the following comment useful.
watching paint dry on a minor masterpiece, 4 lokakuu 2005
8/10
Author: Chris Docker (eyeforfilm) from Scotland, United Kingdom

Wim Wenders' makes extraordinary movies about ordinary people. Whether the inhabitants are important personalities or 'little people', they are always especial because of their humanity.

When I did an internet movie quiz that supposedly answered the question, ¨If someone made a movie about your life, who would direct it?¨ I kinda hoped it would be Wenders. His characters are tiny flecks on a vast landscape, made infinitely interesting by fine observation and untiring attention. Each character is a mystery unravelling.

In 'Don't Come Knocking', we follow the almost incomprehensible actions of a leading Hollywood actor (played by Sam Shepherd) who absconds from a film set in the middle of the American desert. He is struggling to escape a lifelong persona of drink, drugs and women, but doesn't know what he is looking for or why he feels life has passed him by. He is nudged occasionally in the right direction by his mother, and followed by a mysterious young woman carrying her mother's ashes – and whose knowing smile gently holds back a reservoir of yet-to-be-explained emotion.

Wenders can never be accused of hurrying things along. His movies can be like watching paint dry – except that when the painting is finally ready to touch we may feel a masterpiece has just crystallized before our eyes. This is perhaps one of those occasions. Tim Roth as the inscrutable bond man tracking down the wayward actor is barely recognisable till half way through the film, so perfect is the characterisation. Sarah Polley as the mysterious Sky can almost make us burst into tears before we have any idea why, or of the secret she is holding. Shepherd plays Howard Spence with biopic-like conviction. Add a score by T-Bone Burnett that seems to suspend time in the desert with guitar chords that hang in the air, and framed scene upon scene that looks like a classic movie poster waiting to be discovered.

Don't Come Knocking is like one big Do Not Disturb sign on the things we most need to know and that no-one wants to tell us. It's why they're secret – and why we also have to know. The film takes a very long time to answer it's own puzzle but, if you can stand the pace, the result is ultimately worth it.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Don't Come Knocking (2005)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
I really thought we'd left Fairuza balk behind in the '90s. RyanLoweMPLS
Expremely Disappointing just a bad movie jonolbs
Goofs Blown Tire? mjabaley
older actors greatdeedo
Edward Hopper poster? bobjacqs
Surreal great movie, the actor and his deal with the devil.. msmulcher
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