Two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada.Two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada.Two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada.
- Director
- Writers
- David Mamet
- Ranald MacDougall(suggestion)
- Albert Husson(suggestion)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe fictional 1930s Depression-era town of Brandon, in which the film takes place, was designed by Wolf Kroeger and built from scratch in Canada. According to the TCMDb, "the set cost $2.5 million, the largest film set ever constructed in Canada".
- GoofsWhen Bob comes out from hiding on the shrine he fires a total of seven shots without reloading his six shot revolver.
- Quotes
Jim: [as Father Brown, he is asked to give a sermon to the town. He reads from a brochure stuck in his Bible that says "An Encounter with a Bear"] Have you ever felt completely alone? Alone in a world of danger, and no one to rely on? Danger on every hand, in a world fraught with danger? And at the brink of death I felt in my pocket, and what did I find? What did I find?
[Opens the brochure - it's an ad for guns]
Jim: What did I find? Nothing. There's nothing there. It's all in your head. They can take the money from you. They can take the position from you. I don't know, they can whip you, people turn their back on you. Everything happens to every body. And you ain't gonna find nothing in your pocket can stave it off, nothing can stave it off! Pain, affliction, we say, power. Power doesn't do it. Cause you never have enough. Money? I don't know, you know anybody has enough, still? Trouble befalls us, everyone has their sadness in their heart. Some people are meant to be hard. I don't know. It just seems like they are. We meet them.
[holds up his Bible]
Jim: Is God good? I don't know. All I know is something might give you comfort. And maybe you deserve it. If it comforts you to believe in God, you do it, that's your business. People have guilty, you know, guilty secrets, well if that's yours, that you want to go believe in something, well that's not so bad.
[the town claps and cheers]
- Crazy creditsIn the ending credits, the film is dedicated to the actor Ray McAnally who passed away shortly after this film was made.
- SoundtracksIn The Garden Of Tomorrow
By George Graff (as George Graffe, Jr.) & Jessie Deppen (as Jessie L. Deppen)
*** (out of 4)
Remake of the 1955 film has Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn playing escaped convicts who hide out as priests in a small town where they try to sneak across the border into Canada. Most of the reviews you read for this film will probably be negative but I've always enjoyed what the movie has to offer even though there's no way of denying that it could have and should have been a lot better than it turned out. I think the biggest problem with the film is the direction of Jordan who just wasn't right for the material. This is suppose to be a comedy yet you wouldn't know it because Jordan handles the material so dark that it's rather hard to get many laughs. We've get some rather strong tones on religion and even some strong violence, which just doesn't sit too well in a comedy. Even the entire atmosphere of the film is rather dark, which is a staple of Jordan but again, that wasn't really needed in this film. What does work are the performances by DeNiro and Penn who are excellent together. Playing dumb is never an easy thing but both men pull this off remarkably well, which is very important since most of the laughs come from them not understanding anything to do with religion yet they're suppose to be priests. The two men's facial expressions is what works the best because the look on their faces when they're put on the spot are just flawless as is their constant begging and pleading for various things throughout the movie. Demi Moore has a supporting role, which brings in more darkness that really isn't needed but Bruno Kirby and John C. Reilly turn in nice supporting performances with Reilly really standing out as another priest obsessed with Penn. The laughs throughout the film are certainly minor but to me the film still works well thanks to the terrific performances. You really don't expect to see DeNiro and Penn in a movie like this but they both pull it off very well and make it worth viewing.
- Michael_Elliott
- Mar 5, 2009
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,555,348
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,047,630
- Dec 17, 1989
- Gross worldwide
- $10,555,348
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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