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There are a few of us who feel that Sean Penn is one of the major driving forces in American cinema, an actor of pure artistic intentions, utter sincerity and empathy, and thoughtful (if often misconstrued) politics. He's kind of an heir to a few different giants -- Brando, in terms of rough sexuality and pugnacity; Nicholson, in terms of intelligence as an actor (he shares with both a volatile, sometimes over-the-top acting style and tendency to play human beings with emotions rather than playing acting techniques); and Cassavetes, emphasized with this film (which he dedicates to him). He's more meticulous and crafty than Cassavetes, but just as emotionally direct. (And like him, there may be times where you don't know what to think of what you're seeing; I think that's true of anything original, or anything that eschews typical film conventions.) But despite that similarity, the film isn't quite real -- the Indian mythos, the narration of David Morse, Viggo Mortenson hopping on a moving train. It's the stuff of hazy dreams. The whole picture is imbued with a quiet feeling -- you wish you could show it to those on the right who hate Penn for his outspoken politics, just to prove that he cares deeply about exactly the type of people they think he and his Hollywood friends are against.

At first the Indian stuff is a little cheesy, but it leads up to a climax where it really works and feels organic. More than being an actor who can direct, Penn is at times a real master -- he's got a rare gift of ending films with a real punch, without it being cheap. Here, the film gets more technically flamboyant as it goes along -- the camera moves a little more, the inter cutting between a few different scenes gets quicker -- and it ends wonderfully. You have to have a certain willingness to go along with the story that Penn's telling (many times characters do things that don't make any logical sense, but emotionally it fits), and the semi-metaphysical closing really worked for me.

Part of the value is in the chance to see good actors work; it's strange that actors known for their histrionics so often direct films that are completely devoid of showiness in terms of acting. That is to say, when Mortensen freaks out on his wife (Patricia Arquette, whose constant squeals are incredibly -- and aptly -- uncomfortable), it's tense because of the exchange of emotions and not because of any actorly shaking or screaming. Penn is a very generous director, and I think that's shown by his allowing Charles Bronson to do some of the finest work of his career. The movie feels very indebted to the '70s, what with a few of the zooms, the folk/rock music, and the kind of small, rural movie this is that rarely gets made anymore. (It owes something to Dennis Hopper's own films, I think; specifically in Mortensen's speech about the "math kids.") 8/10

Deceived by the title, pondering over a bizarre story, the Indian Runner became like his message: hard to come by. The insinuated events left little true action except for the killing at the beginning. It might be interesting to watch it, though not at a late hour, since it provides too little fascination. Solely enchanting Particia Arquette saved the film from receiving an even lower rating. Good idea, but ...

This film has deeply affected me. The first time I saw it I had tears pouring down my face throughout. The second time I found myself really getting into it. Sure, you know what it's about from the other reviews. We ask ourselves why Frank isn't content with life. Most of us would feel closer to Joe, but Penn enables us to sympathise with this wretched character of Frank. He's not a nice guy. Myself; I am happy that this film is not necessarily a period piece. It takes a while for you to understand in what context the film is set. What makes this movie so good is that is underlining message remains ambiguous. This is certainly a film that will stand the test of time. It's not about the nation of America during the 70's. It's about the relationship of two brothers, and one just so happens to have come back from Vietnam. It could have been set in 2003 and the underlying message would remain the same. The talent of Penn is in that he never once blames Frank's actions on the Vietnam War. He was a bad kid before the War. I urge everyone to see this movie. You will either sympathise with the characters and understand the underlying message or you will not. I also urge you to open your mind before you see the movie, and if you don't understand it. Think about it for a while longer.

Whoever doesn't like this film might not understand the influence behind it.

I saw this when it came out in 1991 and thought it was a slow, dull, lagging soap-opera. Back then I didn't know much about the art or the business of film. Most "general" movie watchers would not like this film for the same reasons.

Then I watched an interview w/Sean Penn and he said his big influence was John Cassavetes, who had recently passed away. So I went back & watched some of Cassavetes' films again. His films were social dramas between friends, usually in New York, struggling with their own inner conflicts. After that, when I watch Sean Penn's first four films (as filmmaker) I can totally see Cassavetes all over his film. Especially Penn's third film "The Pledge." Never has his inspiration been so strong than in the way Nicholson struggled with his demons. But for people who don't understand this, it's just an average, insignificant movie to them.

A Clinical Study in Abnormal, Violent, Destructive Behavior in a Man who is Loved by His Brother and Girlfriend.

He's Given a Chance to Reform from His Anti-Social, Psychopathic, and Sociopathic Ways by His Family and Friends.

There is Perhaps a Pure-Evil, Dark Personality that is Frank (Viggo Mortenson) who Resides Among Us.

That, for some Psychological Malfunction or Free Willing to Demonstrate Destruction on Everybody and Everything.

It Seems He Cannot or Will Not Live Among the Species Without Committing Hurtful Crimes Without Remorse.

Just Because He Can.

David Morse is the Brotherly Love, Patricia Arquette the Girlfriend who Takes it On the Chin, even when Birthing His Child.

All the Cast give Riveting, Believable, Difficult Performances and Director Sean Penn, who Also Scripted from an Inspiration from a Bruce Springsteen Song.

The Images are Fittingly Bleak but Beautiful and the Film is an Accomplished Movie,

and given its Predetermination of Cassavetes Like Realism, Couldn't be Better.

The Main Problem is Watching this Real Tragedy of the Dark Side of the Human Condition for 2 Hours doesn't Accomplish all that Much.

It's Like Watching the Concentration Camp Atrocities.

Sure, They are Real, it Does Happen, but being Forced to Absorb the Inequities and Depressing Images for an Extended Period, Without a Certain Amount of Answers,

or Ideas on Approaching the Problem, in the End, is Sadistic Cinema and Pointless.

Worth a Watch if You Can Take It.

I spent over a decade watching and reviewing films for my job at MTV Europe. Even before and since I voraciously consume cinema of truly all kinds as a passion, I don't care about genre or even subject, only that a work is honest, inspired, effective. As with any art, of course.

I saw The Indian Runner at its Cannes film festival debut in 1991 and left the Grand Palais screening speechless. Where to start? We often hear about the usual checklist of script, acting, cinematography, editing, music, and so on, and of course all are stellar here. But it's the magic of the mix of all these and so many more subtleties about the experience of this film that makes it not just a terrific, achingly beautiful thing, moving, illuminating, but, I believe, having revisited it so many times over the last thirteen years (like so very few others among the hundreds seen once), one that is important and bound for a belated re- positioning as a cinematic gem in the history books of the future.

Cassavetes is clearly a major force behind this in the best possible way; he'd have stood up and applauded the way Penn took his spirit, his openness and gave it a more cinematic scope, color, pace, size, without compromising his own direct gaze on the human condition. Before this film Cassavetes' huge contribution had not been properly picked up, the baton in some respects still dangling where the late auteur had left it years back. In Indian Runner Penn points the way forward for this bold tone of cinematic voice (in a way to my mind even more clear than in his subsequent The Crossing Guard and The Pledge). The moment at the start of the film when Joe's dead victim's father begins singing a work song at the police station still stands out as the revelation that this movie had its own palette. I could go on and on but I'd probably bore... even ME (like Frank, no?).

What struck me in Cannes and forever since is how this massive achievement was so overlooked by other critics and then the public. I felt I was simply out of step but never wavered in my commitment to the film as a private cause which I'm pleased to say everyone I've talked into seeing it has agreed during exciting post-mortems. Also, as with great works in general, I notice it only gets better with repeated visits over the years. And seeing the comments about it on this site has cheered me up no end. I'm not alone!

It's one thing for a film to endure; another entirely for it to emerge from obscurity years after it was made and left aside. That very trajectory, likely, it seems now, for The Indian Runner, is going to become one of its many very special qualities. Conversations about its simple and complex strengths are gaining a new dimension with this look into what it was that made it so inaccessible to most of its viewers for its first decade and what it is and will be that finally unmasks the gem that until now was so oddly neglected. Suddenly it's on DVD and people are discussing it. Could it be good taste or whatever you call this kind of appreciation is on the rise? Wow. Reasons to be cheerful indeed.

And for those of us who first came across Viggo Mortenson here, imagine how itchy it made us sitting through his fine but passionless Lord of the Rings!

Here's to poetry, vision, and honesty about pain and life without judgment. Lord knows it's rare these days.

Sean Penn directs THE INDIAN RUNNER with considerable assurance, extracting superb performances from David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Patricia Arquette, and even Dennis Hopper - who by 1991 had become quite repetitive in his portrayal of supporting evil characters - and the tired vigilante Charles Bronson perform well above average.

The score by Jack Nitszche deserves plaudits for versatility and effectiveness, and cinematography by Anthony Richmond is top notch, with particularly inspired sequences involving an Indian runner who keeps appearing at crucial points in the film.

Penn's script brims with sharp, credible dialogue that keeps stoking the bleak atmosphere, that becomes even darker, almost Satanic, when Mortensen comes on screen.

One feels for Morse as the cop trying to keep his family together only to be thwarted by death and his brother's incapacity to function as family member.

Definitely worth watching. 7/10.

Absolutely one of my favorite films of all time. Not enough real movies like this. Tells an important tale of family, love and loss. Sean Penn is a national treasure as both an actor and filmmaker. David Morse and Viggo Mortensen give their best performances of their careers. Charles Bronson is such a surprise as the father.

Thin story of two small town brothers and their struggles over family honor. David Morse is the responsible, straight-laced cop and 'good brother'; Viggo Mortensen, the 'bad boy', is a former soldier and ex-convict. First-time writer-director Sean Penn seems to have modulated the performances here using the same Method he himself began with early in his acting career. While that's not entirely a negative, things do get awfully murky and turgid. The story also churns along using the same methodical process, slowing the pacing down to a crawl (ostensibly so we can catch every nuance and inflection). This approach might be fascinating if there were three-dimensional characters to care about, but photogenic Morse and Mortensen aren't really convincing as siblings. Worse, we expect more from prominently-billed veterans Charles Bronson and Sandy Dennis, who hardly get a chance to come through with anything interesting. The picture is balky with a wobbly narrative and confusing editing (always slanted to point up the artistic excesses). Penn's tricks with the camera show off a talented eye, yet they are more often an irritation. *1/2 from ****

What word better describes this picture than `strong'? Strong characters, strong actors, strong directorial choices. Brilliant writing and a performance that told anyone who saw it that it was only a matter of time before Viggo Mortensen became a somewhat unwieldy household name. Everybody shines, everybody is used more intelligently than they were very often. Valeria Golino didn't have a part this good until `Frida,' Charles Bronson is given room to stretch, Patricia Arquette gives her best performance ever by far (doesn't she look a bit like Robin Wright in this film?), and David Morse is always excellent, I see that he directs TV from his bio, hopefully he'll try a feature soon. Just like `Jesus' Son' another film set around the 60's/70's split, if this film had been made in the time in which it is set it would have been a classic. As it is it hasn't even been released on DVD yet, which is embarrassing. I wasn't the biggest fan of `The Pledge' and actually didn't know that A) Sean Penn had a film like this in him, though I suspected, or that B) he made that film more than 10 years ago.

One false step was using someone giving birth for that scene. We know it isn't Patricia Arquette, it is unnerving to watch someone give birth even if you know them but especially when you have some random person splayed out in front of the camera. Immediately I was taken out of it, wondering who would volunteer to have a baby for a film. Oh, and you never ever really believe it's 1963.

Certain shots are eerily reminiscent of the haunted and empty America we see in Philip Ridley's `The Reflecting Skin,' a Viggo Mortensen film from the year before.

Greatest thing about the film is that it doesn't try too hard. With symbolism, with drama, it lets the people do their work and what happens is consistently interesting. It has a great soundtrack and more importantly music is used well within the film. The film is even more poignant considering that it come from the famously volatile, occasionally traditional occasionally misanthropic but always mercurial Penn.

There's a minor detail on "The Indian Runner" that makes it worth seeing, at least for all the fans of Bruce Springsteen. Both the plot and the main characters must have been based on a song by "The Boss", "Highway Patrolman". One advice, though. Bear in mind that Springsteen is Springsteen and Penn is... Penn.

Few actors who move over to directing have done so with as much success (artistically) as Sean Penn. John Cassavetes, a major source of inspiration to Penn, did so in the past, and Penn is one of the very few to follow in his footsteps who could possibly end up rivalling him as a maker of complex and haunting character based dramas. 'The Indian Runner' was Penn's directorial debut, and it is an extremely impressive achievement. Inspired by Springsteen's song 'Highway Patrolman' (from his underrated 'Nebraska' album from the early 1980s), it is a slow, almost hypnotic look at two brothers with totally different world views and their attempts to come to terms with each other. The siblings are played by David Morse ('Twelve Monkeys') and Viggo Mortensen ('The Prophecy'), and both performances are superb, and career high points. Mortensen is now a major movie star due to his involvement in the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy, but for his best acting work look no further than here. The rest of the movie features a first rate supporting cast which includes Valeria Golina ('Rain Man') and Patricia Arquette ('True Romance') as the brother's respective love interests, and veterans Dennis Hopper ('Blue Velvet') and Charles Bronson ('Death Wish'), testament to the respect Penn has in the acting community, I'd say. Bronson, who plays the father, puts in an uncharacteristically subdued performance, one of his best ever. Also keep an eye out for Benicio Del Toro ('The Usual Suspects') in a small cameo, and Penn's mother Eileen Ryan ('At Close Range'). This movie may not be to everyone's taste, but I was knocked out by it. Easily one of the most overlooked dramas of the 1990s. Highly recommended.

Topically I would give this movie a 10 but the delivery didn't feel strong for me.

A great melodrama in a small town during the seventies about two grown-up brothers; Joe (David Morse), is married and a deputy sheriff who seems to be highly devoted to his job. Frank (Viggo Mortensen), who is the younger one of the pair, comes back from Vietnam even though he has the habit of being a troublemaker.

Morse and Mortensen are nothing short of excellent in their performances and are backed up by a solid supporting cast (Valerina Gorlino, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Sandy Dennis, and Charles Bronson). Out of the bunch, Bronson is the one to watch here as the boys' quiet and solemn father and he treats it to perfection. In one scene, he tells Joe while they're sitting out on the porch that he was wrong about Joe marrying Maria (Gorlino), who is Mexican.

There another surprise that makes the film more compelling to watch is that it's the directing and writing debut of actor Sean Penn. The movie was inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song that's called "Highway Patrolman".

Anthony Richmond's cinematography is extroadinary and the musical score by the late Jack Nitzsche is very solid.

"The Indian Runner" presented a rare and very interesting question to me: "Why doesn't any movie director make a film that shows the two sides (bright and dark) of the director themself?"

In conclusion, this movie is intelligent and seriously moving. And it shows that Penn can write and direct beside act.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"The Indian Runner" (1991) is forgotten drama that features good story and powerhouse acting by all involved. Directing was good by Sean Penn yet its the writing who slows this movie down from being better then it could be. For what its worth seeing this film is acting - performances by then unknown Viggo Mortensen, David Morse, and Patricia Arquette are powerhouse - especially by Vigo and Patricia - they would easily be nominated both if this movie would have been released today.

Overall, "The Indian Runner" is a slow burning yet intense drama mostly due to powerhouse acting. This is why it is worth seeing it.

I recently rewatched The Indian Runner (1991) on Tubi. The film follows two brothers from the Midwest who couldn't be more different. Though they were close growing up, the older brother becomes the town sheriff, while the younger one, after serving in the military, returns home as a free spirit. Their lifestyles and worldviews clash, but their bond remains strong-until the younger brother's reckless behavior brings him into conflict with the law, and his older brother is forced to intervene.

Written and directed by Sean Penn (The Crossing Guard) in his directorial debut, the film stars David Morse (The Green Mile), Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings), Valeria Golino (Rain Man), Charles Bronson (Death Wish), Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider), and Patricia Arquette (True Romance).

This movie is deeply authentic and grounded in realism. The cast is perfectly chosen, with the chemistry between Viggo Mortensen and David Morse being a standout. Their dynamic drives the film, as they play off each other beautifully. The setting and cinematography are spot-on, capturing the atmosphere of the Midwest and enhancing the film's tone. The soundtrack is also a great complement to the emotional depth of the story.

The narrative intricately explores the brothers' inner demons and feels reminiscent of Legends of the Fall in many ways. The film's conclusion is powerful, keeping the audience on edge as anything feels possible. It's a moving and, at times, heartbreaking story about family, loyalty, and personal struggles.

In conclusion, The Indian Runner is a beautifully crafted film by Sean Penn and an absolute must-see. I'd give it an 8.5/10 and strongly recommend it.

Way back in the nineteen-fifties, Neil Sedaka had a song – a hit song – that told how breaking up is hard to do. As I watched this film, for the first time recently, I wondered whether Sean Penn, the writer/director, had been humming that tune as he wrote the script. That's not meant to be a disparaging question, simply because all ideas have to have a genesis somewhere, and a song actually did inspire this story...Highway Patrol Man from Bruce Springsteen, so I'm told.

Thinking about the theme however – redolent of the biblical clash between Cain and Abel, perhaps – I can't but feel that while Penn might have set out to make a fundamental statement about why some people do bad things, he ended up showing, instead, that a failure to come to terms with the world is merely an indication of immaturity, a failure to leave childhood behind. To that extent, the film succeeds, but it may have been unintentional.

The story, as implied, is well recognized: a good brother (Joe, played by David Morse) – who is a cop – tries to help his younger and wild brother (Frank, played by Viggo Mortensen) overcome his inner demons upon his return from the Vietnam war, in 1963 or thereabouts. Despite all his efforts, Joe is unable to get Frank to change his anti-social behaviour. Eventually, there is a parting of the ways.

What makes the film distinctive is, first, the very competent acting by Morse, Mortensen, Valeria Golino as Joe's wife, Maria, and Patricia Arquette as Dorothy, Frank's girlfriend. Second, Sandy Dennis and Charles Bronson appear briefly as the brothers' parents, with both older actors much subdued in their performances – as you might expect. Third, the setting is well located in some small towns in Iowa and Nebraska, providing the necessary backdrop for Frank's dislike of settling down into a job, something that he despises. Finally, the script is well-written and rings true for most of the time, I think; in a crucial bar scene between the brothers towards the end, however, when Frank finally explains the essence of his angst, it left this viewer somewhat perplexed. Joe's response is, in a nutshell: Get over it! Me too...

Some of the back-story – done via old home movies – tells us that Frank was a bit of a hooligan anyway – and sometimes a violent one; a number of his actions, upon return from the war, bolster that viewpoint. So, psychologically, Frank is a bit of a muddle, but maybe that's Penn's point. And, although, there is no specific reference to the after-effects of Vietnam upon returning soldiers, I cannot help feeling there is an implied message that what happens in the story is not all Frank's fault. But, I could be wrong.

However, just how the brothers come to part, finally, forms the multi-layered plot, with all the gruesome violence, coarse language and nudity – including a full frontal shot of Mortensen for maybe ten seconds. Not until half-way, does filmdom's favorite crazy, Dennis Hopper, appear as Caesar, a coarse, philosophizing bar-tender to whom Frank takes a dislike, with predictably violent results. And that action sets up the denouement for when Frank must leave: break away from his extended family and make his own way, on his own terms, in an increasingly violent world. In that sequence, Joe finally sees Frank as he really is: a little boy, with two toy guns, ready to fight all-comers. From that perspective, the allusion to The Indian Runner is overblown, because that implies a sense of lost times, a romantic past, an independence of spirit that was noble, more or less. In the context of Frank's psychology however, I think Penn stretched the metaphor way out of proportion to the reality of the action.

Unless, of course, Penn's own philosophy is fundamentally nihilistic and hence much like Frank's...

Technically, though, the film is well done, with excellent editing and special effects; add to that, a host of old country and western oldies on the sound track, perfectly in keeping with small town America.

I very much admire Morse and Mortensen as actors, the latter reminding me of a young Jack Nicholson, while Morse has the size and demeanour of a young Martin Milner. Cinematically, they are a well matched pair for this story, with the physical disparities adding to the emotional and intellectual chasm that separates them forever. It's a sad story, yes, but there is, nevertheless, hope left behind as the tail-lights of Frank's car fade to black.

Not recommended for children at all.

There is only one thing essential to thorough appreciation of The Indian Runner. Unzip your trousers. Peek inside. Is there evidence of a Y chromosome? Okay, you'll do.

This film has all the male requisites: blood, guns, car chases, fond women, death, multiple tattoos, cigarettes, liquor, violence, pyrotechnics -- what have I left out? -- oh, yeah, blowtorches.

As a woman, I seriously hope Sean Penn regards this as a `when I was a child...' kind of effort. Since he both wrote and directed the thing, he's nearly solely responsible. An uneven cast (Viggo Mortensen as usual demonstrating brilliantly how the job's supposed to be done) tries to save Penn. Too late. The lines and action are there. Even devoted, skilled acting can't change those.

I found this movie puerile and silly, as well as predictable. The dialogue staggers along -- Sandy Dennis has my respect for trying to breathe life into a woodenly maternal monologue without motherly authenticity. Then she dies. After a bit, so does the protagonists' father, played by Charles Bronson. Their absence is hardly noticeable.

At intervals, the pyrotechnics, etc., noted above appear to liven things up and scare the audience into thinking something significant is occurring.

If you're male and under 25, you may adore this film. Plan to return to it at 35. Think you'll still like it?

I don't think so.

Sean Penn is a great actor, the best of his generation, so it would seem a bit much to think that he would be a great director. This is what I had in mind when I went to see 'The Indian Runner'. I couldn't be more wrong. Featuring great performances all around, Penn manages to succeed on almost every level. Bold, moving, tough, full of tender sadness, this film is a unique take on brotherhood and loss. Penn proves that he is not only an amazing director, but he is also a very brave screenwriter. The issues he chooses to feature are far from safe and he treats his characters so tenderly, even if they are broken beyond repair, that demonstrates a fascinating voice of his own, something very rare in a debut film. His latest film,'The Last Face', is facing terrible reviews but that doesn't mean Penn isn't a courageous artist. Using his fierce need for truth on what it means to love, to suffer, to exist, we might live long enough to see Sean Penn deliver his masterpiece. But even if we don't, we will always have 'The Indian Runner', and that's no small deal.

I didn't think it was terrible but not really good. It started brilliantly and then it seemed to slow down and not be so interesting. More or less it appears to have been built around Bruce Springsteen's song, 'Highway Patrolman' and maybe of course Sean Penn himself about two sides of his own character. Much like the film there were some very good bits and some that didn't made sense. Viggo Mortensen was great and worked well with the impressive Patricia Arquette and it was sad that Sandy Dennis' part had to be cut down as she was so unwell and died just months later. I really enjoyed Dennis Hopper's small part and did wonder if he had made up his own dialogue because it was a shame that not all the dialogue was as impressive.

Amazing how some folks think this is some form of Auteur created masterpiece.

Great acting and thats the only reason I gave it an extra star.

The movie is pointless, turgid and boring; so boring for the first time in years I switched it off 20 minutes before the end and went to bed!

Apparently Penn wrote this when he was drugged up and having "problems" so instantly this means its some sort of insiteful classic that has deep and meaningful content - Don't make me laugh! lol these so called critics and so much more intelligent than the ordinary man in the street who appreciate this garbage , you really have to laugh otherwise you would cry!