Robert J. Maxwell Mom and Dad -- Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti -- were members of an anti-war group that blew up a napalm factory many years ago and are now on the run with the FBI in pursuit. Their elder son, River Phoenix, is now about to graduate from high school.The family is thoroughly paranoid by now, perhaps with good reason, and they move around a lot, switching identities, leaving no traces, which is not helpful to Phoenix. He's a talented pianist and in their newest home, in small-town New Jersey, he meets a music teacher who mentors him and arranges for an audition at Julliard. Kids, Julliard is a famous school for the performing arts in New York. Lots of celebrated people went there -- Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Bernard Herrmann, Leonard Slatkin, Itzhak Perlman, and -- well, forget it. Monsters, all. You have to be really good to get in.There is a slight problem in that Hirsch considers the family a unit, kind of like Bonny and Clyde, only morally upright. It's time for Phoenix to start his own life, but how can he? Hirsch excoriates him for every involvement outside the home; not just his music but his affair with the nubile young Martha Plimpton.The first time we become aware of the fact that Phoenix is not just another confused kid is when he takes a music class in his new high school, the teacher plays some rock music that the kids love, and then plays a string quartet without identifying any of the music. "What's the difference between the two?", asks the teacher. The kids come up with dumb answers like, "One's good and one's bad." When the teacher finally gets around to Phoenix, he replies shyly, "You can't dance to Beethoven." WELL! I mean, how did this ordinary, somewhat neurotic kid ever get any exposure to Beethoven's late quartets? If I may be editorial for a moment, I personally can't manage ten fingers or even one. I don't believe anyone can. Forget eighty-eight keys. Piano playing is a huge hoax perpetrated on a gullible public. Those pianos you see in movies like this are actually computer-generated images. I suppose we've all seen live recitals. You ask how those can be faked, and I ask, "Have you ever heard of PLAYER pianos?" Q. E. D. It's all part of a gigantic conspiracy by the Amalgamated "Pianists" of America, sprung from the loins of the Illuminati. Conspiracy theories abound these days and I think it's catching.Thanks for your indulgence. The award for best performer goes to -- envelope, please -- Christine Lahti! She's really quite good. She's attractive without being pretty, and demonstrates a considerable range, not all of it coming from the role. Judd Hirsch may be hobbled by his character. Even when he's trying to be nice and accommodating, he seems abrasive in speech and demeanor. And for someone who's into liberation, he's given to flinging orders around like a Marine Corps drill sergeant. I understand that River Phoenix gets a good deal of applause but my impression was that he was okay without being exceptional in any way. He does have the role captured -- the reticent, winsome adolescent but it's not a very challenging role.I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I don't usually find stories of family heartbreak appealing unless they're real bulldozers like "Streetcar Named Desire." And rural New Jersey is not Sidney Lumet territory. But this film was well conceived and executed. I wonder what would have happened if Phoenix had been just an ordinary ignorant high schooler and not a genius. And I wonder if the FBI is really so intent on capturing two college kids who blew up a lab twenty years ago.

preppy-3 In 1971 anti-war activists Annie (Christine Lahti) and Arthur (Judd Hirsch) Pope blow up a factory making napalm seriously hurting a janitor who wasn't supposed to be there. 17 years later they're on the run with two sons--17 year old Danny (River Phoenix) and 10 year old Harry (Jones Abry). At the place they're living Danny meets and falls in love with a wonderful girl (Martha Plimpton) and finds out he has enough talent to be accepted to Juilliard--but his father won't let him go.A quiet yet very moving movie. It doesn't judge its characters--it lets the audience make their own decisions. On one hand I felt sorry for all four of them--on the other I felt the parents should just turn themselves in and let the kids have a normal life. It's slow and a little drawn out but I was never bored. The acting was all superb--except for one person. Hirsch was TERRIBLE as the father. Very wooden and completely unbelievable. Plimpton was good as Phoenix's love interest and Lahti was excellent as his mother. Best of all was Phoenix. He was Oscar-nominated for this role and he's superb in every scene he's in. When he's on screen you can't stop watching him. Superb, quiet and very moving. Have plenty of tissues on hand:) For some reason the song "Running on Empty" is never heard--I'm assuming they couldn't afford the rights.

Ziglet_mir What a gem! First off, yes... what a deserved Oscar nod for River Pheonix! But may I add, where were the Oscar nods for Charlotte Lahti and Judd Hirsch?Overall this film, directed beautifully by Sidney Lumet, catches the emotions off guard. We are taken into the life of the Popes on the run from the FBI. But as we watch the so odd routine they call their lives, we also get involved of what is to become of them. Will Danny and Harry have to live running from something they never did for the rest of their lives? We hope not.We see River's shy, and polite character fall in love and audition for the renowned school of Juilliard in an attempt to break away from the mold. He struggles coming to terms with the fact he is a liar and has only hidden from things his entire life. Some scenes may have you in tears (specifically Annie's scene with her father, and the ending scene with the family).Anyway, just sit back and give this film a shot. You may be very surprised at what you see.

George Wright 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.