At Close Range (1986)
Directed by James Foley
Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.
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What critics compared At Close Range to
The veteran director James Foley (whose resume includes “Glengarry Glen Ross,” multiple episodes of “House of Cards” and one of the greatest and mostly forgotten movies of the 1980s, “At Close Range”) takes over the reins from Sam Taylor-Johnson, and it’s an upgrade.
Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed the original movie, also fought with James; she's now been replaced by James Foley, who made At Close Range (1986) and the adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
It’s a soapy sequel, a drinks-in-the-face/masked ball/helicopter crash/melodramatic mediocrity that a better director (James Foley of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “At Close Range” and “A Perfect Stranger”) can’t lift above laughable.
Director Foley –long since fallen from the early brilliance of his At Close Range and Glengarry Glen Ross — at least once upon a time helmed the deliriously trashy Wahlberg-stalking-Witherspoon nineties teensploitation classic Fear , utilizing a skillset one assumes would’ve come in handy here.
Director James Foley ("Glengarry Glen Ross," ''At Close Range") has taken over the reins from Sam Taylor-Johnson, who clashed with James.
In other words, anyone hoping that the insertion of James Foley, the man who made such powerful films as “At Close Range,” “After Dark, My Sweet” and “Glengarry Glen Ross,” into the director’s chair would result in a somewhat more competent filmmaking experience will be among the many who come away from this one feeling profoundly disappointed.
Mamet and the underrated director James Foley (At Close Range, After Dark, My Sweet) opened up Mamet's play and turned it into an extraordinary cinematic experience using bold colors, rain and a powerful use of space within the widescreen frame.
Mamet adapted his own play here and under the direction of James Foley ("After Dark, My Sweet," "At Close Range") the presentation is stagey and dark.
The film was directed by James Foley (" At Close Range "), whose timing and camera help underline the humor; a line of dialogue will end with a reaction shot that mirrors our own reaction - surprised, blind-sided, maybe a little stunned, but entertained by the zing of anger and ego in the words.
Returning to the director’s chair following his undistinguished work on “Darker,” James Foley—the once-interesting maker of such strong works as “At Close Range,” “After Dark, My Sweet” and “Glengarry Glenn Ross”—clearly knows that this is strictly a paycheck gig and goes about the material in the most perfunctory manner possible, giving it the kind of utterly anonymous feel that is actually a perfect fit with the equally nondescript source material.
At Close Range, After Dark My Sweet, Glengarry Glen Ross, these films had a palpable sense of complex three-dimensional authority that helped them become something worth getting excited about.