Don't Come Knocking
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gabriel Mann, Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, Sarah Polley, Tim RothBrand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Don't Come Knocking
Movie Review: Identity
Summary: 5 Stars
Writer/actor Sam Shepard plays Howard Spence, an aging, out of fashion and out of control Hollywood star who finally begins to come to terms with life in this well written, wonderfully acted, beautifully shot, marvelously scored, sad and poignant film.
Howard stars primarily in Westerns, and as Don't Come Knocking begins, he's on location in Southeastern Utah. Or rather, he's supposed to be on location. No one on the set can find him, and he's due for a shoot. His trailer is a mess, full of "party smoke" and mysterious, scantily clad women, but Howard is nowhere to be found. That's because he's taken a horse and ridden off into the hills near Monument Valley. We don't know exactly why he's decided to take off, and it quickly becomes apparent that neither does Howard. He takes a number of steps to make himself difficult to find, such as trading clothes with an old ranch hand (played by beloved character actor James Gammon). And those are smart moves, because shortly after, a representative from the film's completion bond company arrives to check up on him, due to his notorious irresponsible behavior, and when they discover that Howard is gone, they're after him effectively like bounty hunters tracking down a criminal.
Don't Come Knocking is maybe not recommendable to everyone. The pacing is relatively slow. The backstory and plot are told very gradually and mostly indirectly--the viewer has to infer or deduce much of it. But the pacing is appropriately melancholy, and backstory and plot are cleverly constructed so that the viewer is taken on a parallel journey with Howard--in the beginning, Howard is wandering out of his previous life aimlessly--he's not sure where he's going or why he's going there, and as he progresses, he must piece together his authentic life (in the existential sense) from unexpected, disparate clues.
Thematically, this is a film about personal and interpersonal identity, especially coming to terms with identity that has been not only deferred but effectively denied for many years. This is true for all five major characters (Howard, Doreen (Jessica Lange), Earl (Gabriel Mann), Sky (Sarah Polley) and Howard's Mother (Eva Marie Saint)). Howard has the most work to do on this end, of course, and he's the one who has taken the most blatant steps to defer and deny coming to terms with himself, while Howard's Mother maybe has the least amount of work to do, but she does still have work to do--notice, for example that she doesn't recognize Howard when she first sees him, and notice that despite the fact that Howard is a movie star who was important enough to be regularly covered by the tabloids, many characters who matter to the story do not recognize him from his film work. One minor but thematically significant character from the past who does immediately recognize Howard, an old schoolmate, Cliff Ormsby (Tom Farrell), is immediately denied and rudely dismissed by Howard, because at that point, early in the film, he's still not completely ready to come to terms with himself and his past.
On a technical level, everything about Don't Come Knocking is exceptional, including Wim Wenders' direction. I was especially fond of the locations and the fantastic cinematography, as I've long been in love with the Western United States. This is a relatively little known film that gradually snuck its way around a small number of arthouse theaters for many months throughout the spring and summer of 2006. Even if you don't think it's a masterpiece, exactly, it deserves to be seen and it deserves some word of mouth publicity.
Summary of Don't Come Knocking
A TALE OF A WASHED UP HOLLYWOOD STAR THAT FINDS A RAY OF HOPE WHEN HE DISCOVERS THAT HE MIGHT HAVE A GROWN UP CHILD INMONTANA.With Don't Come Knocking, Wim Wenders revisits territory, both literal and metaphorical, first explored in Paris, Texas. Not only does he return to the Southwest, but Sam Shepard is back as co-writer. This time, he's also the star. His Howard Spence is a movie cowboy who's had enough. One day while working in Monument Valley, he takes off his boots and hops a train to Nevada to see his mother (Eva Marie Saint, lovely as ever). Little does he know that Sutter (Tim Roth), a by-the-books bondsman, is hot on his trail. Next, Spence travels to Montana where a sad young woman named Sky (Sarah Polley) is recovering from a recent death, while an angry young man named Earl (Gabriel Mann), who sounds much like Chris Isaak, plies the troubadour trade. Spence doesn't know it yet, but they're the results of a rambunctious past that will soon "come knocking," as it were. While in Butte, he also catches up with Doreen (Jessica Lange), a lover from many moons ago. Clearly, Don't Come Knocking is Wenders and Shepard in a reflective mood, even more so than in Paris, Texas, as Spence is older and has more regrets than Harry Dean Stanton's Travis. It doesn't leave as much of an impression, but the film is a worthy addition to the post-modern Western canon. Shot by Franz Lustig, it's frames are filled with intense hues--fiery reds, glowing greens--and a plaintive score by T-Bone Burnett. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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