DVD Review: Don't Come Knocking

By April MacIntyre Aug 3, 2006, 13:57 GMT

Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. He once was a big movie star, acting mainly in Westerns. At the age of sixty, he uses drugs, alcohol and young girls to avoid the painful truth that there are only supporting parts left for him to play. After yet another night of debauchery in his trailer, he decides to flee from the film set and leave his ruthless life behind. ...more

Don't Come Knocking is a road movie and a bittersweet drama with a few comedic moments directed by German director Wim Wenders. It was penned by Wenders and actor/playwright Sam Shepard.

The story is of Howard Spence, played with perfection by Sam Shepard.  Shepard's character Howard, much like the iconic cowboys he portrayed his whole career, is a Western stoic full of turmoil. 

Spence literally rides off the set of his latest film, chasing down the remains of his scattered past in Montana where he left a trail of heartbreak and children not known to him, until his mother's revelation of the facts, and his subsequent return to Butte, Montana.

German director Wenders, best known for Paris, Texas, which he also collaborated with screenwriter Shepard, joins him creatively again for the tale of Howard Spence, a hard-living, has-been Western movie star with a trail of DUI's and regrettable events in his life, who literally flees by horse from the set of his latest western filming in the desert outside Moab, Utah.

Spence is at a crossroads in his life facing sixty alone and is drawn to the refuge of his past, traveling to his hometown of Elko, Nevada, where his mother who he has not seen in near 30 years lives.  Eva Marie Saint plays his mother pitch perfect, and in one scene demonstrates the power of a maternal lie combined with freshly baked cookies and milk, shielding her son from the completion bond insurer Sutter, played brilliantly by Tim Roth, who is hot on Spence's trail.

Spence is relentlessly pursued by Sutter, a humorless Brit who has a penchant for crosswords and tuning out the external world.  Sutter's job is return Spence at all costs to the set to finish filming the movie.  

Also heading towards Butte is a young woman named Sky played in an exceptional performance by Sarah Polley, returning her late mother's ashes to her hometown and conducting a search of her own for her lost father, Spence.  Polley steals the end of the movie with her heart rendering speech to Spence, long rehearsed, her pain and acceptance of not knowing him and being at peace with it is a gut punch, delivered in a performance I will long remember. 

Howard makes it to Butte, Montana; looking for a lover he left behind twenty years before when he was filming a movie there. It is the color yellow that reminds Spence of his lost love, Doreen, played by the ethereal and lovely Jessica Lange.  Doreen ultimately squares off with Howard, releasing the hurt and anger of his intrusion back into her life that will take your breath away at the perfection of her emotional range and acting mastery.

In one great, all telling scene, Sky asks Spence: "Why did you let so much time go by?" and his response:  "I didn't know it was passing."  His other child, Doreen's son Earl, is not as forgiving and accepting of Howard's absence, and is played by actor Gabriel Mann in a noteworthy performance.

The film is beautifully rendered like an exquisite painting.  Cinematographer Franz Lustig illustrates Big Sky country in all its glory, with the use of primary colors in nearly every scene.  Dots of yellow, sweeps of red and blues in every hue are placed in each frame.  The framing of each scene and breathtaking locations will make you want to go there to see it for yourself, sooner than later.

This is a visually stunning movie that was planned and photographed with deep love for this part of America.  No doubt that Wenders, Lustig and Shepard have affection for this land and what it represents on a larger scale.

There are excellent cameo appearances by George Kennedy as the frustrated movie director, and Tim Matheson and Julia Sweeney as nattering, nervous producers. Also appearing is actress Fairuza Balk as Spence's son Earl's uninhibited girlfriend.  Her acting talents are not seen enough.  

Interestingly the film marks the first collaboration in 18 years between Shepherd and long-time partner Jessica Lange since Far North, as the two had an agreement never to be working at the same time, in order not to neglect their children.

The music in this film shines as well. T. Bone Burnett and Joe Sublett do a superb job scoring the film and providing original music and songs.

This is a grown up movie, slow in its pace, languid in vivid scenery, subtle in humor and powerfully emotional in its story.  It is not for the impatient or fans of over-colorized, hard bleached whip-pan rock video photography.

The DVD comes with several special features that fans of the film will enjoy. They include commentary from Wenders; a look at the film’s New York premiere; a Sundance Film Festival featurette; an interview with Wenders and actress Eva Marie Saint; and deleted scenes with optional audio commentary.

If your favorite movie is The Matrix, this may be too slow for you. A must own, must see film for the rest who enjoy a good story, told well.

Don’t Come Knocking is now available for pre-order at Amazon for an August 8th release. It is available at AmazonUK for an August 28th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.