Far from Home (1989 film)

Far from Home
VHS cover
Directed by	Meiert Avis
Produced by	Donald P. Borchers
Written by	Theodore Gershuny Tommy Lee Wallace
Starring	Matt Frewer Drew Barrymore Richard Masur Susan Tyrrell
Music by	Jonathan Elias
Cinematography	Paul Elliott
Edited by	Marc Grossman
Production company	Lightning Pictures Planet Productions
Distributed by	Vestron Pictures Artisan Entertainment
Release dates	June 30, 1989
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$11,859[1]

Far from Home is a 1989 independent thriller film. It stars Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, Richard Masur, Susan Tyrrell, Jennifer Tilly, Dick Miller and Anthony Rapp. John Spencer also appears in a cameo appearance. It centers on a divorced father who breaks down in a desert town along with his teenage daughter, forced to stay in a trailer park they attract the intentions of a troubled local who becomes dangerously fixated on one of them. The film was Barrymore's first onscreen kiss.

The film was directed by Meiert Avis, in his feature film directorial debut. Barrymore's book, Little Girl Lost, which describes her battles with addiction, was written around the same time as this film was made.^[2] The film was shot in the Black Rock Desert and in Gerlach, Nevada.

Synopsis

Charlie Cox (Matt Frewer) is a divorced writer who lives in Los Angeles. Charlie and his daughter Joleen (Drew Barrymore), who will soon turn 14, are on their way home from a cross country vacation at the end of the summer when they run out of gas in Banco, Nevada—a small town located in a remote part of the desert.

When they stop in the Banco Supermarket, they encounter sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) along with the murdered owner of the store. Charlie and Joleen later visit a gas station owned by Duckett (Richard Masur), but the station is out of gas, so they check into the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park, which is owned by Agnes Reed (Susan Tyrrell). Joleen soon meets Agnes's teenage son Jimmy (Andras Jones). On that night, while Agnes is taking a bath, Agnes is killed when a hand reaches in through her bathroom window and pushes a small fan into the bathtub water, electrocuting her. The same night, Charlie and Joleen meet their neighbors, fellow travelers Louise (Karen Austin) and Amy (Jennifer Tilly).

The next day, while swimming in the park's pool, Joleen hears two people loudly having sex in a nearby trailer, and while watching through the window, is startled by Jimmy watching through another window. Jimmy becomes sexually aggressive with Joleen, however she is rescued by Pinky Sears (Anthony Rapp), another teenager who lives at the guest ranch. Later that day, Charlie and Joleen agree to car pool with Louise and Amy, but that night, as they are about to leave the guest ranch, the killer blows up the car—with Amy in it—to prevent Joleen from leaving. The killer is now obsessed with Joleen and steals her diary. The next day, when Jimmy tries to rob Duckett's gas station, Jimmy is accused by Sheriff Childers not only of trying to rob the gas station, but also of the murders of Ferrell, Agnes, and Amy.

Duckett goes to Pinky's trailer to speak to him, where he discovers that Pinky's mother has been dead for some time, and her body is covered with bags of ice. Pinky, who is the killer, shows up and stabs Duckett with a screwdriver, and then leaves. When Joleen (who is not aware Pinky is the killer) and Pinky walk to an abandoned construction site where he hangs out, she unsuccessfully attempts to seduce him. She finds her diary, and comes to the realization that Pinky is the killer.

When Duckett, who is still alive, radios the Sheriff and tells he and Charlie that Pinky has Joleen, the Sheriff and Charlie head to the construction site. Pinky kills Sheriff Childers when they arrive. Pinky chases Joleen up to the top platform on a nearby radio tower. Charlie tries to get up on the platform, but Pinky stops Charlie by cutting Charlie's hand. Pinky says that he thought Joleen loved him. Duckett, who is sitting in a nearby vehicle with a rifle fires a shot that causes Pinky to fall off of the tower. Pinky dies when he lands in a large satellite dish far below.

Later, Duckett tells Charlie and Joleen about Pinky keeping his mother's body iced, and then explains what he has figured out—that Pinky started slipping over the edge before Pinky ever met Joleen. Pinky has been keeping ice on his mother's body and leaving her TV on because he didn't want to believe that she got sick and died, he really didn't want to believe she was gone. Pinky had to somehow get food for himself, so when Pinky went to the supermarket to get food, and Ferrell denied him, he killed Ferrell. Pinky had to live somewhere, so when Agnes demanded that Pinky pay rent that he couldn't afford or leave the trailer park, Pinky killed Agnes. Pinky became obsessed with Joleen, so when Joleen, Charlie, Amy, and Louise went to leave, Pinky blew up the car with Amy in it to stop Joleen from leaving.

Charlie, Joleen and Louise leave Banco, and they head home to California.

Cast

• Matt Frewer as Charlie Cox
• Drew Barrymore as Joleen Cox
• Richard Masur as Duckett
• Susan Tyrrell as Agnes Reed
• Anthony Rapp as Pinky Sears
• Jennifer Tilly as Amy
• Dick Miller as Sheriff Bill Childers
• Andras Jones as Jimmy Reed
• Karen Austin as Louise
• Connie Sawyer as Viney Hunt
• Murrill Maglio as Man in Trailer
• Teri Weigel as Woman in Trailer
• John Spencer as TV Preacher

Reception

Critical reception for Far from Home has been negative.^[3][4] DVD Verdict panned the movie, as they felt that the film exploited Barrymore - who was fourteen at the time - as a sexual object and was also too predictably plotted.^[5] TV Guide also wrote a negative review, also criticizing it as too predictable and obvious.^[6]

References

External links

• Far from Home at the Internet Movie Database
• Far From Home at AllMovie
• Far From Home at Rotten Tomatoes