''The Sunchaser'' (advertised simply as ''Sunchaser'') is a 1996 crime drama film directed by Michael Cimino and starring Woody Harrelson,

Jon Seda Jonathan Seda (born October 14, 1970) is a Puerto Rican actor. Seda was an amateur boxer who auditioned for and was given a role in the 1992 boxing film ''Gladiator''. He played the role of Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie ''Se ...

and Anne Bancroft. It was director Cimino's last feature-length film.

Plot summary

During a medical visit, Blue, who is half Navajo, discovers that he has only one or two months to live and decides to escape. He kidnaps Dr. Reynolds and forces him to drive to Arizona, to visit a mountain lake sacred to the

Navajo people The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

. The trip forces both to confront their sense of self and life choices.

Cast

* Woody Harrelson as Michael Reynolds *

as Brandon "Blue" Monroe * Anne Bancroft as Renata Baumbauer * Alexandra Tydings as Victoria Reynolds *

Matt Mulhern Matt Mulhern (born July 21, 1960) is an American actor and historian who has starred in such films as '' One Crazy Summer'' and ''Biloxi Blues'', and such television series such as ''Major Dad'', '' JAG'', and '' Rescue Me'' (playing Lt. John St ...

as Chip Byrnes * Talisa Soto as Navajo Woman * Richard Bauer as Dr. Bradford *

Victor Aaron Victor Aaron Ramirez (September 11, 1956 – September 4, 1996) was an American actor of Yaqui descent. He was the original voice of John Redcorn on ''King of the Hill'', which was taken over by Jonathan Joss in the show's second season followin ...

as Webster Skyhorse * Lawrence Pressman as FBI Agent-In-Charge Collier * Michael O'Neill as FBI Agent Moreland *

Harry Carey Jr. Henry George Carey Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 90 films, including several John Ford Westerns, as well as numerous television series. Early life Carey was born on a ranch near ...

as Cashier * Carmen Dell'Orefice as Arabella * Brooke Ashley as Calantha Reynolds * Andrea Roth as Head Nurse * Bob Minor as Deputy Lynch * Brett Harrelson as Younger Highway Patrol Officer *

Andy Berman Andrew Mark "Andy" Berman (born February 24, 1968) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his role as Dib Membrane in ''Invader Zim'', Dennis in ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' (1996-1997), Chuck in ''The Wo ...

as Person In Oncology

Production

Mickey Rourke, a collaborator and friend of Cimino's, believes the director “snapped” sometime during the making of ''The Sunchaser''. “Michael is the sort of person that if you take away his money he short-circuits,” Rourke says. “He is a man of honor.” Rourke did not say how or why Cimino “snapped.”Garbarino, Steve (March 2002)
"Michael Cimino's Final Cut"
'' Vanity Fair'' (499): pp. 232-235+250-252. Retrieved 2010-08-27. Joe D’Augustine, the film's editor, recalls his first meeting with Cimino: “It was kind of eerie, freaky. I was led into this dark editing room with black velvet curtains and there was this guy hunched over. They bring me into, like, his chamber, as if he was the Pope. Everyone was speaking in hushed tones. He had something covering his face, a handkerchief. He kept his face covered. And nobody was allowed to take his picture ..Welcome to Ciminoville.” According to Jon Seda, Cimino would frequently show up to set late and apparently under the influence of drugs. He described the production as troubled and the final product as mediocre. Nonetheless, he remains humbled by the chance to work with Cimino over thousands of others who auditioned for the role of Brandon "Blue" Monroe.

Release

A theatrical release was intended, but the film fared so poorly with test audiences that it went straight to video in the United States. The film was entered into competition at the

1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996. The Palme d'Or went to '' Secrets & Lies'' by Mike Leigh. The festival opened with ''Ridicule'', directed by Patrice Leconte and closed with '' Flirting with Disaster'', directed by ...

where it was nominated for the Palme D'Or."Festival de Cannes: Sunchaser"
festival-cannes.com. 1996. Retrieved 2009-09-19.

Critical reception

The film received largely negative reviews. Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' wrote, "Michael Cimino's return to filmmaking after a six-year layoff is a conceptually bold tale marked, in its execution, both by visceral intensity and dramatic sloppiness." Jo-Ann Pittman wrote in ''Film Directors'' that ''The Sunchaser'' had "a predictable and often laughable script. Not good considering it is a drama. The characters are stereotypical and the story again lacks direction. It attempts to handle too many stories at one time. The New Age mystical healing waters are cliche as is the kidnapper/victim story."Pittman, Jo Ann (September 21, 1999). "Michael Cimino". ''Film Directors''. Leonard Maltin gave the film one and a half stars: "Misbegotten mess tries to touch all trendy bases, scrambling American Indian mysticism, 'New Age' theories and buddy-movie clichés into the format of a road movie." Kevin Thomas of '' Los Angeles Times'' gave ''The Sunchaser'' one of its few positive notices. While noting the predictability of the script, Thomas added, "Yet all that's so familiar in Charles Leavitt's script has been given a fresh, brisk spin by the sheer audacity and force of Cimino's style and by an incisive, wide-ranging performance by Harrelson..." On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, ''The Sunchaser'' has a "rotten" approval rating of 17% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10.

Footnotes

References

External links

* * *
''The Sunchaser''
a
Unofficial French website