When Everyone Forgot River Phoenix Was Acting

Running On Empty is one of those movies that gets me in my feelings every time I watch it. I made it twelve long minutes before the first gut punch this time around. Plus, it was Akira Kurosawa’s favorite Sidney Lumet film:
"That scene! The scene that portrayed how the car's door suddenly opened and he, who was going to leave the town, left the dog there is wonderful.” - A Dream is Genius, 1999
Kurosawa may love Jomo, but I felt like talking about River Phoenix and Danny Pope in this one.
Now showing a performance so natural that everyone forgot River Phoenix was acting.

[@nickglover6229]

River was a true Hollywood dream prince.❤

[@dsgan-y3w]

River was a person of great depth, possibly a super empath, clearly a hard working perfectionist but still tremendously humble and down to earth.

[@nyahoffline]

gosh i love him

[@emmataylor590]

Rest in peace forever River ❤

[@TheCurseOfTheShadows]

Yes😢

[@Jungwoobarage]

My favorite actor

[@SirChristus16]

what a loss 💔

[@Анастасия_Юргайтис]

Ривер😍как же он прекрасен😍

[@大野幸代-h7g]

永遠の美少年❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉

[@mckymcobvious3043]

it's impressive, what he did after not knowing how to play the piano, but it was a strain on my suspension of disbelief that everyone heard him play simple songs and thought JULIARD!! knowing what my grandma, aunts, mom, great aunts can do (with 3 days of practice, I could do what Danny did)... ppl who go to Juliard are the top of the top! also, why do so many movies only know about ivy league schools? and wtf does Lorna's elusive mom do, I know housing was actually affordable in the 80's, but the ppl who made the movie seemed to think that a public school teacher would be upper middle class, if not mid UPPER class ffs they had STAFF, like a maid, right?? maybe she came from money and fell in love Lorna's middle class father 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Elena-er7zp]

Yes I always got the impression that Lorna’s family was old money. Even in 1988 when I was 12, I knew they weren’t paying that mortgage on a teacher’s check.