Far from Home (1989)

A teenage girl and her father driving cross-country become stranded when their car runs out of gas in a remote Nevada desert town and they're forced to stay in a dilapidated trailer park where a serial killer lurks.

Director:

Meiert Avis

Writers:

Theodore Gershuny (story) (as Ted Gershuny), Tommy Lee Wallace (screenplay)

Stars:

Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, Richard Masur

Cast

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

Storyline

Charlie Cox is a divorced writer who lives in Los Angeles. Charlie and his daughter Joleen are on their way home from a cross country vacation when they run out of gas in Banco, Nevada; a small town located in a remote part of the desert. It's one day before Jolene's 14th birthday. Charlie and Joleen check a nearby gas station owned by a Vietnam war veteran named Duckett, but Duckett doesn't have any gas, so they head to the local supermarket to find a phone. Sheriff Bill Childers is in the store and he advises them to go to the trailer park to ask for gas. Joleen spots the body of the store's owner, Ferrell Hogus, in a pool of blood. The Sheriff states that the murderer is most likely a drifter. The man and daughter check into the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park, which is owned by a hostile woman named Agnes Reed. Whilst her father uses the phone, Joleen speaks to Agnes's rebellious teenage son, Jimmy Reed, who she briefly came into contact with earlier at the gas ...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | psychopath | watching tv | vietnam war veteran | woman in a bathtub | 

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Taglines:

There is no one you can trust...least of all the one who loves you.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The watches Joleen wears are SWATCH brand watches. And it was the style at the time to wear more than one.

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Goofs

A safety harness is visible when Pinky is chasing Joleen up the ladder of the microwave relay tower and the mechanism it is attached to is rolling up the front of the ladder with her.

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Quotes

Pinky Sears: [Last distraught lines] I thought you loved me?
[gets shot in the thigh causing him to lose his balance]
Pinky Sears: ... Bye.
Joleen Cox: [screams as Pinky falls onto an antenna impaling him] NO!

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Connections

Features Tweet Tweet Tweety (1951)

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Soundtracks

Home Shopping Club
Courtesy of Home Shopping Network, Inc.

User Reviews

Not just porn for the boys!

Admittedly, this film did not deserve a place in the Oscars, but for an average thriller it is watchable.

Pic centres on a young girl just entering adolescence and interested in what every teenage girl is interested in - boys! It is her naivety and inexperience which lands her in trouble. Barrymore is generally good as the confused and lonely angst-ridden teenager, and is sometimes quite realistic in her scenes with Matt Frewer. As a teenager when I saw this a few years ago, I certainly could relate to her and her ineptitude with boys, but now it's just another coming-of-age film with a weak murder plot. Jones was convincing as the ice-cold lust figure for Barrymore, but we never saw enough of him and his character was too rigid. Girls will like him - especially in a wet T-Shirt (Barrymore isn't the only one!)

Nevertheless, some good acting and not a bad film overall, particularly from the women like Susan Tyrrell and Karen Austin, who seem to hold it together better than the men!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Far from Home

Filming Locations:

Carson City, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,763, 4 June 1989

Gross USA:

$11,859

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,859

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lightning Pictures, Planet Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color