Details
Movie Description
Often described as a New Age action picture, SUNCHASER is a road film, structured--as most of Michael Cimino's films are--around elements of moral ambiguity and violence. Woody Harrelson stars as Dr. Michael Reynolds, a young, successful, and morally bankrupt Los Angeles oncologist who conducts his personal and professional life in a highly arrogant way. Reynolds is assigned a new cancer patient, 16-year-old convicted murderer Brandon Monroe. Monroe, a half-Navajo gang member, desperately ill and looking for salvation, kidnaps his doctor, leading him into Colorado's La Plata mountains and a mystical lake of healing powers.
Synopsis
After a directorial hiatus of six years, Michael Cimino (THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, THE DEER HUNTER) returned with a film that mixes the action genre with mystical undertones. A zealous overachieving doctor (Woody Harrelson) learns a valuable lesson in humility and is forced to reexamine his relationship with medicine and faith when a young patient kidnaps him at gunpoint. Brandon (Jon Seda), the young half-Navajo patient, having led a life of violence and neglect, has rejected his privileged doctors and has beaten up several pediatricians who have tried to care for him. He kidnaps his current doctor and, constantly threatening his life, takes him on a trip to an Indian reservation with the aim of immersing himself in a magic lake whose healing powers he believes are his last viable choice. Harrelson and Seda's travels bring them into contact with a variety of obstacles, including motorcycle gangs and rattlesnakes as well as Renata (Anne Bancroft), a New Age mystic. A searing drama about two extraordinarily different individuals who traverse the majestic spaces of the American West, the film tracks the spiritual journey and regeneration of two men who are forced to confront the mysteries of life and death, hope and despair.
Film Notes
Theatrical release: October 25, 1996.
The film competed at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
SUNCHASER was shot in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
"You have a television."--Dr. Michael Reynolds (Woody Harrelson) to Navajo woman
"No. I get GOOD MORNING AMERICA through smoke signals."--Navajo woman's reply
Industry Reviews
"...A conceptually bold tale....Bancroft is amusing..."
Variety - Todd McCarthy (05/27/1996)
"...SUNCHASER has the physical grandeur, energy and aplomb reminiscent of Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE, and Doug Milsome's absolutely glorious cinematography has been well-matched by Maurice Jarre's rich score..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (10/25/1996)
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