Main Cast: Michael O'Keefe, Karen Allen, Peter Fonda, James Woods, Elizabeth Ashley
Release Year: 1982
Country: US
Run Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Sure to generate conversation, this provocative drama tells the story of how a middle-class family is torn apart when their clean-cut high-achieving son, who has the potential of making it on the Olympic gymnast team, suddenly joins a religious cult. The parents become deeply worried and try to get him back. The twist is that, unlike other movie religious cults, the leader of this one is not terribly evil even though he does strongly indoctrinate his followers. The members of his group are good people who do good deeds for others. Unfortunately, the parents don't see it this way and so hire a free-lance deprogrammer to "rescue" their son and force him through a deprogramming process that traumatizes him more than the cult did. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
Ted Kotcheff's film about a teenaged Olympic prospect who joins a cult takes an interestingly contrarian stand toward the period's conventional wisdom on the subject. The late '70s and '80s saw the rise of a wave of mostly fraudulent pseudo-religious organizations, which preyed on the naïveté and confusion of young people and existed primarily to separate those they solicited from their money. Kotcheff's film adds complexity to the stereotyped situation: The cult inductee (Michael Keaton) is something of a trophy son to his overly ambitious parents (Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Ashley) and the group he joins is in most ways indistinguishable from a genuine religious organization. As many others did during this era, they call in a deprogrammer (James Woods) whose job is to return their son to them. This character turns out to be an unsettling hybrid of used car salesman and Marine drill sergeant and he takes the film in an unexpected direction. The film asks intriguing questions about the relative values of a dedicated, selfless life, and one of more normal pursuits, while ironically noting the brainwashing aspects of even the most benign religious groups. Woods gives a blistering performance as the fascist mercenary, a cure more dangerous than the ostensible disease. The stellar cast also includes Peter Fonda and Peter Horton. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Brian Dennehy - Kevin; Pamela Ludwig - Jane; John Dukakis - Aaron; Lee Montgomery - Walter; Michael Sacks - Gabriel; Deborah Rush - Judith; Peter Horton - Jacob; Ken Farmer - Collins; Cliff Stephens - Hall; Scott Campbell - Barry; Irma P. Hall - Maid; Haley McLane; Ronnie Scribner - Sean Stetson; Melanie Strange - Debbie; Lynette Walden - Sexy Girl; David Wallace - Gymnast; Brian Henson - Jerry; Herbert Kirkpatrick - Coach; Robert Hibbard - Cop; Tom Rayhall - Sargent; Lee Ritchey - Sentry; Jeanne Evans - Newsboy's Mother; John Carroll
Credit
Jack Marty - Art Director, Don Carmody - Co-producer, Craig Huston - First Assistant Director, Ted Kotcheff - Director, Sheldon Kahn - Editor, Jay Kamen - Editor, Jeff Young - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Will Jennings - Songwriter, Jimi White - Makeup, Wolf Kroeger - Production Designer, Robert Jessup - Cinematographer, Ted Kotcheff - Producer, Jeff Young - Producer, Jack Bennett, Jr. - Special Effects, Debby Porter - Stunts, Robert Mark Kamen - Screenwriter, Robert Kaufman - Screenwriter, Russell J. Spencer - Screenwriter, Scott Spnecer - Screenwriter, Scott Spencer - Short Story Author
