''Bright Angel'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Michael Fields, and starring

Dermot Mulroney Dermot Patrick Mulroney (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles in a wide variety of genres, including romantic comedy, western, and drama films. After making his film debut in ''Sunset'' (1988), Mulro ...

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films '' Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

, and

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

. The film follows two teenagers, George and the transient Lucy, who travel from their home in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in order to help Lucy's brother escape from jail. It was adapted from a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

's collection titled ''Rock Springs''. Although it received some critical acclaim, the film earned only $158,243 at the domestic box office.

Plot

George is a

teen whose sanity is deteriorating due to his parents' marital woes. He links up with Lucy, a runaway headed for

with a dark background who is trying to get her brother out of jail. George tries to help her, but finds himself crossing paths with people even more emotionally disturbed than his mother and father.

Cast

as George *

as Lucy *

Valerie Perrine Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is a retired American actress. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film '' Lenny'', she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Awar ...

as Aileen *

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. Pullman made his film debut i ...

as Bob *

Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

as Judy *

Burt Young Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (April 30, 1940 – October 8, 2023), known professionally as Burt Young, was an American actor. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series, his performance in the f ...

as Art *

as Jack *

Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for playing Paco Aguilar in '' Blood in Blood Out''. He had supporting film roles in the 1990s in ''Demolition Man'' (1993), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994) and '' ...

as Claude * Delroy Lindo as Harley *

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''.Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an AC ...

as Nina

Production

Principal photography began on July 10, 1989. The film was shot on location in Billings and

Broadview, Montana Broadview is a town in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. The population was 139 at the 2020 census. The post office was established in 1908 and the town was incorporated in 1917. Geography According to the United States Census Burea ...

and in

. Filming wrapped on August 30, 1989. The shoot was reportedly tumultuous for Lili Taylor, who was nearly fired over aesthetic decisions she'd made in presenting herself as the character. In a 2016 interview, she referred to it as the single most difficult film shoot in her career, stating that she had essentially been fired from the project, but was forced to finish her work on the film.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' enjoyed the film and gave it 3 1/2 stars: However, reviews such as Kathleen Maher of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' did not think highly of it, gave it 2 stars and had differing views of the acting:

Soundtrack

*"Where Did God Go?" by Jody Alan Sweet *"Too Long Crying" by Jody Alan Sweet *"Cheshire" by Jody Alan Sweet *"Heal Somebody" by

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

*"Hung Over Heart" by Jody Alan Sweet

References

External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, bright_angel 1990 films Films scored by Christopher Young Films based on short fiction Films set in Montana Films set in Wyoming Films shot in Montana Films shot in Wyoming 1990s road movies American road movies Films about runaways 1990 directorial debut films 1990 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language independent films