* (restored)
‘Brad Renfro’s whole career started, improbably enough, because as an 11-year-old fifth-grader, he’d been difficult in a Drug Abuse Resistance Education class taught by a retired policeman. “He was absolutely your problem child,” says Dennis Bowman. “The very first day, I kicked him out of class.” Bowman grew to like Renfro but said that “he was still a piece of work as far as being out of control.”
‘By many accounts, he came from a troubled background. His dad, a factory worker, and his mom split up when he was a toddler, and his mom deposited him on the Knoxville inner-city steps of his paternal grandmother. Says Bowman, “The grandmother was trying her best to raise a kid who was taking advantage of the situation and creating a lot of stress on her.”
‘At the time, the late casting director Mali Finn was conducting a search for a kid to star in “The Client,” the movie version of the John Grisham legal thriller about a Southern trailer-park kid who winds up embroiled in a Mafia hit. “We wanted that kid in the principal’s office. That endearing, mischievous boy that may be lying to you, may not be telling you the truth, but you’re still charmed by him,” says casting director Emily Schweber, Finn’s associate at the time. When one of Finn’s letters describing their search arrived at the Knoxville Police Department, Bowman immediately thought of Renfro.
‘After auditioning him in her hotel room, Finn called Schweber and said, “I found him.” Both Finn and Joel Schumacher later called J.J. Harris, who now manages such stars as Charlize Theron, to check out their child lead. Harris flew to the North Carolina set to watch Renfro work and was charmed. “You just wanted to take care of this boy. He was a gorgeous little boy. Rough-and-tumble. Very self-aware,” she says. “He’d say things like, ‘Nobody can put up with me ’cause I’m too hot to handle.’ ”
‘Adds Harris, “He was just obviously screaming for someone to establish some kind of boundaries for him, something that never happened in his life.”
‘When Bowman finally saw “The Client,” he thought Renfro “wasn’t acting. Brad played himself. He had these street smarts and the swagger of a 19- or 20-year-old. If you met somebody like that now, your first reaction would be, ‘What a punk.’ But you scrape away all these layers, you think this is a 12-year-old trying to act tough.”
‘Even then there were signs of addiction issues. Renfro could be sneaky. As one who knew him well noted that any bottles of booze would invariably disappear when Renfro was around. Still, he managed to launch his career, flying from Knoxville to Los Angeles, often by himself, for auditions. The assistants at his agency, United Talent Agency, would drive him to meetings with casting directors, and the rest of the time he’d mostly cruise the agency halls and flirt with all the women. “This wasn’t a bad kid – this was a really emotionally abandoned person,” says Harris.
‘His vulnerability combined with a tough persona entranced Hollywood. He was cast as a compassionate roughneck who befriends a kid suffering from AIDS in “The Cure,” and as Huck Finn in “Tom and Huck.” “He was exactly what you would expect – a brooding, intense, rebellious fellow,” says “Tom and Huck” producer Larry Mark. “He got a kick out of not going the straight and narrow.”
‘In “Sleepers,” Barry Levinson’s drama about four neighborhood kids who are abused by sadistic guards in juvenile prison, he played the younger version of Brad Pitt’s character. Knowing of his wildness, Levinson mandated that Renfro be accompanied by a minder 24 hours a day. Levinson later told a reporter, “He was fraught with demons and needed help.”
‘In “Apt Pupil,” Renfro’s last major studio movie, he played a compassionless A-student entranced by a former Nazi commandant – played by Ian McKellen – living incognito in the suburbs. “I knew he’d been wrestling for years with different problems,” says director Bryan Singer. “But on workdays, he was always focused and into it. Quite professional.”
‘But off-screen, there could be a manic energy and a radiating neediness. “You could tell he didn’t have any sort of adult guidance. People couldn’t help themselves but become unofficial guardians of him,” says producer Don Murphy.
‘In 1998, the year “Apt Pupil” was released, Renfro was busted for cocaine and marijuana, beginning what became a long odyssey through the legal system, with a half-dozen arrests.
‘Although Clark had a minder staying with Renfro during the “Bully” production in the summer of 2000, the actor climbed out a second-story window and stole down to a nearby marina. According to Clark, Renfro “met some coke dealer and got (messed) up.” He hot-wired a yacht and gunned it – except he forgot to untie the boat. Renfro was arrested and charged with grand theft. He ultimately pleaded out and was sentenced to a fine and two years’ probation. But, Clark says, “He was so good you would kind of forgive him for being a (screw)-up – for a minute.”
‘Yet, after causing a delay on “Bully,” it became hard for Renfro to get insurance, says Harris, and hence harder for him to land parts. “It got to a place where I ran out of options,” says the agent, who’d seen him through two stints at rehab and numerous futile conversations about staying clean.
‘To those in Hollywood, he inevitably seemed worse when he returned from his home in Knoxville. Or when he wasn’t working, and there wasn’t a Hollywood-designated minder watching over him. “He wasn’t good at that going-home bit, going back to his life” after the social activity of a movie set, adds Guy Ferland. As an associate producer on “The Client,” Ferland would help keep Renfro healthily occupied in off hours, and he also directed him in “Telling Lies in America.” “I’m not sure Brad really liked being alone. There was always some party, whatever he needed to do to keep the energy going.”
‘Renfro quit J.J. Harris around 2001 and never spoke to her again, although he continued to work on smaller films, little seen, sometimes low-rent indies such as “Deuces Wild” and “The Job.”
‘In 2006, he spent 10 days in jail for DUI and heroin possession. “He was very conscious that he was alone in the world and didn’t have the kind of family and support system that others had,” says his former lawyer Blair Berk.
‘As recently as last June, a judge declared he’d violated his probation by not enrolling in a long-term drug-treatment program, which he subsequently did. “We thought he turned the corner over the last six months. He’d been clean,” says another of his lawyers, Richard Kaplan.
‘Renfro died from an accidental overdose of heroin, Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said. A Los Angeles roommate found him dead in his bed. Two days earlier, he’d had an obscene tattoo applied to his chest.’ — Rachel Abramowitz
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Stills
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Further
Brad Renfro @ IMDb
Hollywood Wanted An Edgy Child Actor. When He Spiraled, They Couldn’t Help.
BRAD RENFRO LAID TO REST IN HOMETOWN FUNERAL; ACTOR REPORTEDLY HAD A SON
An interview with Brad Renfro on the occassion of his passing
Communicating with Deceased Actor Brad Renfro
Brad Renfro: Some celebrities fall into cycle of destruction
Susan Sarandon on Brad Renfro
Actor Brad Renfro left out of Oscar memorial tribute
‘Twilight’s’ Robert Pattinson turned down James Franco’s Brad Renfro tribute movie
A Glimpse Into Brad Renfro’s Life Via MySpace
BRAD RENFRO BY JOHNNY KNOXVILLE
BRUCE LABRUCE, Brad Renfro w/ His Grandmother (Toronto), 2000
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Extras
Brad Renfro Playing Guitar
Brad Renfro h264
James Franco – Brad Renfro Forever
Brad Renfro Last Interview October 2007
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Interview (1998)
by Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper: Your agent said you’re not feeling well.
Brad Renfro: It’s just stress. Being in L.A. does this to me.
DC: You live in Knoxville, which looks very nonstressful in pictures.
BR: Yeah, it’s cool, but it’s getting violent these days.
DC: What’s up?
BR: Well, this guy got shot last week outside a club, and he died. A friend of mine works at this café right by there. Luckily, she wasn’t there at the time, but the café’s windows got shot out. So it’s not too scary to live there yet, but for such a small town, that seems pretty hard-core.
DC: So where would you move, if you moved?
BR: Not here, that’s for sure. You can be young and stupid anywhere, but staying in Knoxville keeps me away from the business itself, the whole grind—everybody going out to eat and such. It keeps me real. ’Cause out here, there isn’t much reality. There really isn’t. That’s why Tennessee Williams stayed in the South.
DC: So you don’t have any Leonardo DiCaprio envy?
BR: No, no. He’s a great actor, and now he can’t do anything. It used to be I’d see him all over the damn place, and he wouldn’t get too bothered. But now, phew. Man.
DC: Talk about demystifying fame.
BR: No shit. I don’t know if the money would be worth it, either. Because he does make bank. He makes a lot of money. Hell, I haven’t even made a million dollars. But is $20 million worth no life? I don’t think so.
DC: You and he are both top dogs in the Tiger Beat scene. Does that have any value for you?
BR: No. I’m quite flattered, but I don’t know what to think of it. I don’t strive to be a teen idol, you know? But the teen-idol thing is probably why I’m able to pick and choose the movies I want, because I have those fans. Who says those teens don’t have the right idea? You’re always going to have those who look at you because you have interesting looks or whatever.
DC: It’s not like your films cater to that audience. For the most part, they’re fairly heavy. I guess Tom and Huck is kind of the oddball in your oeuvre, as it were.
BR: Yeah, well, I don’t regret making that movie, because my little sister loves it. It’s just that I thought I was making an American classic, and it was very Disney family. If you really watch, you can see that I’m not in the same damn movie as the other actors. I’m all hard-core and shit, and it seems like I’m bigger than the rest of them. There’s an edge there that doesn’t really fit, but to me, that was Huck. Who’s to say it was tobacco in his pipe, you know?
DC: Disney didn’t want a hard-core Huck?
BR: Not at all. It was constant friction. I just did it and got through it, because it was my job. But, you know, I maybe showered six times the whole damn shoot. That’s where I got this bad reputation, you know. How I’m, like, whatever…
DC: Trouble.
BR: Yeah, trouble.
DC: But you’re not?
BR: No, I’m not. I’m real. Real only seems like trouble if you’re not real yourself. Honest to God.
DC: You seem drawn to characters who have moral dilemmas.
BR: As in, like…?
DC: I think I’ve seen all your films, and from The Client through The Cure, Telling Lies in America and now Apt Pupil, you seem to play the wide-eyed kid with a secret dark side.
BR: Well, that’s me, but that’s also mankind. Someone asked me about Apt Pupil—you know, “Brad, are you saying people are evil?” And I go, “All people have evil natures.” And they go, “What about babies?” And I go, “What about when babies turn two and start fighting in the crib over a toy?”
DC: Babies are purely selfish beings.
BR: Exactly. They are purely selfish. I love children, but….It’s human nature to constantly be in a fight with your own being.
DC: So Apt Pupil must have played into your interests.
BR: Definitely, definitely. I was really excited to get that part. It was the only really cool film at the time. Well, there was that and American History X, as far as what was available to someone my age. And Bryan Singer’s great. Ian McKellen’s a genius to me.
DC: Your styles are so different, though. His acting is so capital-B British, really organized, and—
BR: I’m so off the wall? Yeah, I learned so much from Ian McKellen, but it wasn’t like I could learn the craft of acting. I’m sure you’ve heard of doing something and not knowing how you do it? That’s pretty much where I come from. What interested me about him was how he handled people. He makes everyone feel so comfortable. I tried to learn that from him, because that’s something I need to learn.
DC: How do you approach acting?
BR: Just saying the words and believing them. I literally believe what’s going on is really happening.
DC: Is it like fantasizing?
BR: Pretty much. I’m a person who doesn’t show a ton of emotion until it’s time. I ball too many things up—to the point where I cry for no reason. And I have to sit down and go, “What the hell is this for? Oh yeah, right.”
DC: So I guess I have to ask you about the whole Apt Pupil shower-scene controversy.
BR: I was there.
DC: A number of the extras, who are basically your age, said they were ogled by gay crew members during the shooting of that scene and consider it a form of molestation.
BR: I was there. I didn’t notice anything.
DC: So you don’t support the boys who brought the lawsuit against the film?
BR: No. As far as I know, it got thrown out of court anyway.
DC: Are you into politics?
BR: No. I don’t care.
DC: So you have nothing to say about the whole Clinton-Lewinsky thing?
BR: Oh, I can say a little something about that. I think the only place where Clinton went wrong was in being married. I just think he’s a man of the times. Fuck it. If I put myself in his shoes, I would have lied like a motherfucker too. And there’s the whole “If she only swallowed, none of this would have happened” jokes. But I shouldn’t get into that, I guess.
DC: Are you religious?
BR: I’m a firm believer in God. I wouldn’t be where I’m at if it wasn’t for God.
DC: You never question that?
BR: Okay, here’s a great Bible verse. Jesus is sitting and eating with politicians and sinners, you know, one of them asks one of his disciples, “Why does Jesus sit there and eat with sinners and such?” And Jesus turns and says, “He who is not sick has no need for the physician, and vice versa.” I think when we’re all at our rock bottom, there’s nothing else but God. But I think all Christians have questioned Him at one time or another.
DC: Did you ever investigate Buddhism?
BR: I think any religion’s okay, except Satanism. I can’t think of anything in Satanism that could benefit you.
DC: But there’s something flashy about Satanism, don’t you think?
BR: I think it’s more powerful in the short term. That’s the trick that the Devil plays on you. It’s like, cocaine’s great the first couple of times, you know? I think that’s just the Devil. That’s how he works. I’m as firm a believer in the Devil as I am in God. I’m just not a supporter.
DC: So do your musical tastes run to Stryper and that sort of thing?
BR: Fuck, no. I’m into blues and jazz. Wes Montgomery, Buddy Guy, Electric blues and old-school, too. You got your Blind Boy Fuller, Robert Johnson, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. And I still like punk, of course. Anyone who ever liked punk will never not like punk. It’s very easy to like. Being punk rock means not caring what people think of you. At one point, I did have green hair when I was 13 or so, but I thought it was more punk rock to be just kind of normal than to go and pierce my dick or nose.
DC: Are you into old-school punk or new-school punk?
BR: I can’t stand new-school punk. It’s so poppy, like Offspring or Green Day or whatever. I’m more into the D.C. bands—Fugazi, the Teen Idols, shit like that. And the L.A. late-’70s scene stuff—Descendents, Black Flag, Germs.
DC: At one point, you wanted to make a film about the life of Darby Crash of the Germs, didn’t you?
BR: Yeah. It’s funny. I didn’t get to do that. Some other guy’s doing it, I guess. It would have been cool to play a totally reckless punk. I think I could do that pretty well, but fuck it. Right now, I’m wanting to write and direct a film about a boy in a mental institution. He doesn’t speak, and the film’s about his theory that dogs are superior to humans and how there’s really no need for conversation in a perfect world, because everything would be about unconditional love. You wouldn’t have a need for verbal communication. I haven’t written it yet, but I have the thought.
DC: Do you write?
BR: I write poetry and stuff but not scripts. I just have to sit my ass down and do it. It seems a bit overwhelming, like writing a book of haiku or something. It’s a weird form.
DC: Do you have favorite actors?
BR: Steve Buscemi, definitely. I love him, because he just does his thing. Jack Nicholson, Chris Walken. Those cats are cool. I’d love to work with them. But, hell, I’d even work with Ann-Margret, you know? Who’s to say she’s not a genius? You never know.
DC: Do you ever approach actors or directors you like and ask to work with them?
BR: Just the normal shit. I mean, I don’t go, “Hey, I want to work with Stanley Kubrick. I’m going to chase his crazy ass down.” I don’t send fan letters. I don’t make picture collages and shit, like little strips from a magazine. “I’m Brad. I want to work with you.” No.
DC: I guess I’ll end this by clearing up a really common rumor about you. Did Joel Schumacher adopt you when you were making The Client with him?
BR: Fuck. That’s not true whatsoever. When I was 11, I made a joke that he was going to adopt me, or some shit, but that’s all. I think I liked the idea back then, ’cause my life was kind of hard or something. I live with my grandparents, pretty much always have.
DC: A lot of people think the rumor’s true.
BR: What a bunch of dipshits. These rumors, man. I’m like the [rumor] magnet; I don’t know fucking why. Supposedly, I’m doing some movie with Natalie Portman and Liv Tyler called The Little Black Box. I’ve never heard of that in my life. I think Milos Forman is directing it. It would be fucking cool as hell, but it isn’t real.
DC: I heard you were in the Star Wars prequel, too.
BR: Oh, yeah. Go. I’m all over the place. That’s cool. Wait a second. Ouch.
DC: What’s wrong?
BR: Shit, I’m getting a stress cold sore. [pulls out his lower lip] Look at this.
DC: Charming.
BR: Exactly. I’d better go do whatever with this.
DC: Well, thanks.
BR: Yeah. Have a good day, sir.
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16 of Brad Renfro’s 31 roles
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Dempsey Tillman Collector (2008)
“Collector” is a 14-minute piece about a troubled young man trying to get a grip on reality in the midst of hallucinations and the pressure of proving himself capable of being a father. Tillman shot the film on Nov. 4-5, 2007. Renfro died Jan. 15, 2008, in Los Angeles. ‘One of the first things filmmaker Dempsey Tillman learned about the star of his short film, “Collector,” was how much actor Brad Renfro connected with the main character. “During the rehearsal, I would stop them (Renfro and co-star Matthew Boylan) often because I had some ideas I wanted to have them mull around in doing some lines,” Tillman recalls. “Brad said, ‘This story’s really close to me. I have a kid that nobody knows about.’ I knew that’s where he was drawing from for the character.”‘ — Go Knoxville
the entire film
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Gregor Jordan The Informers (2008)
‘If there is one name that’s synonymous with over-generalized ’80s ennui, it’s Bret Easton Ellis. From his initial literary phenomenon Less than Zero to the publishing scandal that was American Psycho, this so called savant has obsessed on the hedonistic decadence of the Greed Decade to the point where he’s literally blurred the lines between truth and taboo. Indeed, most of his stories seem shocking in their lack of human connectivity and with their rampant descent into sex and violence, he appears numb to the normalcy of individual existence. Now comes The Informers, a planned “satire” that was sidetracked by a studio wanting a more studied period piece. What they wound up with instead is a scattered, frequently intriguing omnibus that makes the audience work too hard to find something satisfying.’ — Pop Matters
Trailer
Excerpt
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Bobby Moresco 10th & Wolf (2006)
‘“You’re a disgrace to your heritage,” seethes a drug kingpin’s wife to mobster Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) toward the conclusion of 10th & Wolf, a statement that couldn’t be further from the truth: Just like virtually every aspect of Robert Moresco’s directorial debut, Ribisi’s clichéd crook—a murderous loose cannon with an enormous ego and unswerving loyalty toward his friends and family—is dutifully faithful to his gangster film ancestors. Avoiding the amped-up racial paranoia of his Academy Award-winning Crash script in favor of moldy tough-guy tawk and introspective narration used to spoon-feed character motivation, Moresco’s based-on-real-events saga tracks the 1991 return of disgraced U.S. Marine Tommy (James Marsden) to his Philadelphia hometown after having been blackmailed by Brian Dennehy’s F.B.I. agent to infiltrate his beloved cousin Joey’s illicit operation. The government’s goal is to bust a heroin smuggler with whom Joey is on the verge of partnering (or, potentially, warring), though Tommy’s objective is to save Joey, as well as his younger wannabe thug brother Vincent (Brad Renfro), from the hammer of justice. 10th & Wolf‘s aim, however, is to revisit familiar Mafioso movie themes and plot points, a goal it uncreatively achieves throughout its listless Godfather-meets-Donnie Brasco tale of undercover surveillance, blood allegiances, and wrenching betrayal.’ — Slant
Trailer
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John Maybury The Jacket (2005)
‘The Jacket is a 2005 American psychological thriller/horror film directed by John Maybury and starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Brad Renfro, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is partly based on the Jack London novel of the same name. Massy Tadjedin wrote the screenplay based on a story by Tom Bleecker and Marc Rocco. The original music score is composed by Brian Eno with Roger Eno and the cinematography is by Peter Deming. The narrative is a time slip fantasy in which an Iraqi war veteran who suffered a death or near-death experience while on active service returns to the United States where he is blamed for the death of a policeman, and incarcerated in a hospital for the criminally insane. Subject to experimental treatments there, which involve him being shut inside a morgue casket while tied in a straitjacket, he eventually learns to travel through time and is able to offer help to various people.’ — Wiki
Trailer
Brad Renfro The Jacket Premiere Interview
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Jordan Brady American Girl (2002)
‘American Girl just doesn’t work at all; the characters are obnoxious, the directorial style is bland, and the pacing is off (way off). American Girl contains a surprisingly adept cast, with rising star Malone delivering yet another impressive performance (despite the fact that she’s essentially riffing on her now-patented tortured teenager persona). Renfro, playing exactly the sort of slow, dim-witted character he seems to have cornered the market on, doesn’t fare quite as well and it’s impossible not to wonder if the actor is even capable of hitting any other notes.’ — Reel Film Reviews
Excerpt
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Terry Zwigoff Ghost World (2001)
‘Recounting the “Ghost World” plot, such as it is, doesn’t do the film justice. The pleasure here is not in the story but the telling; watching lovingly created characters interact, and getting dewy-eyed over Zwigoff’s immaculate recreation of late adolescence. An erstwhile documentary maker, much-praised for 1994’s “Crumb” – a look at the life of underground comic book writer Robert Crumb – Zwigoff has an ear for truthful dialogue, and an eye for the detritus of teenage life. The performances are universally superb. Buscemi was born to play Seymour, a nerdy, strangely endearing obsessive not quite comfortable in his own skin, while even bit players like Brad Renfro leave a lasting impression. The standout is Birch, a compelling blend of aggressive wit, tender vulnerability, and ungainly beauty. Our journey with Enid may be slow and somewhat meandering but, as a funny and moving paean to adolescence, this certainly beats hell out of “American Pie 2”.’ — BBC
Excerpt
Excerpt
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Larry Clark Bully (2001)
‘Shooting Bully wasn’t exactly Apocalypse Now but we had our share of adventures. The boat was just the start of it. The boat was a 45-foot yacht that Bully’s male lead, Brad Renfro, attempted to steal from a Fort Lauderdale dock the night before shooting was scheduled to begin. It was an incident that could have sunk the film, had Renfro – a deep southerner with a staggeringly high IQ and a penchant for quoting the Bible – only remembered to untie the vessel before trying to thieve it. Requiring a $10,000 bail and eventually resulting in two years’ probation, it was the second bust for Brad after his 1998 arrest, when police discovered two packets of cocaine and marijuana in his pocket whilst out joyriding with his cousin. Coming to the public attention as a wide-eyed prepubescent in films such as The Client and Sleepers, Renfro is the undisputed king of the Anti-Breakfast Club; a Robert Downey Jnr-in-waiting who, when not in rehab, is one of the most in-demand actors around. Bully co-star Bijou Phillips, however, has a rather different take on him: “He’s just a big kid,” Bijou says, explaining why she demanded a separate hotel from Renfro and the rest of the Bully cast. “When we made Tart [a little-seen Scream-like horror affair] together, he’d come over to my room and want me to put him in the bath and get him sober. Or he’d cut himself and we’d be in the hospital at four in the morning and we would have to shoot at six. It was just too much. I needed my space.”‘ — The Guardian
Excerpt
Excerpt
Bully – B Roll Inside Marty’s House
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Daniel Waters Happy Campers (2001)
‘Daniel Waters guaranteed himself a place in cinema history with his debut screenplay “Heathers”, one of the sharpest, blackest and downright original films of the second half of the eighties. Yet in the meantime he has seemingly enjoyed his well-paid limbo in hackville, churning out scripts ranging from the what-was-he-thinking (yes “Hudson Hawk”, we mean you) to the sublime (the second and best installment in the Batman franchise). Thus the phrase “Daniel Waters’ directorial debut” immediately raises expectations, will it be a twisted and perverted return to his “Heathers” world view? The answer is yes. It’s not a great film, in fact it is a very flawed one, but it is never anything but ambitious and frequently very funny.’ — Carnival of Souls
Excerpt
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Tamra Davis Skipped Parts (2000)
‘Trimark has its work cut out for it in pushing this late-summer clunker, which hits wrong notes from the start and only gets more sour as it goes along. Fans pulled in by a sharp cast will be displeased by how poorly their faves fare. And anyone looking for a witty or insightful chronicle of growing up in the early ’60s will be more than disappointed. Most auds will simply skip “Parts” altogether.’ — Variety
Trailer
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Michel Gondry Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter (1998)
‘French director Michel Gondry directed a music video for the song, which was released in 1998. The video features a sixteen-year old Brad Renfro, playing a young man escaping with his brother from a dysfunctional home and the abuse they suffered at the hands of their abusive alcoholic father, and then from society as a whole.’ — tfcf
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Bryan Singer Apt Pupil (1998)
‘”Apt Pupil” uses the horrors of the Holocaust as an atmospheric backdrop to the more conventional horror devices of a Stephen King story. It’s not a pretty sight. By the end of the film, as a death camp survivor is quoting John Donne’s poem about how no man is an island, we’re wondering what island the filmmakers were inhabiting, as they assembled this uneasy hybrid of the sacred and the profane. The movie is well made by Bryan Singer and well acted, especially by Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander, a Nazi war criminal who has been hiding in American for years. The theme is intriguing: A teenager discovers the old man’s real identity, and blackmails him into telling stories about his wartime experiences. But when bodies are buried in cellars and cats are thrown into lighted ovens, the film reveals itself as unworthy of its subject matter.’ — Roger Ebert
Trailer
Excerpt
Brad Renfro 1998 Interview
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Guy Ferland Telling Lies in America (1997)
‘”It don’t matter how you get it … as long as you get it,” says Kevin Bacon to an astonished 15-year-old who has just discovered he has lost his virginity to a prostitute. That’s how Karchy Jonas’s rites of passage are bought and sold in Telling Lies in America, a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas that has taken 15 years to migrate from page to screen. Set in Cleveland in 1961, the film plots the fortunes of a Hungarian immigrant who is picked on at high school until he lies himself into a job on a local radio station with a slick but corrupt disc jockey, Billy Magic (played by Kevin Bacon), up to his neck in payola. Those were the days when managers passed over fat brown envelopes to get their clients’ songs played. Remarkably, this autobiographical film cost $4m [pounds 2.5m] and took 24 days to make. That’s not far off what Eszterhas alone usually gets paid for a script. What sets it apart is a display of character acting by Bacon and his young co-star, Brad Renfro, that gives the screenwriter’s bitter take on the American Dream – you’ve got to lie to get places – a startling authenticity.’ — The Independent
Excerpt
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Barry Levinson Sleepers (1996)
‘Unlike The Boys of St. Vincent, Sleepers offers no insights into the torment of men like Nokes. The film’s concern is for the abused boys, superbly played by Brad Renfro as Michael, Joe Perrino as Shakes, Geoffrey Wigdor as John and Jonathan Tucker as Tommy, who rightly dominate the film’s first hour. As in Diner and Avalon, Levinson shows a keen eye for the pangs of adolescence. Michael Ballhaus’ luminous cinematography polishes those days of talking sex and playing stickball until Hell’s Kitchen shines like a concrete Camelot. Idealized? You bet. That’s why the loss of this world must be avenged with the same broad strokes that you’d expect from the Count of Monte Cristo. “We lived inside every book we read, every movie we saw,” Carcaterra wrote. “We were Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces. . . . We were Ivanhoe on our own city streets.” These words are the key to Sleepers‘ vaultingly romantic style and its core truth. No one challenges Carcaterra’s previous nonfiction book, A Safe Place, in which he learns, at 14, that his father had served time for killing his first wife. It’s public record. Sleepers, for all the doubts it raises, is the work of a man who speaks for absent friends and “for the children we were.” It’s his secret heart. Leave the matter of getting away with murder to Carcaterra and his conscience. Onscreen, in the faces of these lost children, the pain is real.’ — Rolling Stone
Excerpt
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Peter Hewitt Tom and Huck (1995)
‘Jonathan Taylor Thomas (HOME IMPROVEMENT) stars as America’s greatest teenage hero — Tom Sawyer! No boy ever had so much fun, got into so much trouble, or had so many outrageous adventures! Disney’s magic touch now turns Mark Twain’s masterpiece into “An outstanding classic adventure film” (Kids News Network). Tom and his rebellious friend Huck (Brad Renfro) witness a midnight killing. They swear not to reveal what they saw — but that causes a real problem. If Tom doesn’t speak up, an innocent friend may be hanged. But if he does tell the truth, the real killer, knife-throwing Injun Joe, will come after him! TOM AND HUCK has it all — a treasure hunt, a haunted house, a courtroom showdown, a scary chase in a cave, and a valuable lesson for young Tom: when a friend’s in trouble, you don’t run away!’ — vudu
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Peter Horton The Cure (1995)
‘There are three moments of perfect truth in “The Cure.” There are several passages that are very moving. And then there’s an impossible story that plays like a cross between a Disease of the Week movie and “The Goonies.” It’s possible that moviegoers in their earlier teens – the target audience – will like it a lot. I was derailed by the silly stuff, and by the movie’s conviction that it’s funny to play practical jokes about death.’ — Roger Ebert
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Brad Renfro Interview Of The Cure
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Joel Schumacher The Client (1994)
‘Held up by a supporting casting including heavyweight actors like Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker and Anthony LaPaglia, the film itself isn’t afraid to pack a punch, but the whole movie, however, balances on the performance of Brad Renfro, who truly is astounding in the role of Mark. Being cast at the tender age of 10 years old, he really is a force to reckoned with and really holds his own up against the huge names he was working with. It did seem that his career was there for the taking and he ended up starring in some really interesting projects but, sadly, like many child stars in Hollywood, his story did not have a happy ending. In his case, he became addicted to drugs and died at the age of 25 from a heroin overdose. You need to look no further than this film to see the talent he had.’ — Den of Geek!
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p.s. Hey. I’m repeating this from yesterday in case it helps: If you’re finding yourself locked out of commenting because of the Cloudflare human checkbox, try updating your browser and disabling any browser extensions that may interfere with the captcha (e.g., ad blockers, VPNs, privacy extensions.) You should be able to disable ad blockers for this site only, the blog doesn’t have any ads. Please let me know if this solves the problem or if it doesn’t. Otherwise, apparently the Cloudflare thing cannot be disabled. It is built into my hosting site’s security system. Cloudflare is aware that there’s a bug in the verification thing and say they are working to debug it as soon as possible. ** jay, Hey. The Richard Farina novel seems to be out of print, which kind of surprises me. Re: ‘Cat’s Cradle’, I was going on distant memories when I chose it, so you could be right. Oh, understood about the concert situation problem. It seems like there would be some kind of VR version of her show somewhere, but I don’t know if that would work? I’m on the manga thing. I’m big on Guro too. I’ve done a few Guro posts here, and it’s probably time to do another. ** _Black_Acrylic, ‘Vurt’ would have been a good choice, you’re right, based on my memory of it. It just slipped my mind. ** Lucas, Hi. No, the producer is never going to stop turning everything around him into hell. He has no other way of being. We did come up a possible proposal yesterday that, if he accepts it, would calm things down a little at least. We’ll see. Right, I think my main knowledge of estrogen application is from US friends. I have diabetic friends who need to inject themselves regularly, and they say it becomes second nature and no big pretty quickly. Hopefully it would be the same for you. Yesterday was better because we came up with the proposal idea, but now we need to submit it to fuckhead, so from here on is crapshoot. It’s really just unbelievable how much complete and totally underserved shit Zac and I have to go through for our film. Never again. I personally really like the pale, sickly look, but I’m not normal, goodness knows. Trust your instincts? That’s a great collage! You’re so good! Awesome! Everyone, Go check out Lucas’s great new collage, why don’t you? It’s here. Corey Heiferman responded to your collage if you didn’t see it. I hope your weekend is way more up than it is down, and maybe even up up up. ** Nasir, Hey there! It’s a pleasure to get to greet you again. Oh, sure, yes, I can do that recommendation letter. Do you have my email? If not, it’s [email protected]. Happy to help if I can. ** HaRpEr, ‘Nog’ is great. Rudy Wurlitzer is great in general. My favorite of his is ‘Drop Edge of Yonder’. Brautigan has a very particular style. It’s worth at least giving him a skim. He’s one of those writers who either tickles your fancy or doesn’t. I agree about acid trips being more successfully depicted in writing than in visuals, although an exciting or even dumb flagrant visual depiction can trigger personal acid trip memories sometimes, and I don’t think written trips have that effect. I love that Spacemen 3 album. Hm, maybe you’re right about music being the ultimate trip representer/triggerer. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the fill-in about the means of taking hormones. I carry a nicotine patch in my pocket wherever I go. You never know when elevator or metro car is going to get stuck. ** nat, Oh, well, a hearty hi right back to you. Have a sweet weekend. ** Alright. I’ve restored the blog’s old Day about Brad Renfro for some reason. It features an interview with Mr. Renfro by yours truly. I suppose that’s something unusual about it. See you on Monday.
Terry Taylor Baron’s Court, All Change (1961)
Kurt Vonnegut Cat’s Cradle (1963)
Philip K. Dick The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965)
Richard Fariña Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (1966)
Jacqueline Susann Valley Of The Dolls (1966)
Thomas Pynchon The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)
William H. Knoles Mondo Sadisto (1966)
Kenneth R. Brown Tiger In Haight-Ashbury (1967)
William S. Burroughs The Ticket That Exploded (1967)
Tom Robbins Another Roadside Attraction (1967/1971)
Terry Southern Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes (1967)
Maia Wojciechowska Tuned Out (1968)
Richard Brautigan In Watermelon Sugar (1968)
Tom Wolfe The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968)
Michael Moorcock The Final Programme (1968)
Carlos Castaneda The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1968)
Kenneth Tindall Great Heads (1969)
Rudolph Wurlitzer Nog (1969)
Jane Gallion Stoned (1969)
William J. Craddock Be Not Content (1970)
Thomas McGuane The Bushwacked Piano (1971)
Renee Auden The Party (1971)
Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972)
Marco Vassi The Stoned Apocalypse (1972)
Jackson Short Blue Alice (1972)
Robert Anton Wilson The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975)
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