Gelobtes Land (1987)

Gelobtes Land: Directed by Michael Hoffman. With Jason Gedrick, Tracy Pollan, Kiefer Sutherland, Meg Ryan. Gritty drama that follows two high school acquaintances, Hancock, a basketball star, and Danny, a geek turned drifter, after they graduate.

“Two principles are anxious to get out of a small burg in the mid west and one refuses to leave the only place where he ever had any recognition (as a star high school athlete) and becomes a local cop. The wild card here is a drifter and borderline sociopath who nonetheless also needs something like u0026quot;homeu0026quot;, but has no idea what that is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePlayed by Meg Ryan as youu0026#39;ve never seen her. Although if you rent u0026quot;Hurlyburlyu0026quot; youu0026#39;ll see what she can do with a well written part not seemingly made for her; this woman can act, but apparently would rather have Nora Ephron help her be a star and get fat deals playing variations on the same person. Rant aside, Ryanu0026#39;s character hooks up somewhere in the west with the most disaffected of the small-towners, played as a not very bright but enigmatic loser by Kiefer Sutherland. The pull of u0026quot;homeu0026quot;, both real and imagined, leads Kiefer and Meg back to small-burg with tragic consequences. There is a real 80u0026#39;s feel to this. Ennui and fear and neediness combine as America ostensibly does big things, a few people get really rich, and people like these characters instinctively know that most people, especially ones like them, have fewer prospects than their parents. Unlike me, the movie is not at all didactic, so check it out as one of the more outstanding u0026quot;feel-badu0026quot; movies Iu0026#39;ve ever seen.”