'Running on Empty' is a heart-warming film about a simple but non-typical family where Arthur (Judd Hirsch) and Annie Pope (Christine Lahti) are fugitives on the run from the FBI for many years due to their anti-war activities during the 1970s. They are one of the most wanted fugitives in the country due to their bombing of a laboratory which accidentally blinded and paralyzed a janitor. Arthur and Annie move around the country very often with their two sons Danny (River Phoenix) and Harry (Jonas Abry). Each time they move, they assume a whole new identity. As the film begins, the Pope family is seen to be on the move again. As the family settles down (temporarily) in this new place, Michael (Danny's new identity), an ordinary teenage boy with an amazing musical talent in playing the piano catches the attention of his music teacher, Mr. Phillips. Being overwhelmed by his talent, Mr. Phillips encouraged Michael to apply for Juilliard's. However, being on the run constantly with his family, Michael isn't sure about going to college. Meantime, Michael also develops a romantic relationship with Phillip's daughter, Lorna and Michael, too struggles in this new relationship due to his identity.
So how does Michael cope with his future and Lorna while trying to keep his family secret?
How will Michael's parents deal with this empty-nest syndrome where their son is growing up and might be leaving them very soon like the other kids?
This film has shown us several interesting themes and these themes can be addressed through the characters and events in the film:
#1 Danny Pope / Michael Manfield
There were a few battles that Danny was going through in the film. He was constantly battling between finding his own identity and living the identities given to him. He battled between pursuing his dreams in music and staying with his family. He battled between disclosing himself to Lorna and keeping his family secret. William Glasser tells us that there are five basic needs in humans - love and belonging, power, fun, survival and freedom. This film showed us that Danny was lacking most of them. He couldn't secure his love and belonging because of his family secret. He had no safety because he didn't have a stable life as he was running away with his family. He also couldn't pursue his dream of attending college and this showed that he had no fun, no power of his own life and no freedom.
Being the eldest son of the Pope family, Danny was seen to be always taking care of his family members (and their huge secrets). As though he was scoring every single point on the Firstborn Syndrome, he was always responsible, intelligent, independent, obedient to his parents and very caring, especially to his mother. There were a few times when he grew tired of his constantly-running-away life and complained to his mother. But every time he'd end up caring for her feelings and he'd stopped questioning his life for the sake of his parents. On top of that, when Gus (Arthur and Annie's old friend) came to their house and offended his mother, he was there to emotionally support her - he offered her a hug (the kind of hug which tells somebody that everything is going to be alright). And his mother, as though she knew she could rely on her son entirely, relieved her stress and embraced him. Almost at the end of the movie, when they were forced to move again, Danny had a hard time separating with his girlfriend and his ambition. As much as he wanted to settle down and have a normal life, he was struggling at the same time to want to keep the unity of his family. There was a scene where he told Lorna, "They need me." I personally find this scene showed that there was indeed a strong bond of unity in his family and as much as he was tired of his life, he loved his family for who they were and was willing to go through ups and downs together (even though no one knew how long they were going to do this for).
#2 Arthur Pope / Paul Manfield (Father)
In this film, Arthur portrayed himself as the leader (alpha male) of the house whose words are as good as verdict. He could be stubborn at times but no doubt that he loved his family very much. Personally I really like the scene where he first heard of the news of his mother's death. I didn't like the news but I liked how Arthur portrayed his sadness, his pain. He said nothing, absolutely nothing after he was told the news but his body language showed us how much he regretted and how much pain he was going through at that moment. As he quietly walked towards his truck, he opened the door and leaned on the seat absent-mindedly. We could all understand that he was devastated at the news.
As egoistic and as masculine as he could be as the head of the family, we would expect Arthur to be a strict father who practiced strict disciplinary methods with his children at home. But no, he wasn't that kind of a father. In fact, it was quite interesting to see the way he communicates with his family at home - with his sense of humour. I enjoyed his jokes that came about once in awhile in the film such as "I'm a vegetarian, I don't want tiny fingers in my stew." Even though they may not be an ordinary family (because they were fugitives on the run), Arthur tried his best to give his family a normal life, in fact, a well simple life, for example, they have birthday celebrations.
When we watch this film, it's very easy to see Arthur as a stubborn person who wouldn't want change and to let go of his son. Maybe some people will address this as the empty nest syndrome where parents feel lonely and sad when their children leave home. But from what I see, Arthur had lost his mother (whom he couldn't have visited often) and he once told his wife that this family with his two sons are all that's left now. If he was to let Danny off to pursue his study, that would only mean he would have to give up his son and never to see him again. This situation is far worse than the empty nest syndrome. However, in the end when he'd heard the news of Gus's death while waiting for Danny to join them on the move, he suddenly made his decision to let go off Danny. So what changed his mind? Perhaps, the tragic news of Gus had made Arthur realized that the consequences of living the life as a fugitive were unpredictable. He wouldn't want Danny to keep running away for the rest of his life. He especially wouldn't want Danny to end up like Gus. As much as he wouldn't want to not see Danny again, he would still want the best for his son.
#3 Annie Pope / Cynthia Manfield (Mother)
Unlike her husband, Annie began to grow tired of her life of constantly running away even though she clearly knew that she had no choice but to do so. Between this couple, she was the first one who thought about turning herself in to the police. The only thing drawing her back from doing so currently was her two children. When Gus came to their house, he told Annie that she could just leave and travel far far away. During then, she even admitted that she'd been living a lie and she was really tired already. But as a mother, she carried well her responsibility of caring and raising her children. In this film, many times, Annie would show her feminine and motherly side. For example, after the fight, she knew Arthur was going through a bad day and so she tried to understand her husband instead of talking back at him. Besides that, she often cared for her children's well-being and their feelings. She knew Danny loved classical music more than rock n' roll and so she wanted him to go to the concert at Mr. Phillips's place. She wasn't even angry at Danny when she found out that he went to the Juilliard audition without her permission. She knew Danny loved music and there'll be a future for him if she'd let him go. At the end of the day, she made a choice of sending Danny away to his grandparents. As painful as it was for her to make that decision, she also knew that it was unfair to have Danny lead such life when he'd done nothing wrong in the past. This showed how much a mother would sacrifice for the well-being of her children.
There was an incredibly touching scene where Annie met her father for the first time after 14 years. When Annie's dad saw her, he was completely stunned and showed no expression at all for a very long time (even though Annie was crying already). Even though he was expressionless, his face tells us that there are so many emotions that are actually going through his mind and soul- it's the happy and surprised, together with anger and sadness kind of emotions. Happy because he hadn't seen her for so long. Surprised because he'd never expected to see her now. Angry because of the choice she made. Sad because he'd thought he'd lost his daughter for 14 years. Anyhow, when her dad resented (a bit) her for choosing the kind of life she was leading despite having an opportunity to study at Juilliard's just like Danny, she mentioned that it was a choice she made at that time - a choice in which she had to bear the consequences now. Even though Annie may have sounded regret in her sentence, she never resented the choice she made for herself. This reminded me of Glasser's Choice Theory in which Annie made that choice in order to gain freedom in return - freedom from the war.
It was a bit funny but yet touching about how her father was trying so hard to resist himself from crying. The whole time he was speaking with Annie, he held a stern expression but the moment Annie left, he immediately broke into tears. This last part further proved that he was holding back all those emotions that he was feeling in his mind. This scene was a bit heart breaking to watch because as Annie walked away, her father must be heart broken. Who knows this may be the very last time he'd be able to see her and God knows how many more 14 years he has.
#4 Romance
Every romantic relationship begins in the form of attraction. When Michael first met Lorna for the first time (when he broke into the house and played the piano without permission), it was a bit obvious that Lorna was attracted to him already. The first thing he said to her was about her old photo and somehow, maybe Lorna found him to be funny because she seemed like she couldn't stop smiling. Besides that, apparently the day after that, they met again at school - in the elective class, home economics, aka cooking class. To Lorna, it wasn't ordinary for a boy to take cooking classes so perhaps she'd started to find him interesting, wanted to know more and somewhat, really attracted to this unordinary guy. Not to mention, being paired up together during the class may have contributed to their liking for each other as proximity has been said to play a part in the science of attraction.
As Lorna was clearly attracted to Michael earlier than he was to her, she began her first stage of communication and that is flirting. There were a few scenes where she was obviously flirting or trying to flirt with him. First, she invited him to her house for the concert. Then she dragged him away from her father and offered him a glass of milk before inviting him to her room! When he had to leave, she asked him to sneak out from her window. Not to forget, she even emphasized that outside her window, there was a tree (like she was hinting him that he could obviously use that tree to come in whenever he wants to - which he actually did later in the film). However, at the beginning, it seemed like Lorna was the first person who took the initiative in this relationship. Well, it's understandable because Michael had a family secret to keep. It's no doubt that he couldn't take initiative at all in any new relationship because even his name was a lie.
Therefore, because Michael had the responsibility to keep the secret away from Lorna, he couldn't disclose himself to Lorna even if he wanted to. In relationships, self-disclosure between couples is very important because it contributes a sense of understanding between two people. Without self-disclosure, commitment is even harder to achieve. In the film, Lorna can be seen to want to share her everything with Michael. She was always ready to disclose herself to him but Michael struggled hard to the point that he was afraid of starting this relationship with Lorna even though he knew that he loved her. He thought he had no future and because he was always on the run with his family, he was afraid that he couldn't commit himself entirely in this relationship. For example, he wouldn't even dare to return her passionate kiss.
#5 Lastly, music and emotion
One of the things that I enjoyed the most from this film was the music. To be really specific, I really liked the scene where Annie Pope played the piano together with Danny. It was when she just found out that Danny had gone to the audition without permission and without even telling her in the first place. Of course, as a parent she was mad at the incident. But as she watched her son played the piano, it looked as if she really wanted to ask him why. Then quietly, she sat down beside him and played a melody with him. Even though both Annie and Danny didn't say anything in that scene, the music that they were playing was rather emotional and sad, as if she was asking him 'why' through the music. Even Danny felt the same thing as I did. After they were done, he turned to his mother and asked her, "what's wrong?" But as though she'd already make an important decision in her mind, she didn't answer him.
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The film ended with a cliffhanger. Arthur Pope had suddenly made the decision to let go off Danny just when they were about to flee again and Danny was just standing there waving goodbye to his family. Personally, it was a really heart breaking kind of goodbye to me. It was so brief, without any goodbye hugs and no one actually knows if Danny was going to see his family again.
Can you imagine the feelings and emotions that were going through Danny's mind?
When will be the time that he'll be able to see his family again?
Or, will his mom and dad, and his little brother be safe till the next time they meet?
What will the future without his family hold for him?
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