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Kansas

Play trailer Poster for Kansas R Released Sep 23, 1988 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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18% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 20% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Two teenage guys (Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy) rob a Kansas bank and flee, then cross paths later as fugitive and hero.
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Kansas

Critics Reviews

View All (11) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times The story and the values are so resolutely old-fashioned, and in such a formula way, that I was almost amused. If this movie had been made in the 1940s with Mickey Rooney, it would have felt just right. Rated: 2/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Philip French Observer (UK) It is a long, unlikely tale and the Kansas police must be as stupid as they appear to be in the film to have assisted in its making. Aug 16, 2021 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 2/5 Oct 5, 2005 Full Review Caffeinated Clint Moviehole Dillon and McCarthy make a tight team Rated: 3/5 Mar 31, 2005 Full Review Jon Niccum Lawrence Journal-World Rated: 2/5 Mar 6, 2005 Full Review Steve Crum Kansas City Kansan Somber Matt Dillon vehicle Rated: 3/5 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (16) audience reviews
Jesse James T I Think the Movie was Actually Pretty Good, Though My Opinion Might Be a Little Biased Considering I Live in The Town They Filmed the Movie In. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/25/23 Full Review Kyle J This movie might entertain middle school kids. Maybe. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Kansas is an uneven movie that mixes melodrama of two drifters, with a suspense thriller setting. To see a work of art relatable to this film is "At Close Range", with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken; that film was able to convey the fragile temperaments of its characters through the guise of a suspense genre. One of the elements that causes this film to fall under the weight of its ambition is its indifferent examination of McCarthy's character: the film seems to want to take an objective viewpoint on McCathry's "heroism" versus Dillon's nihilistic persona, and how they seem to be inextricably linked. Yet I didn't see much to do about McCarthy's motivation, and what causes him to be a drifter. Dillon seems to embody more of a drifter attitude without need of a backstory. The music is also glaringly frustrating, as it makes us feel like we're watching an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" due to McCarthy's new found "faith" in hard labor on the frontier land. But this goes back to the problem of my foresaid problem with McCarthy's motivation: he was never a bad guy to begin with, so why the implicated story arc through the music and montage sequences of him doing an honest day's work? I think this movie would've best been served, story-wise, if both of the main characters actually had a history, even a longtime friendship, of being rascals from the beginning, and then one of them breaking off into discovering midwestern "values"; either that, or just make it a damn thriller without the sentimentality! Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a pretty good movie, although I find it kind of funny that it's okay when McCarthy and Dillon commit burglary together, but when Dillon commits a robbery; all of a sudden McCarthy is an angel and Dillon is the bad guy. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Yuck. That music was the worst. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member (First and only viewing - 4/27/2010) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kansas

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Cast & Crew

Drugstore Cowboy 97% 85% Drugstore Cowboy Watchlist Orphans 71% 77% Orphans Watchlist Candy Mountain 100% 74% Candy Mountain Watchlist TRAILER for Candy Mountain Promised Land 73% 47% Promised Land Watchlist Niagara Niagara 50% 82% Niagara Niagara Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Two teenage guys (Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy) rob a Kansas bank and flee, then cross paths later as fugitive and hero.
Director
David Stevens
Producer
George Litto
Screenwriter
Spencer Eastman
Distributor
Trans World Entertainment
Production Co
Trans World Entertainment (TWE)
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 1988, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 7, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.3M
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Surround
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