Don't Come Knocking

R

2005

2h 5m

Drama

List

43%

101 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Washed-up movie star Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) spends his days drowning his sorrows in an endless stream of drugs and alcohol, but news that he may have fathered a child offers him a ray of hope. He sets out to find his offspring and discovers a whole life that he has missed.

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Critics Consensus

The cinematography conjures beautifully evocative landscapes, but aside from that, the film is meandering and pointless.

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Jerod S

There was a chance for "Don't Come Knocking" to have a point, especially when it comes to bringing family into focus after brokenness. Sam Shepherd doesn't have a lot of lines to deliver and the ones he does are lifeless. Even Jessica Lange can't save this script.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I lile the photography,Good mood,Nice takes, music well choosen

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A man's journey into his past turns up a son he never knew that he had and small town living that clearly doesn't care if he's around or not. Wenders makes a pretty film, but an aging movie star who flees a set and goes on a journey of...personal discovery (?) just never fully engages the audience, as he doesn't seem to know why he's there either, y'know? It's an okay time-waster, but I would be hard pressed to say when I would revisit this one. A rental, at best.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

So underrated. It's a real shame nobody seems to get this wonderful film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It never really works, but Wim Wenders movie can't help but be a pleasure. It has the feel of something that might have been made in the '70's. As expected, Shepard and Lange are outstanding. Despite its flaws, fans of the three main artists will enjoy every moment.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Frances H

Quirky off beat story of a man who decides rather late in life that it's time to pick up the dropped threads of a life he abandoned a long time ago. Love Sarah Polley's role and the Hopper inspired camera work.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/03/14

Full Review

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Wim Wenders

Director

Sam Shepard

Howard Spence

Jessica Lange

Doreen

Tim Roth

Sutter

Gabriel Mann

Earl

Sarah Polley

Sky

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

Despite the film's false notes, its balladlike moods ring true.

Oct 30, 2017

Full Review

Richard Falcon

Sight & Sound

[It has] a terrific sense of place, something missing from much contemporary US cinema.

Sep 28, 2006

Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

By the time we get to the point where the camera is endlessly circling Shepard sitting on a sofa in the middle of the street, it feels as if he and his director were making things up as they went along.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

The bitterness of the playwright's vision is expanded by the director's fascinated fondness for American culture

Aug 30, 2009

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Apart from an extraordinary scene of attempted reconciliation between Shepard and Lange "Don't Come Knocking" is an inflated drama that lies stagnate on the screen.

Rated: C

Apr 20, 2009

Full Review

Jonathan Kiefer

Sacramento News & Review

Rated: 3/5

Aug 7, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Washed-up movie star Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) spends his days drowning his sorrows in an endless stream of drugs and alcohol, but news that he may have fathered a child offers him a ray of hope. He sets out to find his offspring and discovers a whole life that he has missed.

Director: Wim Wenders
Producer: Jeremy Thomas, Wim Wenders
Screenwriter: Sam Shepard
Production Co: Road Movies
Rating: R (Language|Brief Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 17, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $438.7K
Runtime: 2h 5m

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