The Prince of Pennsylvania

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The Prince of Pennsylvania

R

1988

1h 33m

Drama

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

14%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Rupert Marshetta (Keanu Reeves), a loud-mouthed punk rocker with a taste for the intellectual, is bored stiff and on the verge of failing out of his senior year of high school. But when Marshetta meets drive-in theater operator Carla Headlee (Amy Madigan), he finds a mentor who has much to teach him, and an unlikely friendship results. Soon, the two decide to leave their small town. To raise money, Rupert and Carla resolve to abduct Rupert's father, Gary (Fred Ward), and hold him for ransom.

Nigel Floyd

Time Out

The quirky charm soon wears thin as the shrewd observations of small town frustration give way to a more strained oddball humour.

Jun 24, 2006

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

The Prince of Pennyslania, which strives for droll, idiosyncratic humor, is in its own way as narrow and limited as the small-town life it means to skewer.

Aug 30, 2004

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The Prince of Pennsylvania represents a kind of film that has become lamentably popular in recent years. It forces realistic characters into an absurd plot, and expects us to accept the plot because we believe in the characters.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 1/5

Jun 26, 2005

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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Beyond their quirks these people are little more than unappealing narcissists. Ron Nyswaner's film is a royal waste of time.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 27, 2004

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David Poland

Hot Button

Rated: 3/5

Jul 26, 2002

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Bulgantamir B

I really liked the talented actors

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/04/24

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Bahad j

In my opinion, the movie uses very good camera and audio visual equipment and the crew members and the filmmakers have played their roles very well. I really liked it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/12/24

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Бавуу Э

Rupert Marshetta (Keanu Reeves), a loud-mouthed punk rocker with a taste for the intellectual, is bored stiff and on the verge of failing out of his senior year of high school. But when Marshetta meets drive-in theater operator Carla Headlee (Amy Madigan), he finds a mentor who has much to teach him, and an unlikely friendship results. Soon, the two decide to leave their small town. To raise money, Rupert and Carla resolve to abduct Rupert's father, Gary (Fred Ward), and hold him for ransom.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/03/24

Full Review

Te O

I thought it was actually pretty good

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the engaging Keanu Reeves classics!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

There is not much to say about Keanu Reeves acting when he was younger. Well you could say it sucked a bit. He had that surfer guy voice and attitude which was in most of his movies in the 80s. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not. In this movie it did not. The haircut he had was just strange. I couldn't stop looking at it. The title of the movie makes no sense until the end of the film when he says one line. The end of the film wasn't even that good either. The whole movie was just off pudding and there were a few parts that made you watch. The movie had no swearing, but a nude scene that made it rated R. Great thinking when writing this film. The rest of the cast was ok. The best performance was probably by Fred Ward who played the father.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Ron Nyswaner

Director

Fred Ward

Gary Marshetta

Keanu Reeves

Rupert Marshetta

Bonnie Bedelia

Pam Marshetta

Amy Madigan

Carla Headlee

Jay O. Sanders

Trooper Joe

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Synopsis

Rupert Marshetta (Keanu Reeves), a loud-mouthed punk rocker with a taste for the intellectual, is bored stiff and on the verge of failing out of his senior year of high school. But when Marshetta meets drive-in theater operator Carla Headlee (Amy Madigan), he finds a mentor who has much to teach him, and an unlikely friendship results. Soon, the two decide to leave their small town. To raise money, Rupert and Carla resolve to abduct Rupert's father, Gary (Fred Ward), and hold him for ransom.

Director: Ron Nyswaner
Producer: Joan Fishman
Screenwriter: Ron Nyswaner
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 16, 2018
Runtime: 1h 33m

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