Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Silent Tongue

Play trailer Poster for Silent Tongue PG-13 1994 1h 42m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
38% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A man (Richard Harris) returns to a charlatan's (Alan Bates) Old West medicine show to kidnap the sister of his son's dead wife.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Silent Tongue

Critics Reviews

View All (16) Critics Reviews
Glenn Kenny Entertainment Weekly The lone lure of this supernatural Western is a truly possessed performance by River Phoenix in his last completed role. Rated: C Apr 21, 2015 Full Review Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times An alternately infuriating and exhilarating example of the Western as an art film. Apr 21, 2015 Full Review John Petrakis Chicago Tribune A strangely satisfying and challenging piece of work, one that illustrates how elements of cinema, literature and theater can work in tandem, thanks to a recipe that is one part Poe and two parts Shakespeare. Rated: 3/4 Apr 21, 2015 Full Review TV Guide Too often, the mystical mise-en-scene and strange doings are left to speak for themselves, as though Shepard hopes that his film will be assumed to be profound because it is incomprehensible. Rated: 2/5 Apr 21, 2015 Full Review Adrian Turner Radio Times Most viewers will wonder what the heck it all means. Rated: 2/5 Apr 21, 2015 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 1/5 Jun 30, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (27) audience reviews
Audience Member All he needs is a voice. Talbot is a man who can't handle the death of his Indian bride and sits under a tree waiting for his death to join her. His father, who made a trade for the Indian bride, seeks the bride's sister in hopes that she can snap his son out of it. The sister reluctantly agrees to help the father but they have no idea how gone the son will be when they finally reach him. "She's just going to die on you...just like I did." Sam Shepard, director of Far North, delivers Silent Tongue in his second major motion picture. The storyline for this picture was just okay and kind of cliché for the genre, but the settings and cast are above average. The cast includes River Phoenix, Alan Bates, Richard Harris, Bill Irwin, and Dermot Mulroney. "The whole prairie is thirsting for our women." I came across a few River Phoenix movies on Netflix and decided to add all of them to my wish list. This was a very average and mediocre addition to the western genre and did not display Phoenix's talent, in my opinion. There really isn't much to see here and I'd probably skip this movie unless you're a fan of the Phoenix. "Their dogs will be eating our testicles by nightfall." Grade: C- Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member If you are drunk or on drugs this movie may actually make sense...otherwise don't waste your valuable time. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member (**): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member I like River Phoenix, and this being the last film released that he starred in, I wanted it to be good. Unfortunately, I found it all rather slow and quite dull in parts. There was a good performance from the entire cast, but sadly that didn't quite save what I thought could have been a much better film. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I KNOW there is a good movie lurking-around somewhere in this poorly edited film . . . River's Last (aside from DARK BLOOD) would somebody release the footage from Dark Blood please? Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review don s With name recognized actors and a western setting, I was ready to love this movie. Instead of the darkly enticing movie I was hoping for, I got this boring, poorly acted morass of Native American legend and old west morality. A movie that tarnishes the memories of Harris and Phoenix and one that Mulroney should wish he could erase from his filmography. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Silent Tongue

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A man (Richard Harris) returns to a charlatan's (Alan Bates) Old West medicine show to kidnap the sister of his son's dead wife.
Director
Sam Shepard
Producer
Carolyn Pfeiffer, Ludi Boeken
Screenwriter
Sam Shepard
Production Co
Canal+
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 2, 2013
Runtime
1h 42m
Most Popular at Home Now