The Indian Runner (1991)

I considered turning off this film, about two adult brothers who chose very different life paths, a number of times, but managed to get through it. The brothers are David Morse, a farmer turned cop living in his hometown with his wife and young son, and Viggo Mortensen, a restless Vietnam vet who returns to town after being released from prison. Their parents are admirably played by Charles Bronson and Sandy Dennis in her last role. Valeria Golino inexplicably plays Morse’s Mexican wife while Patricia Arquette is Mortensen’s pregnant and somewhat unhinged love interest. There’s not much to the film beyond the brothers trying to figure out themselves and their relationship to each other and their families. Those two performances are strong, particularly Morse’s, and offer the main reason for watching the film.