[4]
John Lithgow gives a commendable performance in this stillborn drama about a Vietnam vet suffering from intense post-traumatic stress living in the remote wilderness with a few other troubled vets. After one vet ‘kisses the train’ (steps into the path of a coming train) to end it all, Lithgow’s character makes baby steps toward rejoining society. He gets a logging job where a sympathetic woman (Kerrie Keane) helps him reestablish communication with his son, played by Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid). When Macchio, now a high school graduate, comes to visit, Lithgow gets nervous and retreats into the woods. Keane leads Macchio into the woods to find him, pursued by a jealous boyfriend (Jamey Sheridan) who sparks a violent showdown with the troubled vets.
Lithgow succeeds in depicting the isolating pain of his character, one haunted and broken by the violence of war. Macchio also has his moments in the film, especially during the initial, awkward reunion of father and son. The film struggles with pacing and momentum, but the first two thirds works, more or less, as an overwrought drama. The idea of vets living like hermits in the wilderness is an intriguing one that offers the film a lot of beautiful forest photography. When Distant Thunder enters its third act, though, things fall apart as the script trudges into a formulaic, action-oriented climax that feels disingenuous and inappropriate. One of the supporting actors, Denis Arndt, becomes tiresome as he tries too hard to play a ‘crazy’ but well-meaning vet, and composer Maurice Jarre does the film no favors with a needlessly dreary, droning score.
With Reb Brown, Janet Margolin, and Tom Bower. Directed by Rick Rosenthal (Halloween II).