Overview
A family on the run grapples with the cost of freedom and the ties that bind them.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- wistful
- tender
- serious
- reflective evening
- classic film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Sidney Lumet’s emotionally powerful family drama, gradual romance, screenplay, and especially River Phoenix’s performance, while finding the material somewhat overextended.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Popes live under false identities and remain pursued because of their Vietnam-era antiwar action.
Danny wants an autonomous life while understanding that leaving could expose or permanently separate him from his parents.
Danny and Lorna’s courtship grows amid the Popes’ concealed identity and constant threat of discovery.
The Popes repeatedly relocate and cannot use their real identity, making every community provisional.
Films like Running on Empty, and why
The Ice Storm
shared coming-of-age drama, family secrecy, political conscience, and bittersweet emotional stakes
Ordinary People
shared intimate family drama, young people seeking independence, and wistful coming-of-age tone
The Mosquito Coast
shared fugitive family dynamics, political idealism, and tension between parental convictions and youthful freedom
Say Anything...
shared romantic coming-of-age story shaped by family conflict, social history, and restrained emotional realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Sidney Lumet
- Release Date
- 1988-09-09
- Runtime
- 116 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (371)
Cast
- Christine Lahti
- River Phoenix
- Judd Hirsch
- Jonas Abry
- Martha Plimpton
- Ed Crowley
- L.M. Kit Carson
- Steven Hill
- Augusta Dabney
- David Margulies
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Running on Empty about?
- A gifted teenager in a fugitive antiwar family must choose between building an independent future and preserving the fragile life that has kept his parents free.
- What is Running on Empty like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Running on Empty as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Running on Empty violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Running on Empty as mild.
- What did critics think of Running on Empty?
- Critics broadly praised Sidney Lumet’s emotionally powerful family drama, gradual romance, screenplay, and especially River Phoenix’s performance, while finding the material somewhat overextended.
- Which films are like Running on Empty?
- Films with a similar feel include The Ice Storm, Ordinary People, The Mosquito Coast, and Say Anything....
- How long is Running on Empty?
- Running on Empty runs 116 minutes.
- Where can I watch Running on Empty?
- In United States, Running on Empty is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
