Don't Come Knocking

This page has links to news and websites about the Don't Come Knocking movie

About Don't Come Knocking

Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) was once a celebrated star of Western movies, but at sixty, no longer the dashing young headliner, he is forced to accept only supporting roles.  Spence drowns his disappointments in drugs, alcohol and the company of young women.  After yet another night of debauchery, Spence awakens in his trailer to another disappointment – he’s still alive.  And the sobering reality is that, had he died in his sleep, no one would even miss him.  Yet this morning, seemingly like so many others, is the one that’s finally too many.  He gallops away from the set in full cowboy costume on the studio’s horse. 

Spence reaches an isolated train station, trades clothes with an old ranch hand (James Gammon) and travels to his boyhood home in Elko , Nevada where his elderly mother (Eva Marie Saint) still lives.  Mom takes gentle care of him, sensing his inner turmoil.  Then one day she mentions a girl who called over twenty years ago looking for Spence.  She surmised that the girl was pregnant.

Captivated by the idea that he has a grown child somewhere, Spence sees a path to salvation from his meaningless life.  At about this time Sutter (Tim Roth), a private detective hired by the studio whose project Spence abandoned, shows up in Elko.  Reminded of the life he fled, Spence goes on the run again, this time to find his child.

He goes straight to Butte , Montana , where 25 years earlier he filmed the picture that made him a star.  There he had an affair with a waitress named Doreen (Jessica Lange), who is still working at the local coffee shop.  Her son Earl (Gabriel Mann) is a rock musician living in town with his girlfriend, Amber (Fairuza Balk).  Spence’s meeting with the son he never knew goes badly.  He is just about to leave Butte when a young woman named Sky (Sarah Polley) appears out of the blue.  She and Earl are the same age, and are in fact half-siblings, Sarah the product of another of Spence’s short flings.  The siblings never knew about each other, and now things get really complicated as Spence sorts through the life he missed and discovers the family that could have been.

News Articles about Don't Come Knocking

Charlotte Observer 6/9/06 `Don't Come Knocking': OK, I won't

Knox News 5/6/06 Quirky, wry 'Don't Come Knocking' has promising start, but fades toward the end

Globe and Mail 4/21/06 Don't Come Knocking **

Chicago Sun-Times 4/7/06 Don't Come Knocking - Roger Ebert review

Philly.com 4/7/06 'Knocking' begins well but is saddled with cliches

Houston Chronicle 4/7/06 A roamin' holiday that dissolves into an ego trip

Rocky Mountain News 4/7/06 Wenders' 'Knocking' an interesting stumble

Seattle PI 3/24/06 'Don't Come Knocking' offers only minor pleasures

Seattle Times 3/24/06 "Don't Come Knocking": A resonant search for a home on the range

Zap2It 3/17/06 Don't Come Knocking

Zap2It 3/16/06 Wim and Vigorous Women

Entertainment Weekly 3/15/06 Don't Come Knocking

CBS2 3/13/06 'Don't Come Knocking'

Websites about Don't Come Knocking

Official Site

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