Going All the Way (1997)

71% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
23% of users liked it
(1,260 ratings)

Two men return home from the Army to find that their attitudes on life, love, and the town where they grew up have changed in this bittersweet coming-of-age drama. Sonny Burns (Jeremy Davies) and Gunner Casselman (Ben Affleck) are two guys from Indianapolis who were drafted during the Korean War. In… More Two men return home from the Army to find that their attitudes on life, love, and the town where they grew up have changed in this bittersweet coming-of-age drama. Sonny Burns (Jeremy Davies) and Gunner Casselman (Ben Affleck) are two guys from Indianapolis who were drafted during the Korean War. In high school, Gunner was a football player and big man on campus, while Sonny was a social outcast who kept to himself. Sonny spent most of his hitch in the Army in Kansas City, while Gunner was stationed in Japan and found his perspectives changed by exposure to Asian philosophies. Gunner and Sonny run into each other on a troop train as they return to Indiana in 1954. While they were never close in school, Gunner finds himself reaching out to Sonny, believing that Sonny is a deep thinker, though Sonny spends a lot more time thinking about girls than his place in the universe. Sonny has a girlfriend, Buddy (Amy Locane), who would like to get married; Sonny's mother Alma (Jill Clayburgh) is almost as eager as Buddy to see her son head to the altar, but Sonny doesn't find Buddy very interesting, and he's not sure if he wants to settle in Indianapolis. He's far more attracted to Gail (Rose McGowan), an exotic looking brunette who appeals to his girly-magazine fantasies, but while he can make love to Buddy, he's struck with impotence when Gail offers to sleep with him. Meanwhile, Gunner has fallen in love with Marty Pilcher (Rachel Weisz), a sexy Jewish woman, but Gunner's mother Nina (Lesley Ann Warren), who seems inappropriately fond of her son, doesn't care for Marty and spouts anti-Semitic venom at her son in hopes of driving him away from his new girlfriend. Like Sonny, Gunner finds himself thinking that his destiny lies outside of his home town. Dan Wakefield wrote the screenplay for Going All the Way, based on his own novel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Mark Pellington
Written By: Dan Wakefield
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 19, 1997 Wide
On DVD: May 1, 2001
Studio: Gramercy Pictures

Critic Reviews

Todd McCarthy, Variety
Wakefield's trenchant coming-of-age tale uses a classic pairing of utterly contrasting types to ground his exploration of innocence and experience, of complacency and the thirst for adventure...
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
The only thing that sets it apart from so many forgettable period piece coming-of-age stories is that it has been put together with a degree of care and skill.
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
Even if it's too self-conscious, Going All the Way, set in 1950s Indianapolis, nevertheless has a mix of the sweet and the forlorn that somehow works.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I'm a decade younger than the characters in this movie, but I grew up in a time and place not far from the film's psychic setting. I recognized much.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
An old-fashioned coming-of-age story with a newfangled art-film look...
, Time Out
The leading men never quite show us the essence of their unlikely friendship.
Michael Dequina, Movie Poop Shoot
This funny, oddly moving little film is distinguished by some fine acting.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Ultimately it's goofy and a little bit confusing, but a few of its insights are worthwhile, if far from unique in this genre.
Lael Loewenstein, Boxoffice Magazine
Davies and Affleck, though actors of different styles, share a genuine rapport, and their scenes together seem honest and compassionate.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
First-time feature director Mark Pellington seems a little lost, not quite knowing in what direction to take his film or these characters.
Edward Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly
Wakefield, Pellington and company have much to be proud of here. Hopefully, their work will show other filmmakers that classic books can become winning films, when talented artists respect the integrity of the source.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
Davies steals the show with his sympathetic performance. If you were ever the outcast in school or had a friend who was, Sonny will undoubtedly bring back painful memories.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
[A] myopic male gauntlet of shrews and Jews.
Bob Satuloff, Film Journal International
That rare '50s piece capable of attracting a young '90s audience.
Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Examiner
The camera dances through the imaginations of our heroes with MTV-ish images, and the soundtrack calls up lingering post-World War II tunes mixed with emerging rock 'n' roll to create a bizarre atmosphere that suits Wakefield's material well.