Going Back (film)

Going Back is a 1983 American independent drama film written and directed by Ron Teachworth and starring Bruce Campbell and Christopher Howe. It was Campbell's second feature film, produced shortly after The Evil Dead.

For the 2001 war film also known as Going Back, see Under Heavy Fire.
Going Back
DVD cover image
Directed byRon Teachworth
Written byRon Teachworth
Produced byRon Teachworth
Jill Teachworth
StarringBruce Campbell
Christopher Howe
Perry Mallette
Susan Waderlow Yamasaki
CinematographyJohn Prusak
Edited byChrista Kindt
Wayne Wahrman
Music byDenny Brown
Production
company
R S T Productions
Distributed byBifrost Distribution (DVD)
Release date
  • 1983 (1983)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film had been extremely rare to acquire for a number of years, due to contract disputes between the director, producer, and the bankrupt original distributor. It was finally re-released on DVD in October 2006. The DVD release features an additional audio commentary track by Campbell, director Teachworth and cinematographer John Prusak.

Plot

In 1964, two high school friends, Brice (Campbell) and Cleveland (Howe), leave their suburban neighborhood near Detroit, Michigan to hitch-hike their way to the countryside before going off to college. They are befriended by a lonely farmer, Jack Bodell (Perry Mallette), who offers them a place to stay. As days pass, Cleveland helps Jack around the farm and finds in him the father figure he lacks, while Brice falls in love with a local girl named Cindy (Susan Waderlow-Yamasaki). Four years later, Brice and Cleveland meet up in their senior year of college and decide to "go back" to Jack's farm, where they find much has changed in just a few years.

Cast
Actor Character
Bruce Campbell Brice Chapman
Christopher Howe Cleveland "Clee" Neal
Perry Mallette Jack Bodell
Susan Waderlow-Yamasaki Cindy
Vern Teachworth Cindy's Father

Production

The movie was filmed in Cass City, Michigan, Rochester Hills, Michigan, and parts of Tennessee.

Several of the stories told in the movie by the Brice and Jack characters actually happened to director Ron Teachworth.

The woman kissing her son Cleveland good-bye (at the beginning of the film) is played by the actor's real mother, Noralee Howe.

Reception

Going Back received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Susan Leighton of 1428elm.com gave some praise, stating, "Going Back is a sheer delight for anyone who has enjoyed Bruce Campbell’s works throughout the years. In his second film, you start to see flashes of the actor that he would become. In this performance, he is less stilted and more natural. There is an ease to him which makes his effort as Brice believable."[1] MaryAnn Johanson of FlickFilosopher.com was more critical ("it’s just a little too like a shorthand version of the things it wants to say...about how young people see the world through a gauze of idealism"), but she did praise the cinematography of John Prusak (who would later serve as cinematographer for Michael Moore's Roger & Me).[2]

References
  1. Leighton, Susan (12 September 2017). "Going Back to 1984: The evolution of Bruce Campbell". 1428elm.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  2. Johanson, MaryAnn (October 18, 2006). "Going Back (review)". 1428elm.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
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