<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $6.5 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $2.3 million </Td> </Tr> <P> At Close Range is a 1986 American crime drama film directed by James Foley, based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s . It stars Sean Penn and Christopher Walken, with Mary Stuart Masterson, Sean's brother Chris Penn, David Strathairn, Crispin Glover, Kiefer Sutherland, and Eileen Ryan (the Penns' real - life mother) in supporting roles . The film was critically acclaimed . </P> <P> Brad Whitewood Sr. is the leader of an organized crime family . One night, his estranged oldest son, Brad Jr., contacts him after a fight with his mother's boyfriend and stays with him at his home in Homeville, Pennsylvania . Eventually, he becomes involved with his father's criminal activities, and starts a gang with his half - brother, Tommy . The boys attempt a daring heist, which results in their arrest . All of them are bailed out except Brad Jr . </P>

What is the movie at close range about