Wisdom

Wisdom is a 1986 American romantic crime film written and directed by its star Emilio Estevez in his filmmaking debut. The film also stars Demi Moore, along with Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright as Estevez's parents. The ending credits song is "Home Again" by Oingo Boingo and the score by Danny Elfman.
The film is dedicated to the memory of Henry Proach, who was a good friend of Estevez, and who appears briefly in the picture.
==Plot==
John Wisdom is a young man just out of college. On the night of his high school graduation, he had gotten drunk and stolen a car.
With a grand theft auto conviction he is branded a felon and as a result can not hold down a decent job. Seeing no future for himself, Wisdom takes a left turn: he decides to become a criminal "for the people", evocative of Robin Hood.
After seeing news reports about impoverished farmers and working class people being sent to the bank to pay ownership debts, Wisdom goes on a bank robbing spree with his girlfriend, Karen Simmons. He planned to do it alone, but she insists giving him a ride on the first job, so inadvertantly becomes his accomplice.
They don't steal money, but rather erase loan and mortgage records, buying time for the poor to pay their debts. At a small motel, the owner recognises them. Not able to keep it to himself, he and half a dozen people come to thank them, bearing gifts. Among them is a new vehicle.
With the FBI after them, things take a turn for the worse. At the motel they'd been staying at they shoot it up, only to find Wisdom and Karen have already gone.
Unfortunately, a panicky Karen kills a local sheriff who recognises her in a convenience store. She and Wisdom make a run for the Canada–United States border, but when Karen is shot by a police helicopter, Wisdom leaves her in the care of some high school students and their teacher.
Wisdom resumes his flight on foot on the school grounds, first unloading his gun before he is surrounded by police and federal agents at the football field. As he appears to be reaching for his gun, he is riddled with gunfire and dies.
John wakes up where the film started, in his parents' bathroom. He emerges from the bathtub and proceeds to get ready for his job interview. His entire story has apparently been a daydream.
==Cast==
* Emilio Estevez as John Wisdom
* Demi Moore as Karen Simmons
* Tom Skerritt as Lloyd Wisdom
* Veronica Cartwright as Samantha Wisdom
* William Allen Young as Agent Williamson
* Richard Minchenberg as Agent Cooper
* Ernie Brown as Bill, Motel manager
* Charlie Sheen as City Burger manager
* Brenda Medcalf as Girl on bike
==Reception==
The film received negative reviews from critics: Leonard Maltin considered it "wretchedly scripted, with one of the most self-defeating wrap-ups you'll ever see."Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Estevez later said the film "was a very disappointing experience – the outcome of it. I shouldn't say disappointing. I should say devastating – the response, how it was received. I tell you what: It was not a great film, but it was a good film. And I believe that now... I think if I show an area of weakness, it's in the writing and in the structure of my writing. I think I need to get an objective point of view." "
Moore and Estevez broke up not long after the film's release. She later recalled "there was a strong lash-out against Emilio. I can't get in the skins of those people who wrote what they wrote... I thought he did a great job and that his directing was very strong for someone who had never done this before."
"I took a beating from critics and I took it personally", said Estevez later. "I was broken for a period of time. But I've learned you really can't take it personally. . . . Making a film at that age was winning the battle. Having it released was icing on the cake."
Estevez added "I learned that you don't go into a project with a script that's not ready. You've got to have all the bugs worked out before you start... I also learned how to be more economical with my shots and with my time... [I was] like a kid in a candy store. When you're 23 and somebody hands you $4.5 million and tells you to go out and make a film, there will be some excesses."
==See also==
* 1986 in film
* Cinema of the United States
* List of American films of 1986
==References==
==External links==
* 
* 
* 
Category:1986 crime films
Category:1986 directorial debut films
Category:1986 films
Category:1986 independent films
Category:1986 romance films
Category:20th Century Fox films
Category:American crime films
Category:American independent films
Category:American romance films
Category:Films about bank robbery
Category:Films about dreams
Category:Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Category:Films directed by Emilio Estevez
Category:Films scored by Danny Elfman
Category:Films set in Minnesota
Category:Films shot in California
Category:Films shot in Los Angeles
Category:Films shot in New Mexico
Category:Golan-Globus films
Category:Romantic crime films
Category:1980s English-language films
Category:1980s American films
Category:Films produced by Robert Wise