If you walked into a video store in 1989 and saw a VHS cover featuring a young Keanu Reeves with a half-shaved punk haircut and a lopsided smirk, you’d probably assume you were looking at another Bill & Ted knockoff. But you’d be wrong. Dead wrong.
The Prince of Pennsylvania movie is one of those bizarre, flickering artifacts of the late 80s that somehow slipped through the cracks of mainstream cinema. It’s a film that exists in a weird pocket of time—right after Keanu became a "thing" but before the world decided he was an action icon. Directed by Ron Nyswaner, who later penned the Oscar-winning Philadelphia, it’s a story about a kid named Rupert Marshetta who just wants to blow things up—literally and figuratively.
Honestly, it's kinda shocking how many people haven't seen this. We’re talking about a cast that includes Fred Ward, Bonnie Bedelia, and Amy Madigan. It’s a blue-collar, coal-town kidnapping comedy that feels more like a gritty indie drama from the early 90s than a neon-soaked 80s flick.
What Actually Happens in The Prince of Pennsylvania?
The plot is basically a fever dream of suburban angst. Rupert (Reeves) lives in Mars, Pennsylvania—a town that feels as desolate as the planet it’s named after. His dad, Gary (played with terrifying intensity by Fred Ward), is a coal miner who treats the family like a military unit. Gary thinks he’s the "King of Pennsylvania," and he’s got the ego to match.
Rupert is the "prince," but he’s a prince in a garage filled with scrap metal and failed inventions.
Things go south fast when Rupert finds out his dad is cheating on his mom (Bonnie Bedelia). Instead of a standard family confrontation, Rupert decides the best course of action is to kidnap his own father for ransom. He teams up with Carla (Amy Madigan), an older, disillusioned hippie who runs an ice cream shop.
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It’s an absurd premise. You’ve got this kid trying to extort money from his own family, only to find out that nobody actually wants to pay to get the dad back. The movie shifts from "funny-ha-ha" to "wow-that’s-depressing" in a way that modern movies rarely attempt.
The Weird, Wonderful Casting of 1988
Let's talk about Keanu. This was the same year Dangerous Liaisons came out. People forget that back then, nobody knew if Keanu was a "serious actor" or just a guy who looked good in a leather jacket. In The Prince of Pennsylvania movie, he plays Rupert with this strange, philosophical detachment. He quotes Socrates (and actually pronounces it right, a year before Bill & Ted made the "So-crates" joke famous).
The chemistry between Reeves and Amy Madigan is... complicated. She’s much older than him, and the movie doesn’t really shy away from how messy that is. Carla isn't some manic pixie dream girl; she’s a tired woman with a kid and a lot of regrets.
- Fred Ward as Gary: He brings a raw, masculine energy that makes the kidnapping feel genuinely dangerous.
- Bonnie Bedelia as Pam: She’s the heart of the movie, caught between a husband she can't stand and a son she doesn't understand.
- Jay O. Sanders as "Trooper" Joe: The local cop who adds another layer of small-town complication.
The film was shot in and around Pittsburgh—places like McKeesport, Perryopolis, and Shaler Township. It uses the rusting, industrial backdrop of Pennsylvania to perfection. It doesn't look like a Hollywood set because it isn't one. The grit is real.
Why Critics (and Audiences) Were So Confused
When this thing hit theaters in September 1988, it bombed. Like, $5,415 at the box office kind of bombed. That’s not a typo. According to Box Office Mojo, its domestic opening was just over three thousand dollars.
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Why? Because the marketing didn't know what to do with it. Was it a teen rebellion movie? A dark comedy? A gritty working-class drama?
Roger Ebert famously hated it. He gave it two stars, complaining that the "goofy" kidnapping plot clashed too much with the "grounded" family drama. He wasn't entirely wrong, but that dissonance is exactly why people love it now. It’s an uncomfortable watch. It’s messy. It’s human.
The soundtrack is another hidden gem. You’ve got a score by Thomas Newman, who went on to do The Shawshank Redemption and American Beauty. It has that signature Newman sound—ethereal, slightly off-kilter, and deeply atmospheric.
The "Prince" Legacy and Where to Find It
If you’re looking to watch The Prince of Pennsylvania movie today, you might have a hard time. It’s not always on the major streaming platforms like Netflix or Max. You can usually find it for rent or purchase on Apple TV or Amazon, but it’s one of those titles that disappears and reappears like a ghost.
It was nominated for a few Independent Spirit Awards back in 1989, including Best First Feature for Nyswaner. Even though it didn't win, the nomination proves that the "industry" recognized something special was happening, even if the general public didn't show up.
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What most people get wrong about this movie is assuming it’s just a "Young Keanu" curiosity. It’s actually a pretty biting critique of the American Dream in the 1980s. It’s about the realization that the "inheritance" promised to the next generation—the title of "Prince"—is often just a pile of debt and a decaying house in a coal town.
Actionable Insights for Fans and New Viewers
If you’re planning on diving into this one, keep a few things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Don't expect a comedy. Even though it's often labeled as one, the "humor" is incredibly dark and often buried under layers of suburban sadness.
- Watch the background. The filming locations in Western Pennsylvania are gorgeous in a bleak way. It’s a time capsule of an era before those towns were modernized or completely abandoned.
- Pay attention to the dialogue. Nyswaner is a writer first and foremost. The lines Rupert drops about "offending the common rabble with our truth" are peak 80s pseudo-intellectualism, and they're great.
- Context matters. Watch it as a double feature with My Own Private Idaho. You can see the seeds of Keanu's performance in the latter being planted right here in the dirt of Pennsylvania.
If you’re a Keanu completionist, this is non-negotiable. If you just like weird, offbeat cinema that doesn't follow a 1-2-3-4 act structure, give it a shot. It’s a small, weird, broken movie that has more soul in its 87 minutes than most of the blockbusters released that same year.
To see it for yourself, check your local library's DVD collection or search digital storefronts for "The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988)." It’s a journey to a version of 1980s cinema that doesn't involve neon leg warmers or synth-pop—just coal dust, bad haircuts, and a kid trying to find a way out.