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*Act of Vengeance*
Act of Vengeance
	Official VHS cover
Genre	Biography; Crime; Drama
Written by	Trevor Armbrister; Scott Spencer
Directed by	John Mackenzie
Starring	Charles Bronson; Ellen Burstyn; Wilford Brimley
Theme music composer	Frankie Miller
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Frank Konigsberg; Larry Sanitsky
Producers	Anthony Kramreither; Jack Clements; Iris Sawyer
Production locations	Nemacolin, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh; Toronto
Cinematography	Phil Meheux
Editors	Malcolm Cooke; Steve Singleton
Running time	95 minutes
Production companies	Frank Konigsberg Productions; Lorimar Telepictures; HBO Premiere Films; Telepictures Productions; Telepix Canada Corp.
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	April 21, 1986

Act of Vengeance is a 1986 television movie starring Charles Bronson, Ellen Burstyn, Wilford Brimley, and Keanu Reeves in an early role.^[1]

Plot

The movie is based on the book, Act of Vengeance by Trevor Armbrister, a fact-based story about the corruption that occurred during the United Mine Workers' presidential elections in 1969.^[2] The film also portrayed the murder of Joseph "Jock" Yablonski.^[3]

Cast

Charles Bronson as Joseph "Jock" Yablonski
Ellen Burstyn as Margaret Yablonski
Wilford Brimley as Tony Boyle
Hoyt Axton as Silous Huddleston
Robert Schenkkan as Paul Gilly
Ellen Barkin as Annette Gilly
Maury Chaykin as Claude Vealey
Caroline Kava as Charlotte Yablonski
Peg Murray as Ellen Rogers
William Newman as Ezra Morgan
Alan North as Albert Pass
Raynor Scheine as Terrance Madden
Gordon Michael Woolvett as Bobby (credited as Gordon Woolvett)
Alf Humphreys as Ken Yablonski
Joseph Kell as Chip Yablonski
Ken Pogue as Earl Skidmore
Keanu Reeves as Buddy Martin (credited as Keannu Reeves)

Casting Charles Bronson

For the HBO television film, Bronson acted against type and said "it's a complete departure for me, I'm not wearing a moustache, and I'm not carrying a gun. I don't perform any violence in this film."^[4] He also explained since he didn't act for television in a long time, he had to think a lot about it before accepting which he did partly because of his background in mining.^[5] For his commitment on this project, Bronson dropped out of a lead role in The Delta Force (1986).^[6]

Release

Home media

It premiered on April 21, 1986 on HBO under HBO Premiere Films.^[7] The film was released on VHS by HBO/Cannon Video under license from Home Box Office.^[8] But, this film was produced by Lorimar Productions and it belongs to Lorimar (subsequently later it owned by Warner Bros.) originally.^[9]^[10] However, it has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Reception

Greg Burliuk of the Kingston Whig-Standard said it is "a crackling good thriller". Furthermore he praised the actors and the direction.^[11]

Robert DiMatteo of The Advocate-Messenger praised Bronson acting against type. He felt that Mackenzie's direction was especially good when handling the antagonists by saying "he brings out a disturbing comic cretenism in his villains".^[12]

Michael Walch of The Province felt that the movie didn't have a good balance between the Yablonski and Paul Gilly's story and was out of focus. He thought Bronson was miscast, and characters that surround Paul Gilly reduced the quality of the performance of actor Robert Schenkkan.^[13]

Joel Pisetzner of The Record said "it is not a bad movie, merely an incredible underachiever." He felt that Mackenzie made Yablonski too much of a Saint instead of a man hence his story is less interesting than the one of his killer Paul Gilly. While praising the acting, especially of Barkin and Brimley, he also felt many elements of the story were unexplored.^[14]

References

^ "Act of Vengeance ...A True Story (1986)". BFI. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018.
^ Franklin, Ben A. (November 9, 1975). "Act of Vengeance". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
^ "Act of Vengeance (1986) - John Mackenzie | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
^ "Bronson stars in 'Vengeance'". Rocky Mount Telegraph. 75: 17. February 27, 1986.
^ Gardella, Kay (April 19, 1986). "Charles Bronson: 'Violence is against my nature'". The Miami Herald: 7C.
^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ Schneider, Steve (April 20, 1986). "CABLE TV NOTES; THIS TIME AROUND, BRONSON PORTRAYS THE VICTIM". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
^ Pitts, Michael R. (September 17, 2015). Charles Bronson: The 95 Films and the 156 Television Appearances. McFarland. ISBN 9781476610351 – via Google Books.
^ "Lorimar Motion Pictures". BFI. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019.
^ Lewis, Lacey Rose, Andy; Rose, Lacey; Lewis, Andy (January 9, 2014). "How Lorimar, the Company Behind 'Dallas' and 'Falcon Crest,' Bred Hollywood's Ruling Executive Class". The Hollywood Reporter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Burliuk, Greg (October 30, 1986). "Story of a union power struggle is much more than a Charles Bronson vehicle". The Kingston Whig-Standard: 32.
^ DiMatteo, Robert (May 4, 1986). "Harmon is convincing as Bundy". The Advocate-Messenger. 120: TV Parade: 2.
^ Walch, Michael (September 22, 1986). "Vengeance if out of focus". The Province: 34.
^ Joel, Pisetzner (April 18, 1986). "'Act of vengeance' misses its potential". The Record: Television: 43.