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Around the Bend (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:27
Rotten:65
Average Rating:4.9/10
Synopsis: "Around the Bend" is inspired by the relationship between writer-director Jordan Roberts and the absentee father he barely knew. It tells the story of four generations of men who are suddenly... "Around the Bend" is inspired by the relationship between writer-director Jordan Roberts and the absentee father he barely knew. It tells the story of four generations of men who are suddenly brought together by the chance to uncover the truth about their family's past. The journey will take them out on the road to a world full of surprises-some comic, some dramatic, and all of them personal. Jason Lair (Josh Lucas) is a simple man with a simple wish: a normal life. This isn't an easy goal for the mild-mannered bank employee: Jason is newly separated from his wife, who has left him to care for their six-year-old son Zach (Jonah Bobo) while she paints in Nepal, and his ailing grandfather Henry (Oscar® winner Michael Caine), a former archaeologist close to death, is investigating alternative rituals for his impending funeral ("I'm not going in the ground!" he protests.) So when Jason's estranged father and Henry's son Turner (Oscar® winner Christopher Walken), whose checkered past includes exploits from the musical to the criminal, pays the family an unexpected visit, nothing is 'simple' or 'normal' in Jason's life anymore. In the coming days, the somewhat reluctant Lair men will embark on a trip not only through the mythic beauty of the Desert Southwest, but across the family's own rocky emotional landscape. Forced together by a deep loss, these very different people find a great deal along the way-devastating secrets, amazing discoveries and, just as Henry wanted… each other. Warner Independent Pictures presents a Kirkham-Lewitt Production "Around the Bend," directed by Jordan Roberts from his original screenplay. Producers are Elliott Lewitt and Julie Kirkham. Executive Producer is Ronald G. Smith. Director of photography is Michael Grady. Production designer is Sarah Knowles. Editor is Francoise Bonnot, A.C.E. Costume designer is Alix Friedberg. Composer is David Baerwald. The film stars Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas and Michael Caine. Also in the film are Glenne Headly, Jonah Bobo and Kathryn Hahn. -- © Warner Independent [More]
Starring: Christopher Walken, Joshua Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
Starring: Christopher Walken, Joshua Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Jonah Bobo, Norbert Weisser, David Eigenberg
Director: Jordan Roberts
Director: Jordan Roberts
Screenwriter: Jordan Roberts
Producer: Julie Kirkham, Elliot Lewitt
Composer: David Baerwald
Studio: Warner Independent
Reviews for Around the Bend
Endearing performances and a witty script make up for the awkward pacing and maudlin premise. **
This movie is too precious by half, but the smooth, unhurried performances of Caine and Walken (along with the sturdy work of Josh Lucas) allow plenty of room for forgiveness.
Sometimes you have to dig up the past and deal with it. Life is full of little surprises and nice moments and this movie has both.
Around the Bend unflinchingly deals with grief and emotional scars, but it offers a life-affirming meditation on familial ties that bind.
Michael Caine and Christopher Walken breath spirited life into debut writer/director Jordan Roberts' road trip of family bonding in this independent movie with a big heart.
The film is not quite the deep drama or outrageous comedy it tries to be, but an engaging little story nonetheless.
While his recent movies have only teased us with his greatness, this one offers the full Christopher Walken.
Michael Caine and Christopher Walken, as father & son, do marvels with silences, spaces and gestures while skirting loveable old codger stereotypes.
Good performances ground this heart-affecting story about four generations of a dysfunctional family who go on a journey of transformation together.
There are a couple of minor detours, but on the whole the movie never loses its way.
Jordan Roberts' feature debut pulls off the dizzying high-wire act of being both a misty-eyed glimpse into four generations of the men in the Lair family and a steely meditation on manhood, parenting, and the pitfalls thereof.
[W]alks a fine line that many films fall to navigate: the one that divides wacky-for-wacky’s-sake from the wacky kind of oddballness that characterizes, you know, life.
An unusual, oddly satisfying film that's part road movie and part emotional drama.
The dynamo performance Walken provides is akin to what Michael Jordan did on the basketball court, making everyone around him better.
Although the story often feels contrived, honest performances and smart direction keep the film just the right side of sentimental.
This might have been a standard-issue, generational male-bonding road movie, if not for the amazing work of Christopher Walken.
In Michael Caine and Christopher Walken and Josh Lucas, [Roberts has] surrounded himself with a first-rate cast who, with one exception, seize the day.
Latest News for Around the Bend
January 12, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Regal "Holiday," A Well-Trodden "Road," A Tepid "Tristan"
This week at the movies brings us films about a risk-averse woman cutting loose ("Last Holiday"), a groundbreaking underdog basketball team ("Glory Road"),... More...
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