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Around the Bend

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Around the Bend (2004)

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29 %
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Reviews Counted:92

Fresh:27

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.9/10

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $117,093

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

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Reviews for Around the Bend

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/19/04
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Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/22/04
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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
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Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

The plotting is so contrived and unconvincing that Bend tastes more like emotional leftovers.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/07/04
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Roberts sat on his script for years, and it has gone stale.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/14/04
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

All the script has going for it is its tears.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Mercury | comment Comment
10/28/04
Anthony Del Valle
Anthony Del Valle
Las Vegas Mercury

While he avoids the bathos found in many male weepies, screenwriter and first-time director Jordan Roberts never quite goes the distance into compelling drama, either.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/08/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

It’s rare for a film of average substance to feature the diverse gifts of a legendary actor, but director Roberts is smart enough to linger on Walken’s intense, gaunt face.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
10/09/04
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

Gentlemen, it's a male chick flick -- 'The Dirty Secrets of the Ya-Ya Brotherhood.'

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/07/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Around the Bend has outstanding acting and a short running time, and still the story runs thin.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
10/22/04
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

The kind of thing that would be playing nonstop if there were a Lifetime Network for Men

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/06/04
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

The premise is one of those only-in- the-movies deals: Walken, Lucas and Bobo take off on a road trip during which old family wounds are instantaneously healed while the sun sets in the west.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
10/21/04
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

In the end Around the Bend isn't an awful movie. It's merely forgettable.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
10/29/04
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

Shamelessly sincere and shamefully contrived.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
10/15/04
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

The story is spotty, but the acting is fine, especially when Walken is around.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
10/07/04
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

There's not much happening even when the viewer eventually gets around the bend.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/31/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

First-time filmmaker Jordan Roberts worked on this project for years, but merely ended up with dreary cliche.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/15/04
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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