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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 source; Australian critics are listed first)
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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 dynamo performance Walken provides is akin to what Michael Jordan did on the basketball court, making everyone around him better.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/27/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

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.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/21/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

... a student film that benefits from the participation of solid professionals.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/07/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A somewhat predictable tale of family bonding, given some grit and grace by Christopher Walken and Michael Caine.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/14/04
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/24/04
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/20/05
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Of course, audiences need and deserve tales of family reconciliation, but that doesn't make this one any less bogus at its softly fluttering heart.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/15/04
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/19/04
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

True to the male-bonding genre template, Around the Bend is a road movie that churns up everything required for a good laugh and a good cry.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/08/04
Susan Green
Susan Green
Boxoffice Magazine

I liked "Around the Bend" enough to wish it were a better movie.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
11/05/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

It's one of those films where the characters always seem to be Behaving, as if ordinary life has to be jacked up into eccentricity.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/15/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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

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
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

O diretor e roteirista estreante exibe um autêntico desespero em emocionar o público com os personagens e tom tipicamente “indies”, mas o resultado é simplório e entediante.

comment Comment
11/25/04
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

The film is a modest vehicle for large talents and should have earned its funding as a matter of product placement.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/24/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

A good, unsentimental look at family redemption.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
10/04/04
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Given the plotline, how about a KFC promotion in which their chicken is sold in a bucket that's shaped like an urn?

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
10/27/04
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Around the Bend

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