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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 date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 29 2009 03:16 AM

Cinema Crazed

tomato
B

Cole Smithey

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: | comment Comment | Apr., 18 2009 01:22 PM

ColeSmithey.com

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 24 2006 04:01 AM

Time Out

tomato
3/5

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Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 01 2006 04:03 AM

Empire Magazine

tomato
3/5

Uri Lessing

...in many ways the softer scenes have more punch to them than any of the emotional confrontations or dramatic revelations

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 25 2005 02:20 PM

www.kcactive.com

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 21 2005 03:50 AM

Houston Chronicle

tomato
3/5

Matthew Turner

An unusual, oddly satisfying film that's part road movie and part emotional drama.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 23 2005 03:58 AM

ViewLondon

N/R

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Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 20 2005 03:16 AM

BBC

splat
C-

Mark Pfeiffer

Oozes sentimentality for the plight of these mildly eccentric characters... The problem isn’t the film’s gooey center but the flavorless, formulaic substance surrounding it.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 14 2005 12:14 PM

Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

splat
C-

Dennis Schwartz

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 31 2005 12:24 PM

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

tomato
3/5

David Cornelius

The film is not quite the deep drama or outrageous comedy it tries to be, but an engaging little story nonetheless.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 24 2005 01:31 PM

eFilmCritic.com

splat
C

Philip Martin

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 07 2005 09:37 AM

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

splat
2/4

Steven Snyder

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 27 2004 11:28 PM

Zertinet Movies

splat
1/5

Pablo Villaca

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 | Nov., 25 2004 07:50 PM

Cinema em Cena

splat
2/5

Jules Brenner

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 24 2004 05:05 PM

Cinema Signals

splat

Sean Burns

...the kind of movie that gives sincerity a bad name.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 08 2004 10:20 PM

Philadelphia Weekly

splat
2/4

Jeff Vice

At times it almost feels as if the movie is making fun of itself, acknowledging just how familiar and overdone most of this material is.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 05 2004 02:00 PM

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

splat
2/4

Sean Means

Roberts lets his actors run loose, leading to such embarrassments as Caine's unidentifiable accent or Glenne Headly's turn as Henry's Danish * nurse.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 05 2004 11:39 AM

Salt Lake Tribune

tomato
3/4

Rob Thomas

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 05 2004 08:22 AM

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

splat
1/4

Paul Doro

Technically a motion picture, Around the Bend is essentially an advertisement for Kentucky Fried Chicken. It also happens to be mind-numbingly cloying.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 04 2004 03:23 PM

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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