I suppose Kirk Douglas wasn’t available after It Runs In The Family and Diamonds, or just realized he couldn’t do another film along the same lines as bad as those again.
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
The cutesy twists may not be predictable, but they send the characters through familiar landscapes on the way to an inevitable emotional destination.
Sadly, this predictable film will not mean as much to audiences as it obviously does to its creator.
A somewhat predictable tale of family bonding, given some grit and grace by Christopher Walken and Michael Caine.
While his recent movies have only teased us with his greatness, this one offers the full Christopher Walken.
Although I was kind of lukewarm on the picture before the ending, wanting to like more than I was able to, the surprise in the conclusion won me over.
This might have been a standard-issue, generational male-bonding road movie, if not for the amazing work of Christopher Walken.
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.
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.
First-time writer-director Jordan Roberts' male weepie ricochets between affecting scenes and insufferably maudlin ones.
If you are not anesthetized by the ploddingly sincere direction of Jordan Roberts, the unrelenting country/ pop hit parade on the soundtrack will put you in a stupor.
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.
Around the Bend unflinchingly deals with grief and emotional scars, but it offers a life-affirming meditation on familial ties that bind.
It's a shame we only get a hint of substance at the close of the story, and have to sit through so many lame jokes and so much labored symbolism to get there.
Walken invests Turner, a former convict and heroin addict, with a world-weariness and pathos that far exceed anything in the script -- or the terrible makeup he's wearing.
Despite an absolutely wonderful performance by Walken as a man tortured by his conscience, the trip is a clunky affair, with strained moments of both humor and bathos.
Good performances ground this heart-affecting story about four generations of a dysfunctional family who go on a journey of transformation together.
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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