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Movies / On DVD / Around the Bend
Around the Bend

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Around the Bend (2004)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:7

Rotten:22

Average Rating:4.8/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Oct 8, 2004 Limited

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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Release:

Feb 22, 2005

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Reviews for Around the Bend

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Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
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A sentimental journey, to be sure, but is saved by bleakly humorous moments.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/22/04
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
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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.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
10/22/04
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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Walken manages to deliver something pure and heartfelt here. Unfortunately, he's doing so in a film weighed down by coincidences and quirks.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
10/22/04
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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Seems to think it's extra-crunchy, but winds up a pretty regular affair.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
10/22/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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When Roberts should be avoiding the potholes of sentimentality and cliche ... he drives straight at them.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
10/22/04
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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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
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There are a couple of minor detours, but on the whole the movie never loses its way.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
10/21/04
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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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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It's so programmatic, so dogged in hitting the right steps at the right time that it completely lacks spontaneity.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/15/04
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
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Would be a much bigger treat if dramas like this weren't already plentiful on cable television.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/15/04
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle
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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
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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
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Sadly, this predictable film will not mean as much to audiences as it obviously does to its creator.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/14/04
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
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A sobby road movie marked, and marred, by labored performances.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/14/04
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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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
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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
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This might have been a standard-issue, generational male-bonding road movie, if not for the amazing work of Christopher Walken.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
10/11/04
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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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.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/08/04
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday
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Around the Bend unflinchingly deals with grief and emotional scars, but it offers a life-affirming meditation on familial ties that bind.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
10/08/04
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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