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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:92

Fresh:27

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.9/10

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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61 - 80 (sorted by date)
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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.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/14/04
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

The cutesy twists may not be predictable, but they send the characters through familiar landscapes on the way to an inevitable emotional destination.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/14/04
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

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

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While his recent movies have only teased us with his greatness, this one offers the full Christopher Walken.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/14/04
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
10/11/04
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

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

First-time writer-director Jordan Roberts' male weepie ricochets between affecting scenes and insufferably maudlin ones.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/08/04
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A cloying mixture of whimsy and sentiment.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
10/08/04
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

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
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

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

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.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
10/08/04
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
10/08/04
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
10/08/04
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Good performances ground this heart-affecting story about four generations of a dysfunctional family who go on a journey of transformation together.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
10/08/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date)
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