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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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29 %
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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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81 - 98 (sorted by date)
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There is some nice familial bonding buried in there, somewhere, but it takes too much effort to dig it out.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/08/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

We could use more small character dramas, but hopefully ones with real characters.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
10/07/04
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

Gentlemen, it's a male chick flick -- 'The Dirty Secrets of the Ya-Ya Brotherhood.'

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/07/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

From eccentric old codgers to undisclosed fatal illnesses, Roberts pulls at the heartstrings in the most cliched and commercial ways.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/07/04
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Jordan Roberts's debut as a film director is a heavily padded, thinly conceived, well-meaning movie about four generations of men.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/07/04
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times

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

The plotting is so contrived and unconvincing that Bend tastes more like emotional leftovers.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/07/04
E! Online

It's the showy story, script, and even staging that wear a fella out in this relentlessly precious feature debut by writer-director Jordan Roberts.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/07/04
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[There is] a final revelation which, however anticipated, however contrived, stings just enough to make it feel like life.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/07/04
Ron Stringer
Ron Stringer
L.A. Weekly

A mildly entertaining film that will slip from most minds shortly after the closing credits.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
10/07/04
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
IGN Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
10/06/04
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Veers deep into male-weepie territory even before the dramatic appearance of one character's baby picture provokes a climactic father-son confrontation.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
10/06/04
Joshua Land
Joshua Land
Village Voice

The kind of thing that would be playing nonstop if there were a Lifetime Network for Men

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/06/04
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

A good, unsentimental look at family redemption.

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

Years of tinkering have left a residue of predictability -- a forced feeling of familial bonding burdened with an air of determined idiosyncrasy.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/29/04
Eddie Cockrell
Eddie Cockrell
Variety

The kind of picture where instead of in-depth characterization, each person is given one, maybe two, idiosyncrasies.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/18/04
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

Michael Caine and Christopher Walken, as father & son, do marvels with silences, spaces and gestures while skirting loveable old codger stereotypes.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/12/04
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Although the story often feels contrived, honest performances and smart direction keep the film just the right side of sentimental.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/02/04
Richard James Havis
Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
 
 
81 - 98 (sorted by date)
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