Around the Bend

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For other uses, see Around the Bend (disambiguation).
Around the Bend
Around the Bend (movie poster).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJordan Roberts
Written byJordan Roberts
Produced byJulie Kirkham
Elliott Lewitt
StarringChristopher Walken
Josh Lucas
Michael Caine
Glenne Headly
Jonah Bobo
CinematographyMichael Grady
Edited byFrançoise Bonnot
Music byDavid Baerwald
Distributed byWarner Independent Pictures
Release date
  • October 8, 2004 (2004-10-08)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$579,350[1]

Around the Bend is a 2004 road movie written and directed by Jordan Roberts and starring Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, and Jonah Bobo.

Plot[]

The film is inspired by the relationship between Roberts and the absentee, criminally insane, substance-abusing father he barely knew, Robert Stone Jordan (born: Robert Samuel Jordan), a self-styled indie film director/producer in his later years. In the 1970s Bob Jordan toured with Leon Russell for a film project that he thoroughly bungled due to his drug-induced manic behavior. In the 1990s he produced and directed one of the first digitally captured film experiments based on the characters in Alice in Wonderland, often known as "Through the Looking Glass". His last known film project, "Meth" filmed in and around Palmdale/Lancaster CA involved a film "completion fund" scam where he ran off with the Sony Camera equipment loaned to him and the money he had collected from several investors. Upon returning to CA, he would die in 2001 awaiting a liver transplant, without ever contacting his sons. Christopher Walken bore an uncanny resemblance to Robert Jordan both in the physical and in his ability to appear menacing and unpredictable.

Cast[]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Around the Bend received negative reviews from critics, as the film holds a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Around the Bend sets a destination of earnest generational drama, but settles for the most derivative route to get there, veering off course into trite sentimentality."[2] On Metacritic, Around the Bend holds 46 out of a 100 rank based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle wrote "Jordan Roberts' feature debut pulls off the dizzying high-wire act of being both a misty-eyed glimpse into four generations of the men in the Lair family and a steely meditation on manhood, parenting, and the pitfalls thereof".[4]

Despite some positivity about the film from critics, others were of different opinion. For example, Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Around the Bend would be a much bigger treat if dramas like this weren't already plentiful on cable television".[5]

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe, stated: "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".[6]

Erik Lundegaard of The Seattle Times said that "The [film] sadly, wants us to be all warm and cozy. It wants to tuck us into bed. Try not to fall asleep".[7]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times was of the same view. She called the film as "heavily padded [and] thinly conceived", but "[still a] well-meaning movie about four generations of men".[8]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was also not impressed. His observation shows that "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".[9]

According to Eddie Cockrell of Variety the film "[has] a forced feeling of familial bonding burdened with an air of determined idiosyncrasy".[10]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly also chimed in favor of the negative crowd. She called the film's story as "showy", and, according to her "even stag[ed]".[11]

Awards[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Around the Bend". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  2. ^ "Around the Bend (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  3. ^ "Around the Bend". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Savlov, Marc (October 22, 2004). "Around the Bend". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Hartlaub, Peter (October 15, 2004). "Film Clips / Also opening today". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  6. ^ Burr, Ty (October 15, 2004). "Disjointed 'Bend' offers laughs, tears, and product placement". The Boston Globe. Boston.com. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Lundegaard, Erik (October 15, 2004). "Walken, an original-recipe oddball, out of place in mushy "Around the Bend"". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Dargis, Manohla (October 8, 2004). "Learning to Be Fathers and Learning to Be Sons". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 14, 2004). "'Around the Bend' all heart and no soul". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  10. ^ Cockrell, Eddie (September 7, 2004). "Around the Bend". Variety.
  11. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 17, 2020). "Around the Bend". Entertainment Weekly.

External links[]

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