The Roads Not Taken

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The Roads Not Taken
The Roads Not Taken poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySally Potter
Written bySally Potter
Produced byChristopher Sheppard
Starring
CinematographyRobbie Ryan[1]
Edited by
  • Sally Potter
  • Jason Rayton
  • Emilie Orsini
Music bySally Potter
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • February 26, 2020 (2020-02-26) (Berlin)
  • March 13, 2020 (2020-03-13) (United States)
  • September 11, 2020 (2020-09-11) (United Kingdom)
Running time
85 minutes[3]
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Sweden
LanguageEnglish
Box office$105,439[2]

The Roads Not Taken is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Sally Potter. The film stars Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek and Laura Linney.

The Roads Not Taken had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 26, 2020 and was released on March 13, 2020, by Bleecker Street.

Plot[]

The film is told through three different versions of Leo's life which all intercut with each other to form the film's plot. The following plot summary is broken down by location rather than the nonlinear narrative presented onscreen.

New York City[]

Leo lies in bed seemingly unaware that the phone is ringing and the doorbell is buzzing. His daughter, Molly, soon arrives and questions Leo as to why he did not answer the phone or the door. Leo mutters to himself as his caretaker, Xenia, begins to vacuum. Due to his dementia, Leo struggles to stay focused on getting ready for his medical appointments. He and Molly eventually make it out of the apartment and into a taxi. They head to the dentist, where Leo fails to comply with the dentist's instructions and urinates himself. After changing his clothes, Molly gets her father into another taxi only for Leo to get confused and stumble out the passenger door, hitting his head. The taxi driver calls an ambulance and Leo is taken to the emergency room. Molly's mother, Rita, arrives and chastises her ex-husband for his behavior. Molly gets into a disagreement with Rita and Leo's attending doctor while Leo fixates on his dead dog, Néstor.

Once discharged, Molly takes Leo to Costco, where he disappears as she takes an important phone call from her boss. She finds a sobbing Leo tightly clutching a dog he claims is Néstor. A woman then calls security, accusing Leo of trying to steal her dog. The woman makes racially charged insults towards Leo as he is tackled to the ground by security. The guards let Leo go after Molly explains his medical condition. She takes Leo to the optometrist, where he again fails to properly follow instructions. Outside, Molly receives a call from her boss stating that her project has been given to someone else. She tells her father that she cannot go on pretending anymore. Later that night, Leo walks out of his apartment and roams the streets barefoot as Molly frantically searches for him. He is eventually rescued by two taxi drivers.

Mexico[]

Leo's wife, Dolores, pleads with him to get out of bed and get ready. In the kitchen, Leo finds Dolores preparing a bag filled with flower arrangements before she walks out the door and drives off in their truck. Leo chases after her. In the car, Leo bickers with Dolores over what road to take, leading him to exit the vehicle in a state of delirium. Dolores drives off and leaves Leo on the desert road. He hitchhikes his way into town on the back of a truck carrying maize.

That night, Leo comes across the townsfolk celebrating the Day of the Dead at the local cemetery. Dolores guides him to the grave of their deceased son, Néstor, where Leo breaks down and blames himself their son's death. Dolores and Leo tearfully embrace as they reflect on their sadness and desire to have their son back.

Greece[]

Leo sits by the sea at a tavern run by his friend Mikael. Leo meets and makes conversation with a German tourist, Anni, who reminds Leo of his daughter back home. They discuss Leo's unfinished novel about a man who must make the difficult choice between returning home, or continuing on his journey in exile. Throughout the day, a frenzied Leo seeks out Anni's opinion on his work, much to the annoyance of Anni's friends. Anni asks Leo if he's truly comfortable with the idea that he gave up his family in order to write, which Leo cannot bring himself to answer.

That night, Anni and her friends board a party cruise that Leo secretly follows with his rowboat into the open sea. The cruise leaves him behind and Leo tires himself out attempting to catch up. The next morning, a group of fishermen find Leo dead in his rowboat and search his body for identification.

New York City[]

Leo is delivered to Molly by the police and takes him back to his apartment. He begins to recount the stories he believes are running parallel to his own life, including his marriage in Mexico as a young man and his unexpected death in Greece. Molly tells him he was once married to a woman named Dolores before he emigrated to the United States and that he had tried to escape familial responsibility by traveling to Greece when Molly was born, but came back after realizing his mistake. Molly sits by his bed and promises to stay by his side; meanwhile, a parallel version of Molly packs her things and walks out of Leo's apartment.

Cast[]

Production[]

In December 2018, it was announced Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Laura Linney and Chris Rock had joined the cast of the film, with Sally Potter directing and writing the screenplay. Christopher Sheppard would serve as producer under his Adventure Pictures banner, while BBC Films, HanWay Films, British Film Institute, Ingenious Media, Chimney Pot, Sverige AB, Adventure Pictures and Film i Väst would also produce the film. Bleecker Street would serve as the main distributor for the film. Production began that same month.[4] During post-production, Rock's scenes were entirely cut crom the film.[5]

The film is dedicated to Nic Potter, Sally's brother, who suffered from Pick's Disease, a type of dementia.[6]

Release[]

In September 2019, it was announced Focus Features had acquired international distribution rights.[7] It had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 26, 2020.[8][9] It was released in the United States on March 13, 2020.[10] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bleecker Street partnered with distributors to virtually stream the film on participating theater websites splitting the revenue beginning April 10, 2020.[11]

Reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 43% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Roads Not Taken is the well-acted result of an undeniably singular vision – one which is ultimately frustratingly, fatally inert."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 19 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]

Writing for RogerEbert.com, Tomris Laffly gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing that "[throughout] these meaty and competing narratives, Bardem believably slips in and out of his three characters with nuance. Yet somehow, Potter can’t seem to connect the dots between these evocative yet clumsily edited viewpoints."[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Robbie Ryan" (PDF). Gersh. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "The Roads Not Taken". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Roads Not Taken". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Grater, Tom (December 10, 2018). "Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek to star in Sally Potter drama". Screen International. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Travers, Peter (March 10, 2020). "'The Roads Not Taken' Review: Javier Bardem Shuffles Down Memory Lane". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Debruge, Peter (February 26, 2020). "'The Roads Not Taken': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  7. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (September 18, 2019). "Focus Pre-Buys Key Int'l Territories On Sally Potter Drama 'Molly' Starring Javier Bardem & Elle Fanning; HanWay Closes Most Of World". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  8. ^ "The 70th Berlinale Competition and Further Films to Complete the Berlinale Special". Berlinale. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Berlin Competition Lineup Revealed: Sally Potter, Kelly Reichardt, Eliza Hittman, Abel Ferrara". Variety. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ Lang, Brent (October 25, 2019). "Bleecker Street Buys Harvey Weinstein-Inspired Drama 'The Assistant'". Variety. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  11. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 6, 2020). "Bleecker Street Teams With Exhibitors To Stream Sally Potter's 'The Roads Not Taken'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  12. ^ "The Roads Not Taken". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  13. ^ The Roads Not Taken, retrieved 19 September 2020
  14. ^ "The Roads Not Taken". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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