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Actors: Michael Caine, Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, Glenne Headley
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Around the Bend |
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The first film from writer/director Jordan Roberts, "Around the Bend" is a seriocomedy that details the skewed relations among four males in the Lair family: Henry (Michael Caine), the fathers, who's practically on his deathbed; his son, Turner (Christopher Walken), who's been missing for three decades; Turner's grown son, Jason (Josh Lucas), a banker with a young son who's in the process of getting divorced; and Jason's little boy, Jonah.
The film opens at the down-at-the-heels Lair home in Los Angeles, where Henry, Jason and Jonah live, along with Henry's attractive nurse. A former archeologist, Henry is planning a road trip to Albuquerque. His travel plans are thwarted, however, when Turner shows up out of the blue. (He had abandoned Jason 30 years earlier, after his wife's death, and Jason was raised by Henry.) Henry and great-grandson Zach decide to celebrate Turner's sudden arrival by dining at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. Jason comes along, but he is taciturn and eyes his father with suspicion. Turner seems detached and claims he can only stay the night.
The lack of warmth among the four generations propels Henry to concoct a scheme that will bring them together: Aware he's about to die, Henry's will demands that all three surviving Lair males go on a trip, on a kind of scavenger hunt. He also dictates that they must eat only at KFCs and spread his ashes along the way. Although Turner and Jason start off at odds with one another, the togetherness forced upon them by Henry's bequest eventually leads to feelings of love and forgiveness.
--Elana Starr, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Around the Bend |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Family, struggling with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Father
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) muscular
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southwest
Desert?
Yes
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- challenged
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Elana Starr
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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