Death is knocking on the door of archaeologist Dr. Henry Lair (Michael Caine). His last wish is to gather his disgraced son Turner (Christopher Walken) and his level-headed grandson Jason (Josh Lucas)to go on a road trip. Wheh they show up at his doorstep, Henry Lair feels like his last wish is starting to materialize before his eyes. But suddenly he dies and has left his legacy his will which is a variety of clues and directions hidden in a Kentucky Fried Chicken bag. The centerpiece of the film is centered around the topic of death and how it effects those around the survivors of those loved ones, but we feel that this death is rather assumed rather then actually getting the feeling of the character being dead. The first 20 minutes into the film, the connections between Henry and his family seems to be at times very disjointed.
From a documentary focusing on the making of "Around the Bend", writer/director Jordan Roberts wrote the script for 10 long years which included a more in depth back-story involving Henry. Roberts goes all out to concentrate on the emotional impact on losing a person who was loved dearly and was taken into clinical masses. The deleted scenes that centres around the dying Henry has a more contrary perspective of the movie. Shamefully, Roberts edited out those scenes feeling they were incoherent to the plot. The film is only a measly 83 minutes long therefore, Mr. Roberts' theory to me seems rather unjustified.
The good qualities about "Around The Bend" is that it thankfully refrains from being gratuitously sentimental and doesn't have any kind of teary outbursts. However it succeeds in making it more subtle in this difficult stage in life. Henry's will instructs Turner, Jason and son Zach (Lucas Bobo) to drive to New Mexico where they must scatter his ashes through many parts of this state. They must also stop at every KFC and have a meal before they continue. Henry's rigor mortis sets the tone towards the heavy burdens that has manifested towards the Lair clan, but the internal turmoil takes its toll on them. Turner and Jason milk upon Turner's mysterious abandonment and during the trip they continually argue over various issues that has been affecting their relationship. But Henry's will sends Turner and Jason to well known landmarks that bridge the gaps between them that has kept them apart.
In the early parts of the film, Henry liked to refer to his clan as his tribe. All he ever wanted was to have cohesiveness and unity towards his family and to be at peace with one another. That's all fine fine and dandy, but it happened all too soon and abrupt making the movie too short and too rushed. There was a side-story that had an affect on Turner and he and Jason have a final battle of words at the last destination. The predictable conclusion deprives this nuanced tone. Death tries to removes the wedges from this estranged family and while the story is finger looking good, the conclusion is the one that flips the bird on us.
From a documentary focusing on the making of "Around the Bend", writer/director Jordan Roberts wrote the script for 10 long years which included a more in depth back-story involving Henry. Roberts goes all out to concentrate on the emotional impact on losing a person who was loved dearly and was taken into clinical masses. The deleted scenes that centres around the dying Henry has a more contrary perspective of the movie. Shamefully, Roberts edited out those scenes feeling they were incoherent to the plot. The film is only a measly 83 minutes long therefore, Mr. Roberts' theory to me seems rather unjustified.
The good qualities about "Around The Bend" is that it thankfully refrains from being gratuitously sentimental and doesn't have any kind of teary outbursts. However it succeeds in making it more subtle in this difficult stage in life. Henry's will instructs Turner, Jason and son Zach (Lucas Bobo) to drive to New Mexico where they must scatter his ashes through many parts of this state. They must also stop at every KFC and have a meal before they continue. Henry's rigor mortis sets the tone towards the heavy burdens that has manifested towards the Lair clan, but the internal turmoil takes its toll on them. Turner and Jason milk upon Turner's mysterious abandonment and during the trip they continually argue over various issues that has been affecting their relationship. But Henry's will sends Turner and Jason to well known landmarks that bridge the gaps between them that has kept them apart.
In the early parts of the film, Henry liked to refer to his clan as his tribe. All he ever wanted was to have cohesiveness and unity towards his family and to be at peace with one another. That's all fine fine and dandy, but it happened all too soon and abrupt making the movie too short and too rushed. There was a side-story that had an affect on Turner and he and Jason have a final battle of words at the last destination. The predictable conclusion deprives this nuanced tone. Death tries to removes the wedges from this estranged family and while the story is finger looking good, the conclusion is the one that flips the bird on us.