|
It’s probably in Screenwriting 101 where they teach you how to come up with symbols like Josh Lucas’s gimpy leg in Around the Bend, an outward reminder of a childhood that has left him crippled emotionally as well. And maybe it’s the advanced screenwriting course where they teach you that it’s easier to finance your independent movie if you weave in product placement; that would explain why so many scenes take place in KFCs. Learning these lessons well is writer/director Jordan Roberts, who makes his debut with this road movie about healing and reconciliation among four generations of men. It’s also a nifty travel guide to the chicken eateries of the American Southwest. Roberts apparently did not see Diamonds or It Runs in the Family or he would have cast Kirk Douglas instead of Michael Caine as the mischievous great-grandfather, an archæologist (more symbolism, right?) who sends his descendants on a scavenger hunt to dig up painful memories from the past. Prodigal son Christopher Walken (who’s uncharacteristically subdued, like a patient awaiting novocaine), resentful grandson Lucas, and cheerful ankle biter Jonah Bobo find themselves navigating desert roads and Roberts’s abrupt tonal shifts. The film is little more than a collection of quirky or grotesque moments, though they may add up to a lesson. Like, life is too short to hold grudges. Or, there’s nothing like a bucket of extra crispy. (85 minutes)
BY GARY SUSMAN
|
