Around the Bend

This is a wonderful movie, beautifully acted by Christopher Walken, Michael Caine and Josh Lucas...it's funny, droll, touching....a great character study. I don't know why it didn't get more notice. I've always thought Christopher Walken was a fine actor...this movie made me see him as brilliant. I truly loved it. The story is based on the relationships of 4 generations of men in one family; from the grandfather - Michael Caine - to the six-year-old son of Josh Lucas.This is the story of so many families and my favorite line is Michael Caine's to his grandson, Josh Lucas, about Josh's 'broken' father, Christopher Walken: "I carried you, you carried me, we need to carry him." It's what families do. I loved that.

This movie was definitely true to life. It made you laugh, it made you cry and it made you think. And wow, what a cast. Michael Caine, Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas and little Jonah Bobo (I see great things from this youngster in the future).

You can see the indifference right way when Jason (Lucas) calls his grandfather (Caine) and his estranged father (Walken) by their first names. Grandfather Henry's joy with the return of his son Turner and the family together again is short lived when his son announces he's only staying the night. Determined to bring the family back together, he plans a 'burial' trip that all family members, his son; his grandson and his great-grandson, must partake in as terms of his will. This is where the road to discovery begins.

If anyone has had family situations that need to be rectified in order to bring the family back together, this film will most assuredly put the spark in your heart to do so.

Christopher Walken and Josh Lucas are incredibly believable in their rich portrayals of a father and son who have been apart for many years and brought together by an eccentric grandfather's wish for a family reunion and an emotional scavenger hunt. Newcomer, Jonah Bobo is superbly natural in his role as Zack. The story is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time, reminding us that while we don't choose our families, we can choose to love and accept them in spite of the damage we do to each other. We can indeed learn from the mistakes of those who go before us and pass on the best of the previous generation leaving our mark on the next generation.

This was a great movie, with a great soundtrack - a real father-son coming of age story without any saccharine!

I can not recommend the first twenty minutes of this film enough. These are the 20 minutes containing some of the best work by Christopher Walken and Michael Caine, or perhaps any film actors in history. Everything about the beginning of this movie leads one to believe that this is going to be a great family drama/comedy. Unfortunately the film takes an odd turn and becomes a road film thats nowhere near as tight and focused as the start. Esssentially this is the story of fathers and sons and crimes unforgiven. The idea of the road trip is to put the skeletons to rest and to bring peace and closure to a very wounded family. The cast of this film that makes up the four male generations of this broken family is excellent. They make a real go at making what happens believable, even though once the VW micro-bus hits the road it falls apart with plot holes and inconsistency. Its never bad, but its never what the first part of this film promised. Still its worth renting or seeing on cable for two of the greatest performances I've ever seen.

I absolutely loved this film, it is everything that a film can be. the only minor flaw, which was un-noticeable to the friend that i saw it with, was Michael Caine's accent drifting across the Atlantic. But you didn't really care.

It is perfectly cast, brilliantly acted, and you believed in and cared for the characters, they are so human with their natural flaws, you are rooting for them all.

The story is fascinating, and it will strike a chord with anyone with a father, particularly anyone estranged from their father. It is funny, witty, charming, touching and delightful.

See it with a loved one...you shouldn't regret it.