"Around the Bend" is inspired by the relationship between writer-director Jordan Roberts and the absentee father he barely knew. It tells the story of four generations of men who are suddenly brought together by the chance to uncover the truth about their family's past. The journey will take them out on the road to a world full of surprises-some comic, some dramatic, and all of them personal.

Jason Lair (Josh Lucas) is a simple man with a simple wish: a normal life. This isn't an easy goal for the mild-mannered bank employee: Jason is newly separated from his wife, who has left him to care for their six-year-old son Zach (Jonah Bobo) while she paints in Nepal, and his ailing grandfather Henry (Oscar® winner Michael Caine), a former archaeologist close to death, is investigating alternative rituals for his impending funeral ("I'm not going in the ground!" he protests.) So when Jason's estranged father and Henry's son Turner (Oscar® winner Christopher Walken), whose checkered past includes exploits from the musical to the criminal, pays the family an unexpected visit, nothing is 'simple' or 'normal' in Jason's life anymore.
In the coming days, the somewhat reluctant Lair men will embark on a trip not only through the mythic beauty of the Desert Southwest, but across the family's own rocky emotional landscape. Forced together by a deep loss, these very different people find a great deal along the way-devastating secrets, amazing discoveries and, just as Henry wanted… each other. (allmovieportal)

Vier Generationen Lair: In einem Fast-Food-Restaurant findet eine Art Familientreffen statt. „Eine nette, glückliche, normale Familie“, sagt Urgroßvater Henry, während er in sein Grillhähnchen beißt. Doch im Grunde weiß Henry genau, dass von „normal“ schon lange keine Rede mehr sein kann. Henry weiß aber auch, wie man viele falsche Entscheidungen im Leben wieder in Ordnung bringen kann – in kleinen Schritten, durch Freud’ und Leid, mit Vergebung. Deshalb will er jetzt einen seltsamen Plan in die Tat umsetzen. Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, Michael Caine und Jonah Bobo spielen die Lairs in diesem komischen und zu Herzen gehenden Achterbahn-Roadmovie durch den Südwesten der USA. Bei ihrer Spurensuche hilft den Lairs Humor, Verständnis, Großmut… sie gehen merkwürdige Umwege zur Wahrheit.
(Für diese Rolle nahm Chris Walken 10 Pfund [~5 kg] ab, um schlecht auszusehen, Anm.)
 

    USA-Filmpressespiegel vom 12.10.04

 ...nun kommt der Debütfilm des Regisseurs Jordan Roberts, in die Kinos. Es handelt sich dabei um ein figurenorientiertes Kammerspiel mit einer interessanten Besetzung: neben Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) sind die Schauspielveteranen Michael Caine und Christopher Walken zu sehen. Der Film erzählt die Geschichte von Jason Lair (Lucas), der von seinem Vater (Walken) - einem Heroinsüchtigen - verlassen wurde, als er noch klein war. Statt dessen wuchs unter der Fürsorge seines Großvaters (Caine) auf. Als der erkrankt, kümmert sich Jason aufopfernd um ihn, um kurz darauf mit seinem heruntergekommenen Vater konfrontiert zu werden.

Manohla Dargis von der New York Times spricht von einem "heftig aufgeplusterten, wohlmeinenden Film mit dünnem Konzept über vier Männergenerationen". Dem Sundance Institute bescheinigt sie eine Vorliebe für "Geschichten über emotional verletzte Figuren, die sich mit den Schwierigkeiten des Lebens bis zu einem gewissen Triumph auseinandersetzen". Allerdings findet Dargis das Kammerspiel "in seinem Kern" genauso "formelhaft und letztendlich vorhersehbar" wie Hollywood-Mainstreamfilme. Den weitaus längsten Teil ihrer Kritik widmet Dargis den Schauspielern. Sie befindet, Christopher Walken liefere hier wieder eine seiner "patentierten exzentrischen Darstellungen" ab, während sie Michael Caine als den wahren Mittelpunkt des Filmes entdeckt, der "Tränen aus einem Fels herauspressen könnte". Dargis' Meinung nach verblassen neben seiner Leinwandpräsenz sowohl Walken als auch Lucas. Sie geht sogar soweit zu behaupten, Lucas habe "keine Chance in solcher Gesellschaft". Er scheint ihr "am Buchstaben des Texts geklebt" zu haben, was seine Darstellung des Sohnes sowohl "aufrichtig als auch langweilig" mache. Was ihn von den zwei altgedienten Recken des Kinos unterscheide, sei, dass "er nicht weiß, dass der einzige Weg einen Film zu retten manchmal ist, das Schiff zu verlassen und die Flagge der Anarchie zu hissen".

Joshua Land von der Village Voice nimmt den ganzen Film nicht ernst. Christopher Walken nennt er den "König der exzentrischen Textdarbietung". Etwas enttäuscht merkt er an, Michael Caine habe "nur knappe 20 Minuten Leinwandpräsenz, bevor er zu einem Musterbeispiel der Gefahren von Fast Food wird, indem er mysteriöserweise in einem "Kentucky Fried Chicken"-Restaurant tot umfällt". Nach Lands Meinung zeigt der Film "ernsthaftes Deklamieren, eine überzogene Kinderdarstellung und ein zermürbend repetitives musikalisches Thema". Alles in allem sieht Land in Around the Bend einen "tiefen Vorstoß in das Gebiet männlicher Weinerlichkeit".

Richard James Havis vom Hollywood Reporter hält Around the Bend für ein "glattes, gut zusammengestelltes emotionales Drama". Obwohl "die Geschichte sich oft ausgedacht anfühlt, sorgen aufrichtige Darstellungsleistungen und kluge Regie dafür, den Film nicht ins Sentimentale abgleiten zu lassen". Havis ist überzeugt, die Namen Michael Caine und Christopher Walken würden an der Kinokasse für Umsatz sorgen und die "herzerwärmende Geschichte von familiärer Zusammengehörigkeit sollte im heutigen Amerika runtergehen wie Öl". Im Hinblick auf ein europäisches Publikum merkt er an, es könne den Film eventuell als "zu süßlich" empfinden. Anders als Dargis, die Regieneuling Jordan Roberts Erfindungsarmut und Vorhersagbarkeit vorwirft, lobt Havis das Drehbuch als "sehr geschmeidig". Er hebt hervor, Roberts bringe es fertig, "eine relativ komplizierte Story klar zu strukturieren". Gleichzeitig sei die Geschichte dabei aber derart "poliert" worden, dass der Regisseur "jede Kante abgeschliffen" habe. Sein Urteil lautet demgemäß, der Film sei "wie ein Stück von Sam Shepard ohne jegliche Gemeinheiten". Havis' Lob für Caine ist beinahe grenzenlos, er sei "exzellent als das älteste Mitglied der Familie". Walken hingegen biete "keine Überraschungen, aber liefere versiert, was man von ihm erwartet".
 

Production Notes
 

"Around the Bend" started as a play about an estranged father who shows up to see his daughter in Central America. "It evolved from there," says writer-director Jordan Roberts, "but it was always a contemplation on grief and estrangement. It was always about the hole that we carry for those members of our family, people close to us who have gone."
For Roberts, writing the script "was a way of working out my relationship with my own estranged father. As I talked to male friends and family, there was a theme about longing for the father. It's not a universal theme, but it fascinated me." 
"Jordan wrote a movie about his life, but he wrote a work of fiction," explains producer Elliott Lewitt of "Around the Bend." When wife and fellow producer Julie Kirkham first read the script nearly a decade ago, "she knew she'd found something special." 
Kirkham, a former Orion pictures executive and producer whose credits include "Anna and the King," "Knockaround Guys" and "Black Rain," was the first person to hire Roberts for a writing gig. "He was making money as a carpenter when I met him, and I remember reading 'Around the Bend' when I was working for Lawrence Bender," recalls Kirkham. "It was an unusual script because it wasn't a genre script."
Kirkham knew she had stumbled upon an incredibly fresh new voice. "Jordan was a writer who wasn't just trotting out rehashed genre stories in the hopes of making a sale, but was writing from an extremely personal place," she says.
Kirkham then introduced Roberts to Lewitt, whose producing credits include "At Close Range" and "That Night." Once Lewitt read the screenplay, "I told Jordan, 'I have to make this movie with you.'
"It was a very honest, moving piece of work," continues Lewitt. "It was authentic. Jordan's work doesn't have a false beat in it."
The material, about four generations of men coming to terms with a family secret-and each other-had an equally powerful impact on Kirkham. "All of Jordan's scripts have an incredible blend of drama and humor, and his characters don't speak with the arch, flip rhythms of Hollywood," she says. "I am always on the look out for new voices, and finding someone who doesn't shy away from emotion, or equate feeling with sentiment, is rare in this city and in this business." 
Over the years, the project became more than just a series of drafts (32 at Roberts' last count). "Life events got in the way, too. Children were born, fathers died," says Lewitt. "But we stayed friends, and we shared life together. We knew we'd make this movie someday."

Like most projects that have a long development period, "lots of people said no along the way," says Lewitt, "from actors to financiers."
By late 2002, Roberts, Lewitt and Kirkham had come to a decision in spite of the vagaries of the movie business. "We knew that come fall 2003, we would be making this movie come hell or high water," says Lewitt. "That's a thrilling feeling, to know you're going to do it no matter what."
"We always intended that Jordan was going to direct it," adds Kirkham. "Over the years, as he became hotter and hotter as a writer, it put him in a better position to direct the movie."
Roberts was grateful for the opportunity. "I've been in show business for a long time. I've written scripts for over ten years. Some of them have been made, some of them have been made badly, some of them will never get made," he admits. "I've been around a bit, but I'm not sure I was fully prepared for the realities of making a film, any film, but especially one with two dogs, three movie stars, a six year old and dozens of locations, all of them isolated. Nonetheless, something carried us all along quite nicely."
It was movie executive Mark Gill, who knew he wanted to be involved in the project after meeting Jordan Roberts at the Sundance Producers Lab, who was prepared to make a film. "Mark made all the difference in the world," extols Lewitt.
"There were a number of incarnations and passes of the script," admits Kirkham. "Some extraneous plot fell away. But Mark got behind the script, then an agency, and we got very lucky."
Casting came together in the few months before shooting began. ICM responded with several of their clients, including Michael Caine, Josh Lucas and Chris Walken.
"All at once, all of these people said yes," says Lewitt, "from the actors to the below-the-line talent. It was meant to happen. That's a real thrill." 
Fortunately for the production, Michael Caine was reading scripts again after taking a year off, having completed roles in such films as "The Statement" and "Secondhand Lions." The "Around the Bend" screenplay caught his attention for several reasons. "The script tackles family, death, and the relationship between men in a very funny and clever way, which is the reason why I took the part," explains the Oscarâ-winning actor. "It's very unusual, and it interested me tremendously. I enjoyed it as a read. It got rid of all the guff, the sentimentality. That's why it's funny, because it doesn't pull any punches." 
Echoes producer Elliott Lewitt: "It's a comedy… but it's a comedy of discomfort." The interplay of comedy and drama in the movie reminded many of a European film.
"There are no jokes in my movie," Roberts elaborates. "I'm attracted to comedy that comes out of walk-a-day reality and human behavior. It was intentional from the very beginning that we combine high drama with comedy. In the film, the comedy and the drama rise out of the same earth."
Caine was pleased to be among talented company. "Josh Lucas is a very good actor and a lovely guy. I like him a lot; he's very easy to work with," Caine praises. "I've known Chris for years. He's great; I love Chris."
Though the role of Henry is a relatively small one, it attracted Caine because the elder Lair is the linchpin of the other relationships in the film. "He's the pivotal character of the family," explains Caine. "This role is about twenty minutes in the picture, but it's an extremely important role. The family is a tree; Henry's the trunk and all the branches come out of him. It's not about Henry, but you've got to see the tree in order to appreciate the branches."
In playing the Lair patriarch, Caine also saw an opportunity to stretch as an actor, which is not a chance he often gets after nearly 50 years in motion pictures. "I bore easily," he explains. "What I look for now, to make my life interesting and because I've been acting for a long while, are characters who are as far away from me as possible, and Henry is that. I like to come out of a different box every time. It not only keeps the audience amused, it keeps me amused. It makes me want to get up in the morning."
Caine underwent an hourlong aging process in the makeup chair that transformed him into the 85-year-old Henry. The actor added his own touches to make the portrayal a convincing one: "I used shorter, slower steps; I hunched my back over; my voice went up, and I got breathless," he explains. "Old people are much less tolerant because they've said everything they want to say and they've heard everything they want to hear, so they can be quite short and sharp with people. That's what makes this character particularly funny. He's particularly short and sharp with everyone."
In contrast to his cantankerous character, Roberts was pleasantly surprised to find the venerable Caine remarkably approachable. "I began collaborating with him from the second I met him," says the director. "He is a consummate gentleman, gracious and incredibly friendly."

Like Caine, Christopher Walken was attracted to the project by the words on the page. "They sent me the script and it was a good part," he recalls. "I like Michael Caine very much, and I was thrilled that he was going to do this. Josh Lucas is very good, and the casting is good-we could sort of be related."
"Chris Walken is an actor who is both enigmatic and mysterious," says Jordan Roberts. "He's slightly withholding; he's constantly asking an audience to come towards him. Since he's occupying a character who is an object of longing for Jason, he was perfect for the role."
Josh Lucas was also turned on by the script. "My decisions really come down to the scripts I'm fascinated by," he comments. "This script was so unique.
"When the cast came together, obviously I wanted to do it even more," Lucas continues. "A lot of the movies I've been doing have been with great actors, and that's one of the most exciting things to learn from. Chris Walken is fascinating; he puts moments down on camera with stunning spontaneity-almost anarchy. And Michael Caine is this solid force of lovely, genuine humanity.
"The kind of movies I want to do are the ones that challenge me greatly every single time," he continues. "I feel incredibly lucky because the projects I want to do are the projects I'm being able to do, and this was definitely one of them."
Lucas' character represented a departure for the actor from his other roles, which have included colorful turns as a low-life drug dealer, a slimy rival researcher and a good ol' Alabama country boy. Jason Lair, by comparison, was staggeringly normal. "Playing an average man in very extraordinary circumstances with subtlety is a really complex, difficult thing to do," he points out. "I think those are the hardest people to play." 
To play Jason, Lucas had to get used to a feeling that an actor usually tries to work against-being uncomfortable. "Jason is someone who is very uncomfortable in his skin," says Lucas. "He's going through a massive time of growth and pain, and his world is being torn apart. At the same time he is being presented with his father, who he never knew and never cared to know. He's really struggling through this time of painful discoveries and painful losses. He's trying to keep it together and hold on to normalcy, but he's being attacked by influences that are really overwhelming."
Lucas and Jordan Roberts spent hours talking about the role, and the director helped the actor to fine tune a feeling of unease. "Jordan constantly asked me to play a level of vulnerability," says Lucas. "Jason's is fascinating to play because he's not comfortable to play. I fought against being comfortable. I fought against finding ways to feel good, because this person felt frustrated most of the movie."
"Jason is an incomplete person," says Roberts. "Not a damaged person or a broken person, but an incomplete person by virtue of this hole in his life called 'father.' Josh had a very similar idea about the character."
The biggest source of Jason's frustration is Turner, Jason's father who drops in unexpectedly after being absent from his son's life since childhood. "It's an interesting story about four generations," continues Walken, who plays Turner, "and there is the journey involved. We get into the van and we travel around and get to know each other. It really is about a family of men."
"Turner, like Jason, is an incomplete person," says Jordan Roberts. "He walked away from a life thirty years ago because of an event that is ultimately explored in the film. He's a person of enormous regret, a person who is fundamentally defined by shame."
"Christopher Walken is amazing in this movie," comments Julie Kirkham. "We haven't seen a performance like this from him in many years."
"This is a story about four generations of men who are learning how to know each other and have some sense of a relationship, and feeling better with that relationship," adds Josh Lucas. "The grandfather, Henry, is the most evolved of all of us. On his death, he sends my father, myself and my son out on a journey to find each other, to know each other better and to grow up, really."
Echoes Michael Caine: "It's about the influence of Henry, the father, through the family and the relationships that come from that."

Henry's influence, however, comes purely from the heart. "Sending his son, grandson and great grandson on this journey isn't an act of spite or anger. It's an act of enormous compassion and love," says Roberts. "He does it out of a great longing for reconciliation in this family."
Another important casting decision to be made was who would play Jason's son, Zach. "Our casting director, Mali Finn, knows every kid in show business," says Elliott Lewitt. "We looked at about a 100 kids on tape and read about 17." With Jonah, we got the best of all worlds-a young kid, who isn't spoiled." Jonah, who began reading at age three, had only done some voiceover work and an NYU student film-but he had the right combination of charm, poise and precociousness all wrapped up in a real six-year-old boy. 
"Jonah is totally honest," says Kirkham. "He can do something five times and it still looks fresh."
"Jonah Bobo is a wonder," adds Roberts. "As soon as I saw his videotape, I knew he was going to be Zach. He has an astonishing capacity to jump into a character."
Bobo, who auditioned twice for the part of Zach, still isn't sure if acting is in his future. "I could be an actor, but I don't want to famous," he explains. "I'd rather be a baseball player for the Braves."
Not surprisingly, each actor took his own individual approach to working with an energetic six year old. "It was very easy for me because I'm used to working with children," says Michael Caine. "I did 'Cider House Rules;' I had 125 kids in that!"
Josh Lucas formed a strong offscreen bond with Jonah, which he felt would translate well onscreen. "On screen, you almost never see the level of physicality that I think exists between parents and children. I wanted Jonah to feel comfortable with me at all times-hanging off me the way he does and playing around me-and me around him."
Lucas found Jonah's freedom and confidence utterly inspiring. "Jonah's level of freedom is something I have never seen in this business," he continues. "It's something that is really pure. He has no concept that he is acting, ever-it's just coming from a place that is thoroughly genuine and at the same time, totally spontaneous, totally improvisational and completely carefree."
Jonah is equally complimentary of Lucas… if for different reasons. "I like Josh because we sit next to each other at lunch," says the little boy. "He lets me sit on his shoulders a lot and he lets me hang on him like he's a tree and like I'm a monkey."
Jonah's relationship with Chris Walken was a little more subversive. "One day, Chris had something in his hands," recalls Bobo. "I didn't know what it was and he asked me to hold it. Then he held it out to me and I saw it was a cow chip! That was funny."
"Nowadays when there are little kids on movies, they usually try to get twins because one can work half a day and then the other one takes over," observes Walken. "But you'd never find a twin for Jonah."
The role of Henry's horror movie-loving nurse, Katrina, went to stage and screen veteran Glenne Headly. "I liked the whole story," she explains. "I really wanted to play this character because I thought she was funny, and also quite real. 
"And of course," she adds with a smile, "I wanted to be Danish. It sounded like it would be really fun to do a Danish accent."
Roberts wanted Katrina to hail from a part of Europe that would lend her an 'Old World' kind of feel, combined with a quiet strength. Using that thumbnail sketch of the character as a jumping off point, Headly took charge of the physical aspects of the Katrina with Roberts' blessing.
"I asked Jordan about what he wanted Katrina to represent in the story and why she was in the story, and what need did she fill for the men. He said she brings some calm and peace and softness to their lives. She also confronts death more than the others," says Headly.
"It became really clear to me how I should dress and what I should look like," continues Headly, who not only acted as part of the Steppenwolf Theater Company but also did their costumes for several years. "In a movie you have just a couple hours to do that one scene, so you want to be sure that you look and feel right."
"Around the Bend" reunited Headly and Michael Caine, who had worked together on the hit comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" 15 years earlier. "We hit it off immediately in that movie. We really get along very well," says the actress. "I was looking forward to working together, because I just think he's great. Plus I really like to make him laugh." 
In the original screenplay, says Lewitt, "the road trip is a journey from New York to Los Angeles."
But budget limitations meant the film couldn't be made in New York or Los Angeles, let alone both. So the script was changed. The cities of Los Lunas and Albuquerque, NM doubled as Los Angeles, and the final destination of Jason, Turner and Zach's journey became Albuquerque.
"We couldn't afford to do it in L.A. It's winter in Canada-it would've been cheaper in Canada-but we'd rather stay close to home," Lewitt says.

The weather and the scenery were great attractions to the state, as well as the rebates and incentives the government offers. Lewitt has even discussed turning the Los Lunas training facility, which provided a production office and soundstages for the unit, into additional studios in the future. Over 100 crew members and scores of extras were hired from the surrounding areas.
There were certainly no complaints from the actors about the choice of location. "This movie is a road movie, and New Mexico has provided stunning backdrops and unique, constantly varying landscapes to play with," comments Lucas. "The light is astonishing, just mesmerizing. Last night there was a sunset that Devin [Lucas's brother] and I were in awe of."
"I have relatives who live here in Santa Fe, so it has been really nice to see everybody," says Glenne Headly. "New Mexico is beautiful, and it is the land of enchantment. You can see why, because it's lovely."
the ninth film to shoot in New Mexico in 2003, "Around the Bend" began production on a sunny, gusty autumn day at the First Interstate Bank Building on Central Avenue in downtown Albuquerque. The historic space-despite several proposals that have been put forth to develop it, from turning it into loft apartments to a swanky restaurant-remains vacant. This location was used for the scene in which Jason tries to return the silver spoon to the jewelry store, only to discover it was the saleswoman's gift to Turner. 
For first-time director Jordan Roberts, "the challenge from the very beginning was that we were attempting to touch people in a very deeply personal place. And it rose out of a personal place for me. I didn't want to make fun of the struggle with the 'father' issue, but I didn't want to be overly earnest, either. I just wanted to observe the way in which a longing for a paternal figure would play out in this one particular family." 
On the third day, the production moved to one of two KFC restaurants that would stand in for the six featured in the film. The KFC restaurant in the town of Los Lunas, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque, doubled as KFC #2, near Death Valley, CA, and #s 4 and 5, in Arizona. 
Location manager Don Gray had the honor of scouting all of the KFCs in the greater Albuquerque and Los Lunas areas. The production was hoping to find a closed restaurant that they could manipulate freely, but had no luck. The unit also shot at a KFC on Fourth Street in Albuquerque, which stood in for the Los Angeles and Needles, CA KFCs.
Scenes were also shot in La Cienega at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, whose Authentic western sets have been featured in many a movie production. The unit then moved about 45 minutes northwest of Albuquerque to the pueblo of the Zia indians, home to stunning sunrises and sunsets, breathtaking southwestern vistas and unique rock formations. Here, a pivotal argument scene between Turner and Jason would be shot, as well as scenes of Jason and Zach scattering Turner's ashes. Since the Zia tribe is the only one in New Mexico that doesn't operate a casino, they strongly encourage filming on their reservation land.
Other Albuquerque locations included a Central Avenue apartment building, the Westward Ho and Grandview Motels, and some private residences. One of these residences, which doubled as the "Another Time… Another Place" Bed and Breakfast owned by Ruth and Walter, was located on a stretch of historic homes-including the historic, circa 1893 McMillen House-along Walter Street in downtown Albuquerque. This area of Albuquerque is the oldest, and many homes here are now being bought and restored.
Josh Lucas prepared himself physically and mentally during filming. "From the very beginning with this character I wanted to not look or feel comfortable or safe." Although he normally researches his parts fully before principal photography begins, playing Jason called for slightly different preparation. "My whole process was just to be present and to react and listen. I talked to myself about how to do that. I've really just tried to react to these circumstances, which are constantly uncomfortable, bizarre, troubling… and funny at times." 

Aware of editor Francoise Bonnot's daunting task, Chris Walken tried to do every take a little differently. "I feel that if you offer the editor as many choices as possible-even if that only means do one fast, do one slow, do one funny, do one serious-six months from now they'll be sitting there with this film and they can put together something interesting. Editing is very important."
Caine describes his acting method as "naturalistic." "It's relaxation rather than an effort," he elaborates. "I grew up on the Stanislavski method, and part of it is that the rehearsal is the work, the performance is the relaxation. If you see people working hard on screen it means they haven't rehearsed enough. They should be relaxing by that time."
As for Jonah, "He was never given the whole script," reports Elliott Lewitt. "We gave him his lines each day, to keep it fresh." 
The unit later moved about 50 miles east of Albuquerque on Interstate 40 to the small town of Moriarty. Here, they encountered a freak snowstorm while filming at the El Vaquero Diner and Motel, but skies turned sunny the next day while filming at Mae's High Valley Café. At Mae's, an institution in the Estancia Valley, the scenes in which Turner snatches the border collie from the Cowboy were shot, among others.
All scenes that took place in the Lair home in Los Angeles were filmed on soundstages at the State of New Mexico's Los Lunas campus, an old hospital and training school facility. Parts of it are used by various governmental entities, but other areas are currently unused. Most of the locals felt good about taking a facility not being used and turning it around to do something positive for the community.
On the last day of production, Roberts had a chance to reflect on his feature film directorial debut. "These actors have all done an amazing job," he enthuses. "They have done better than the script. The script was a suggestion, but they've all filled in the spaces." 
Roberts' favorite scene in the film occurs when Zach and his dad find a photograph of Jason as a little boy. "Jonah was so unbelievably good in that scene. He made up words and they seemed so believable. They're all in the movie and everyone will think I wrote them, which is wonderful, but I didn't.
"Jonah would scream at the top of his lungs, and I would hear him on my head set," says the director. "But as soon as I said action, he calmed right down. He made it easy."
But when asked what he learned by directing his first movie, he is quick to quip: "No dogs!"
Roberts earned high marks from his players. "He knows exactly who these characters are, and he always adds this morsel of direction to help you find that," says Lucas, who has said that his favorite thing about acting is being directed. "He's very gentle and sensitive, and really in tune that way."
Lucas has also witnessed Roberts come into his own power on the film. "I imagine it's terrifying-you've written a script that is your life blood and then, without ever having directed before, you get a cast like this," he says. "But Jordan's a man who's fully realizing his vision, and he knows exactly what he wants. He's given me extraordinary direction as an actor."
Echoes Michael Caine, "Jordan wrote the script, and so if there is something there where you say, 'I wonder what this means,' he knows what it means and he also has a vision of how it should be. He's very helpful, and the great thing is he doesn't have to go to a writer and ask him if he can make changes."
Walken developed a new respect for directors on this set, as well as on a previous occasion when he took his own turn behind the camera-the first and only time. "I realized I had no idea what directors do. Somebody would say, 'Chris, what do you think we should do here? Where do you want the camera?' I would say, 'You know, just do what ever you want,' and that was a terrible way to direct. I'm not sure anybody will ever ask me again."
"This movie survived ten years because it always revealed itself to us differently. It had the same core, the same heart," explains producer Elliott Lewitt. "You always go back to the story, and it's full of surprises.
"It was so wonderful to be making this movie with Jordan the way we made it," he continues. "We had a flawless production experience. Movies can go bad in so many different ways, but this was just a great experience."
 

TRAILER
Videoclips
wip.warnerbros.com/aroundthebend/

                   Interview with
Jason Roberts:
www.aboutfilm.com/features/aroundthebend/walken.htm

Question: Why did you cast Christopher Walken in Around the Bend?

Roberts: Well, two things. One, he's an incredibly withholding character. You look at him, he doesn't jump out at you. You have to come to Chris, and I love that. The second thing is, we benefitted terrifically from casting an actor who carries with him a great tradition of evil characters. When you look at Christopher Walken in my movie—even though he's playing a character who's embarking on a life of, if not goodness, at least non-evil—you are carrying with you in your memory all these wonderful images of an evil person, a person who perpetrated evil.

Question: What was he like to work with? Did he surprise you? Were you expecting him to be strange, or difficult?

Roberts: Yes, I was expecting him to be strange and difficult, and he did surprise me. He was very willing to work with me. He made it very clear to me that I understood this character better than he did, and I understood these relationships better than he could, and he did me the great gift of demanding my presence. And that was great. I was very nervous, and he would have none of that.

Question: You said that Christopher Walken comes from a tradition of evil roles, but the father [Turner] is not an evil man. He's misguided, he's screwed up, but he's not evil.

Roberts: Well he's done evil things. I think the character that Chris Walken plays has done evil, but I think that he's a human being.

Question: Why did you expect him to be difficult and strange to work with?

Roberts: Hm… I thought he would be difficult and strange to work with because I was basing him on his performances, but he's nothing like that guy. He's a very original human being. What's amazing about Christopher Walken is, he is so fully and completely in the moment that he gives you a lot. He gives you 55 different colors. He gives you the opportunity to go into the [editing] room and put those pieces together [in different ways]. He plays each of them fully. He was also courageous in his willingness to show a part of himself he hasn't shown before. Even in Catch Me If You Can, which is an astonishing performance, he still has pride. He's wrapped in pride—that's what I think is so fantastic about that performance. He doesn't even have pride in this movie. He has nothing. It's not easy to do.

AboutFilm: Michael Caine and Christopher Walken are two great veteran actors. What are the differences in working with each of them?

Lucas: [sighs] They're bipolar. I mean, really. On a scale of acting techniques, they are antithetical. Chris Walken is wild and spontaneous and fearless about a lack of continuity, and absolutely even rageful about continuity. [He] wants—if anything—everything to be different and unstructured. That's his brilliance. Michael Caine is the opposite, where he's totally structured and totally thought out and totally prepared and totally planned. And his [way] is also very beautiful. As an actor, at this point I'm finding myself between the two, and fascinated. I've always been taught continuity was wildly important—and you work with Christopher Walken, and you're like, “Why is it important? He's fantastic!”

But as a director, or an editor, it forces you only to be able to use a couple different things that [Walken] does, because they're the only things that actually will match. He's brilliant in his ability to know when he's so good that he will match, so that you can only use those moments. Michael Caine is going to match the entire time, and be flawless within that. So they are really opposites, and I think they're both effective.

AboutFilm: How did they work on the scenes they had together?

Lucas: Chris was shy. I was surprised. Chris was very shy with Michael.

Question: How difficult is it to stay in the moment with Walken, when he's throwing curveballs at you?

Lucas: It's impossible not to, because you have to be on your toes. It's easy to get laconic and bored when you're doing the same thing over and over, and the other person is doing the same thing over and over. You can find subtle nuances within that, but if Walken is suddenly—Bam!—acting in a way that you have to react, because you can't not react. So, you're on your toes. It's magic. It's absolute magic.

Question: I heard that Walken goes through the script and takes out all the punctuation, so there's no rhythm other than what he gives it.

Lucas: Yeah. He also told me that he doesn't read anyone else's dialogue—I think to the point that he might not necessarily know what the whole movie is about, because he doesn't need to know. It's not important to him, because he doesn't want to know. He wants to discover it. He wants to be like, “Wait a sec. Why'd you say that line?” And he'll say that to you. At a certain point, you're like, “Didn't you read the fucking script?” And he'll say, “No. I did not read the script, motherfucker.” And you're like, “Damn. That's a really interesting idea.”

Question: And that's because he wants his reactions to what you're saying to be spontaneous?

Lucas: Genuine. It's phenomenal.

                                                Interviews and articles with Chris on ATB:

www.latinoreview.com/films_2004/wip/aroundthebend/walkeninterview.html
movies.about.com/od/aroundthebend/a/aroundjr100204_2.htm
www.thedepaulia.com/story.asp?artid=168&sectid=5
www.popentertainment.com/walken.htm
http://www.g21.net/nystate31.htm
suicidegirls.com/interviews/Christopher+Walken/
movies.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1604.php/I
www.blackfilm.com/20041001/features/chriswalken.shtml
www.reelmoviecritic.com/rmc/Interviews%202004/Christopher%20Walken.htm
www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=WALKEN-FILM-10-21-04
www.popentertainment.com/walken.htm
www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0410051
http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/554/554240p1.html

The filming of the drama "Around the Bend" was nearly over before Christopher Walken learned that he was playing a real person.
The movie is an autobiographical story, based on writer-director Jordan Roberts' attempt to reconcile with his absentee father, the role Walken was playing. But no one, including Roberts, mentioned that to the actor.
And, in retrospect, he's glad. He had created his vision of the character based on what he read in the script, and he appreciated that the first-time writer-director gave him the professional leeway to follow his instincts.
"I'm of the school that directors should let you go do what you do," he said. "They brought you in because they thought you have something they can use in the movie. Once you get to the set, directors shouldn't be spending a lot of time talking to the actors. They should be talking to the director of photography."
Walken wasn't being dismissive. On the contrary, he said that Roberts created such a rich character on paper that he was excited about the chance to dive into the role.
"I like Turner," he said, using the character's name. "It's a very different sort of part for me. He's a very disappointed man, a damaged man."
Turner's life was shaped by the mistakes he made while using drugs as a young man. He regrets what happened, but he realizes, with much anguish, that there's not much that he can about it now.
"He made a mess of his life," Walken said. "He did a lot of things he shouldn't have done."
Turner shows up unexpectedly at the home of his adult son, Jason (Josh Lewis, "Secondhand Lions"), where Turner's father (Michael Caine) also lives. He's not there to beg for their forgiveness, but he is willing to own up to the mistakes he made.
"There was no excuse" for what he did, Walken said. "And it was not something that could be reversed."
The plot is set in motion when Caine dies. His will stipulates that Luther and Jason investigate a family secret, a mission that takes them on a convoluted road trip across the Southwest. As a result, much of the movie is spent with the actors working in a car, a situation that Walken found particularly challenging.
"It's hard to act in a car," he said. "There are all sorts of technical problems. The car is being towed, so you don't have to worry about driving. But there are a lot of factors that take your mind off the acting."
It's not just having to work in a confined space, he said. Unlike the early studio days when car scenes where shot using a fake background, today's movies are shot on real highways that are open to normal traffic. In order to ensure that the background activity is consistent, the traditional timing of a shoot is reversed: Instead of waiting until the actors are ready before starting the cameras, the actors wait until the background images are suitable, then hurriedly jump into action.
Walken has a reputation for playing quirky, often mentally unstable characters. He jokingly calls them the "there-must-be-something-wrong-with-that-guy" roles.
It's not a niche he says he set out to explore; it was more or less thrust upon him after he won a supporting-actor Oscar for "The Deer Hunter." But he's comfortable with it.
"I don't know if you want to call it typecasting, but I have certain kind of look and a certain kind of voice," he said. "If they have a quirky character and they want me for that role because of the way I am, it's OK with me."
 

The first thing that comes to mind about the interview with Christopher Walken is how completely normal he is.  He is the guy you would meet at the barbeque next door.  He has been married for 35 years, does his job and, although not buff by any means, is in good shape compared to the average New Yorker.  His original training was in dance and he still performs; that undoubtedly contributes to his health.  He lost 10 pounds off his already light frame in order to make himself look more haggard for the part of Turner (the dysfunctional father) for the movie.  He is soft spoken and not talkative. Considering his early training in dance, you get the impression he would rather move than talk.  His answers tend to be short and to the point.  Not in an unfriendly way, but just in the manner of not wanting to talk about things much.

He liked filming in New Mexico, as opposed to NYC, because "there was plenty of parking," and "if you wanted your trailer right there, you could have it right there!"  The story was originally a road trip from NYC to LA and I thought the prevailing cloudiness and smog of a big city better suited the somber mood of the movie (although the Anasazi ruins of the SE fit with the "digging up the past" motif and the role of Henry (Turner's father) as an anthropologist).  But the flashback to the story of Turner being a white junkie living in an Indian pueblo in Albuquerque was forced, to say the least.  The filming location was decided mostly on cost and schedule.

Walken is the consummate character actor.  As he said in the interview, "I was a lead man in "The Dogs of War," but other than that I am not the guy who gets the girl at the end of the movie."  He has been criticized by, as he describes them, "very accomplished actor friends" for being too non-discriminating in the roles he takes.  In his own words he pretty much "takes them all."  This probably explains the tremendous variety of good and bad movies in which he has appeared.  His great role in "Heaven's Gate" may be more appreciated now that a new CD has been released with the movie in its original, uncut version.  He plays, of course, the bad guy opposite Kris Kristofferson's righteous sheriff.  Love those bad guys. He has tried directing once or twice, in live theatre and for a film, and considers himself bad at it.  In his own words he has a tendency to tell people to "You know, just do what ever you want," which is probably not a great approach for a director.  But as long as he acts, people will watch.  At least I will.

ATB-Premiere, Chicago Film Festival, Sept 2004:

click to enlarge

 
 

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