Interviews in Manhattan, NYC, September 15, 2004
There is no question the movie “Around the Bend” came from the heart. In his interview, Roberts was a real straight shooter, and the movie has the same sort of honesty. He is very normal in appearance, the kind of person who would blend into any crowd; and came into the interview room asking if it was the right place, as lost as the rest of us in the labyrinth on the 19th floor of a Park Avenue hotel on a busy NYC Wednesday.
The movie tells the story of a group of three men and a boy, representing four generations of the Lair family, making a road trip to bury their dead and exorcise their demons. The original story was about a father-daughter relationship in South America. It morphed into a New York City to Los Angeles road trip with four male generations of a family, to its present form set mostly in New Mexico. In his interview, director/writer Jordan Roberts explained that making the movie was an important part of his moving on from a dysfunctional family relationship in his own past. The script “was a way of working out my relationship my own estranged father. As I talked to male friends and family, there was a theme about longing for the father.” Although he had written the story some ten years (and some 32 revisions) ago, his father died recently and the time was definitely right for him to put the story on film.
One of the striking aspects of the movie is the continued scenes in grandfather Henry’s (Michael Caine) favorite restaurant. “Somewhere really nice,” as he put it, turned out to be Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is the first of the dry humor that Roberts put into the film. But it isn’t just humor, it is fact as well, because Roberts own family had many a meal in the KFC establishments where he grew up. Again, the truth is stranger than fiction and Roberts frequently falls back on the humor of real life.
When I saw the continued scenes in the KFC stores I immediately though of product placement. They must have paid a fortune to the movie’s producers. Not so--Roberts sets the record straight. He wanted KFC because the story had to start in “the most plastic and prosaic setting possible,” and move onward to natural outdoor settings. The KFC setting is a metaphor for the make-believe life that Jason and Turner are leading because of their hidden pasts. In fact, his fear going into shooting was that KFC would not allow the movie to be shot in their stores (one of the stars drops dead in the KFC—maybe a little too close to “Super Size Me” for the comfort of the corporation!).
“We were all ready to build a fake chicken shack, Roberts reports, “but to our delight KFC said OK!” So there was not a cent of product placement from the KFC chain for the scenes in the stores. In fact, Christopher Walken didn’t even eat the chicken because he was losing weight to look as haggard as possible. “I faked it,” he said, and his role as a vegetarian helped.
Moving to the ending of the film, as the family comes to grips with its past, the scenes shift away from the manufactured environment and to a very magnificent rock upheaval in the desert. Although Roberts reported the rock was, in fact, “a mountain and a lake in previous scripts,” the rock worked great in my opinion. The perfect place for a conception and the perfect place to disperse the ashes of the past.
How did he like working with Christopher Walken? The two got along fine, according to Roberts. Walken (well aware of his own lack of directorial dominance) forced Roberts to take charge from the outset and make directorial decisions.
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.
Around the Bend opens on October 8th, you can read Ron's review of the movie here .
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