''Bridge and Tunnel'' is a 2014 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

written and directed by Jason Michael Brescia and released by Glacier Road Productions. The film stars Ryan Metcalf, Mary Kate Wiles and

Annet Mahendru Anita Devi "Annet" Mahendru (born November 5, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing Nina Krilova, Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX (TV channel), FX period drama series ''The Americans'' (2013–2016), for which she garnered a n ...

and tells the story of a group of twentysomething millennials coming of age in Long Island, New York. The film highlights the psychological impact of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

on the generation that grew up in the early part of the twenty-first century, the effects of the

great recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

on America's youth, and the destruction caused by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

Plot

The film begins on New Year's Day as six Long Island natives: Sal, his wife Meghan, Terry, Nate, Eric, and his girlfriend Lina discuss the pro's and con's of going into

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on New Year's Eve. The group spent the holiday in Nassau County going to bars, and Terry makes the decision to drive home while intoxicated, resulting in a DWI arrest. The first part of the film takes place from New Year's Day 2012 to the beginning of Spring and the main tension revolves around the characters struggling to cope with the transition to adulthood. Terry still lives at home with his mother and now has no vehicle due to his DWI. Sal and Meghan are debating whether or not they want to start a family, Nate is unemployed, and Eric and Lina's relationship is tested as Eric struggles to pay off his student loans while Lina desperately wants to leave the "change at Jamaica crowd" for the glitz and glamor of New York City. The film then transitions into the spring and summer where the characters attempt to situate their love lives. Sal and Meghan decide that they're going to try to have a child, but are struggling to conceive. Nate tries to solve his relationship woes through online dating, while Eric finds a new love in Christine, a hair salon owner. Meanwhile, Terry begins courting Kelly, a classmate of his from a drunk drivers education course, while Lina moves into the

and begins working at an art gallery. As the Summer transitions to Autumn, the male characters develop problems of their own amongst one another in the wake of the loss of a loved one. These differences are tested when

destroys Sal and Meghan's Long Beach apartment and brings everyone into the same room for the film's climax. A year passes from the film's opening scene when on December 31, 2012, Terry, Lina, Nate, Eric, Sal, and Meghan make plans to go into Manhattan to visit Kelly at her new apartment for a New Year's party.

Cast

*Ryan Metcalf as Sal Lodato * Arjun Gupta as Terry *Joe Murphy as Nate McLaughlin *Chris Viemeister as Eric Richter * Mary Kate Wiles as Christine Goodrich *

as Kelly Jones *

Brianne Berkson Brianne Berkson is an American actress, comedian and producer known for films ''Bridge and Tunnel'' (2014), ''Bad Vegan and the Teleportation Machine'' (2016), ''Dare'' (2009) and ''Exposed'' (2016). Early life and education Brianne Berk ...

as Meghan Lodato *Natalie Knepp as Lina *Wass Stevens as Sean McLaughin *

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

as Kony *Tombstone Stinton as Narrator *Kenneth Kimmins as Dr. Pullman *

Liz Larsen Liz Larsen (born January 16, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Jessica Reed on ''Law & Order''. Larsen received a Tony Award nomination for ''The Most Happy Fella'' revival (1992) and has ...

as Mrs. Richter *

Kurt Metzger Kurt Metzger (born May 24, 1977) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for his work on the television series ''Inside Amy Schumer''. Early life Metzger was raised in Toms River, New Jerse ...

as Arn

Production

The first shooting date of the film was December 1, 2012, thirty-two days after

ravaged the shores of Long Island. Initially the storm was not part of the script, but Brescia incorporated it into the film days after the events, understanding that the event was a major part of life on Long Island in 2012. The film was shot throughout Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk County. Some of the movie was filmed at the

Rockville Centre Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,023 at the 2010 census. Histo ...

Long Island Rail Road station. The production was shot in increments to give the feeling of seasons changing. The second shooting installment was in the spring of 2013, followed by a shoot in June. On August 19, 2013 the principal photography of the film wrapped in Long Beach, New York on the new boardwalk while it was being built in place of the one that was destroyed in Sandy.

Release

"Bridge and Tunnel" was scheduled to make its World Premiere in April 2014 at the Lewiston-Auburn Film Festival in

Auburn, Maine Auburn is a city in south-central Maine within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities ...

but those plans deteriorated when the festival was cancelled after the arrest of its founder, Joshua Shea. Beginning in May 2014, "Bridge and Tunnel" appeared in several regional film festivals including; Catskill Mountains Film Festival,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

International Film Festival,

Sanford International Film Festival The Sanford International Film Festival is an annual event held in Sanford, Maine that specializes in independent film. History Started in 2014 by James Harmon II, the first festival was quickly put together to showcase films that were original ...

, Laugh or Die Comedy Film Festival, The Other

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Film Festival,

Hoboken International Film Festival The Hoboken International Film Festival is an annual festival that promotes domestic and international television pilots, screenplays, non-studio films. Awards, with cash prizes, are given for the best submissions. The festival was founded by Kennet ...

Long Island International Film Expo The Long Island International Film Expo, founded in 1997 by Nassau County Film Office Director, Debra Markowitz. The festival generally receives between 400 and 450 submissions every year In 2009, 170 films from 23 countries were screened at the ...

, Emerge Film Festival, Long Beach International Film Festival,

Temecula Valley International Film Festival The Temecula Valley International Film Festival is a film festival held in Temecula Valley, California. Background Launched in September 1995 and held, uninterrupted every September until 2011 (later to relaunch in 2014), the festival proclaims i ...

, Paterson Falls Film Festival, Northeast Film Festival, Central Florida Film Festival, Minneapolis Underground Film Festival, Maryland International Film Festival, Williamsburg International Film Festival, and Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival. The film would win several awards during its film festival tour. On September 26, 2014 "Bridge and Tunnel" opened its theatrical run in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

at the

Laemmle Theatres Laemmle Theatres ( ) is a group of family-run arthouse movie theaters in the Los Angeles area. It was established in 1938Richard Verrier A Hollywood opening for downton cinema October 24, 2009 Los Angeles Times and is owned and operated by Rober ...

Music Hall. On September 11, 2015 the film opened for its second theatrical run in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Midtown Cinema after a special September 11 screening of the film as part of the Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival, which was founded by "Bridge and Tunnel" producer Hamza Ahmad in order to bring independent film to the capital city of his home state of Pennsylvania. The film was released across

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

platforms such as iTunes,

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...

Cox Cox may refer to: * Cox (surname), including people with the name Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** ...

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

, and

AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.John Nolan of

Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, keybo ...

Vinnie Caruana Vinnie Caruana (born September 25, 1979) is an American singer. He is the vocalist for Long Island punk band The Movielife and lead singer/songwriter for the indie/post hardcore band I Am the Avalanche.

I Am the Avalanche I Am the Avalanche is an American punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The group's name comes from a lyric written by Vinnie Caruana for a song which was later discarded. The phrase also appears in the poem ''"Oh, Immobility, Death's Vast Ass ...

, Happy Body Slow Brain, Bayside, and NGHBRS. In July 2014, John Nolan's original song for the movie entitled "Here Comes the Wolf" was awarded with the "Best Original Song" honor at the

. The song was also nominated for the same award at the Long Beach International Film Festival and The Other Venice Film Festival in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

. On October 21, 2014 the soundtrack was digitally released through

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, iTunes,

, and other online digital retailers. The digital release of the album does not include "Indiana" by Bayside or "Hold Up Girl" by NGHBRS, because those two songs had previously been released by the artists themselves. After a soundtrack release show at

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

headlined by John Nolan and Vinnie Caruana, the soundtrack was released by Enjoy the Ride Records on December 30, 2014 with the following track listing:

Score

The original score for ''Bridge and Tunnel'' was composed by Ryan Hunter, the former lead singer of Envy on the Coast. Hunter's score was engineered by his former bandmate Brian Byrne, and also features guest appearances by Isaac Bolivar and Dylan Ebrahimian. In creating the score Hunter stated, "I started watching the film a lot, picking out scenes that I wanted to make music to. I also decided upon making music for those scenes that the music might not even end up there ... I knew before going into it, it needed an organic and imperfect approach to it. I called Brian Byrne to help me produce it and to engineer it, his studio has a lot of cool old toys and half broken instruments to work with and that's kind of what this called for." The score was released digitally on September 16, 2014 with the following track listing:

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, bridge_and_tunnel, Bridge and Tunnel 2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American independent films Films set in New York (state) Films shot in New York (state) Films set around New Year 2014 independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films