''Reach the Rock'' is a 1998 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 ...

directed by William Ryan and starring William Sadler and

Alessandro Nivola Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award ...

. It was the last film to be written and produced by John Hughes before his death.

Premise

A small-town troublemaker (

), directionless and alienated, ends up spending a night in a jail cell, where he and the police chief ( William Sadler) engage in a battle of wills and wit.

Cast

* William Sadler as Quinn *

as Robin * Bruce Norris as Ernie *

Brooke Langton Brooke Langton (born November 27, 1970) is an American actress. She had significant guest roles on the NBC series '' Friday Night Lights'' and on ''Life'', in which Langton played a district attorney. She found early success on '' The Net'' (19 ...

as Lise *

Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy Mac ...

as Danny *

Karen Sillas Karen Sillas is an American stage and film actress. Early life The daughter of a Greek father and a Swedish mother, Sillas was born in Brooklyn. She graduated from the Acting Conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase. Car ...

as Donna * Richard Hamilton as Ed

Production

Writer/producer John Hughes originally offered the ''Reach the Rock'' script to director Chris Columbus at the same time he offered him ''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hear ...

''. Columbus opted to direct the latter. The soundtrack featured a compilation of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

artists, among them

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

and associated acts

Bundy K. Brown Bundy Kenneth Brown, also known as Ken Brown or Bundy K. Brown, is an American musician and recording engineer. He is best known for being a founding member of Tortoise (band), Tortoise and for his production, engineering and remixes in the Chicag ...

The Sea and Cake The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band with a jazz influence, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The group formed in the mid-1990s from members of The Coctails (Archer Prewitt), Shrimp Boat (Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge), an ...

and

John McEntire John McEntire (born April 9, 1970 in Portland, Oregon) is an American recording engineer, producer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist, based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of both Tortoise and the Sea and Cake. McEntire started playing dr ...

. It was released on

Hefty Records Hefty Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois (United States). Founded in 1995 by John Hughes III,Havana 3am Havana 3am was a British-American rock supergroup formed in 1986 by singer/guitarist Nigel Dixon (previously of the band Whirlwind), guitarist Gary Myrick, and bassist Paul Simonon (previously of the Clash). The band also included Travis Willi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reach The Rock American comedy-drama films American independent films Films produced by John Hughes (filmmaker) Films with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker) Gramercy Pictures films Universal Pictures films 1998 independent films 1998 films 1998 comedy-drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1998 directorial debut films Films set in Chicago