''Road to Nowhere'' is a 2010 American

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

thriller

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

directed by

Monte Hellman Monte Hellman (; born Monte Jay Himmelbaum; July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the ho ...

, written by Steven Gaydos, and starring

Cliff De Young Clifford Tobin DeYoung (born February 12, 1945)According to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com is an Ame ...

Waylon Payne Waylon Malloy Payne (born April 5, 1972) is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is the son of the country singer Sammi Smith. Early life Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy ...

Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon () is an American actress, director, and musician. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', ''The Rules of Attraction'' (both 2002), '' The Order'' (2003), ' ...

Tygh Runyan Tygh Runyan (born June 13, 1976) is an actor and musician. Career Runyan has had a long career of character and supporting roles. His most notable roles are as Dr. Robert Caine in ''Stargate Universe'' and Fabien Marchal in '' Versailles''. Hi ...

, and

Dominique Swain Dominique Swain (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress and producer. She came to prominence playing the title character in Adrian Lyne's 1997 film adaptation of ''Lolita'', alongside her supporting role as Jamie Archer in John Woo's ''Fac ...

. It was Hellman's first feature film in 21 years, as well as his final feature film before his death in April 2021. ''Road to Nowhere'' was shot in western

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

from July to August 2009, before moving to Europe. The film premiered on September 10, 2010, at the

67th Venice International Film Festival The 67th annual Venice International Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from 1 to 11 September 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was the head of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Darren Aro ...

and was nominated for the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

, but won Jury Award Special Lion for Career Achievement. The film was given a limited release in New York on June 10, 2011, and in Los Angeles on June 17, 2011.

Plot

A promising young filmmaker named Mitchell Haven invites Laurel Graham, an unknown actress, to play Velma Duran, a person involved in a financial scandal that made headlines, in his new film. The director falls in love with his muse, and the sordid criminal affair on which the film is based resurfaces.

Cast

as Laurel Graham/Velma Duran *

as Nathalie Post *

as Cary Stewart/Rafe Taschen *

as Mitchell Haven *

Fabio Testi Fabio Testi (born 2 August 1941) is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on ''The Good, ...

as Nestor Duran *

John Diehl John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including ''Land of Plenty'', ''Stripes'', ''City Limits'', ''Nixon' ...

as Bobby Billings *

as Bruno Brotherton *

Rob Kolar Rob Kolar is an American singer-songwriter, producer, composer and actor. Career Kolar has been a founding member of such bands as Lemon Sun, He's My Brother She's My Sister (formed with his sister, Rachel, and future wife, Lauren Brown) and ...

as Steve Gates *

Bonnie Pointer Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer (July 11, 1950– June 8, 2020) was an American singer, best known for having been a member of the vocal group, the Pointer Sisters. Pointer scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, incl ...

as herself * Michael Bigham as Joe Watts * Lathan McKay as Erik * Nic Paul as Jeremy Laidlaw *

Peter Bart Peter Benton Bart (born July 24, 1932) is an American journalist and film producer, writing a column for ''Deadline Hollywood'' since 2015. He is perhaps best known for his lengthy tenure (1989–2009) as the editor in chief of ''Variety'', an ...

has a cameo in the film playing himself

Production

Development

''Road to Nowhere'' was

's first feature film in 21 years. The film was written by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' executive editor Steven Gaydos.

was the first actor to be cast after Gaydos saw her in a restaurant rehearsing a scene with another person. Reluctantly, Gaydos gave Sossamon his card saying, "I don't do this often, but I wonder if you or your agent would contact Monte Hellman." Hellman told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' that he dedicated the film to

Laurie Bird Laurie Bird (September 26, 1953 – June 15, 1979) was an American film actress and photographer. She appeared in three films during the 1970s. Two of them were directed by Monte Hellman. She was romantically involved with Hellman and Art G ...

, with whom Hellman fell in love while directing her in ''

Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road movie directed by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Plot Two street racers, the Dri ...

''.

Filming

On a budget of under $5 million,

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

was almost entirely in western

(where the film is also set) between July and August 2009. Hellman shot with a

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

, which recorded 12 minutes at a time on a flash card (as opposed to 10 minutes with a

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

). Scenes were shot at the

Balsam Mountain Inn __NOTOC__ The Balsam Mountain Inn is an historic wooden Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical and Victorian architecture, Victorian hotel located at 68 Seven Springs Drive in Balsam, North Carolina, United States. In July, 1982, it was added to ...

Balsam Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...

for four to five weeks. Several other scenes were shot in the Boyd Mountain Log Cabins in Waynesville. Still other scenes were shot at Doc Holliday's bar in

Maggie Valley Maggie Valley is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,150 at the 2010 census. A popular tourist destination, it is home to Cataloochee Ski Area and the former Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park. Maggie V ...

, at the

Fontana Dam Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain and Graham counties, North Carolina, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to satisfy the skyrocketin ...

, and at the Jackson County Airport. Students from

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

and

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

were hired as

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

s and also served as

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

s. Other shooting locations were done in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Jim Rowell, a

Cullowhee Cullowhee
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the

resident got a deal with the filmmakers that allowed him to make a

fuel pump A fuel pump is a component in motor vehicles that transfers liquid from the fuel tank to the carburetor or fuel injector of the internal combustion engine. Carbureted engines often use low pressure mechanical pumps that are mounted outside the f ...

repair at the airport in exchange for flying his 1966

Piper Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

four-passenger plane as a stuntman. Rowell did eight to nine passes over the lake, flying 300 to 500 feet above the water. In post-production, film editors cut the shots back and forth of Rowell flying near the dam and the actual actor sitting in Rowell's plane pretending to fly in front of a

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...

and crashing the plane into the Fontana Dam. Natasha Senjanovic of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called the plane crash one of "cinema's top plane crashes" and remarked that, " tis beautifully shot and comes as a total surprise". Hellman still needed to shoot some scenes in Europe, but was over budget. His daughter, co-producer Melissa Hellman, raised more money through

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

. Hellman shot in the streets of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and traveled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to shoot at

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

. Other scenes were shot in the church of

San Pietro in Vincoli San Pietro in Vincoli (; Saint Peter in Chains) is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II. The '' Titulus S. Petri ...

, and in front of Michelangelo's ''Moses'' and the tomb of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Release

In January 2011, Monterey Media bought the United States distribution rights from

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

. The

American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, nonprofit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. The Cinematheque was created in 1981 as ...

at the Egyptian hosted a tribute to Hellman which culminated on May 14, 2011, with a special premiere screening of ''Road to Nowhere''. On June 8, 2011, the

Film Society of Lincoln Center Film at Lincoln Center, previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a film society based in New York City, United States. Fo ...

hosted an evening with Hellman, which included a special presentation of ''Road to Nowhere'' and a screening of Hellman's adaptation of ''Cockfighter''.

Festivals

''Road to Nowhere'' was selected to screen at the following film festivals: *2010

Whistler Film Festival The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pand ...

*2010

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

*2010

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

*2010

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

*2011

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

*2011

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

*2011

Filmfest Oldenburg The Oldenburg International Film Festival has covered the international movie scene in all aspects since 1994. It is situated in Oldenburg, Germany. Its open-minded approach leads to a mixture of movie premieres and original independent production ...

Limited theatrical run

''Road to Nowhere'' was given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on June 10, 2011 and in

on June 17, 2011. In New York the film opened in one theater and grossed $2,521 for its opening weekend. It grossed a total of $4,984 in its first week. In Los Angeles the film opened in six theaters and grossed $6,051—$864 per theater for its opening weekend, a 140% increase in tickets. In its third week it grossed $3,936—$984 per theater, a 35% decrease in ticket sales from the previous week. It was removed from three theaters. In its fourth weekend, a four-day weekend, the film made $3,113—$778 per theater. By its fifth weekend it was removed from two theaters and had a 67% percent drop in tickets making $846–$423 per theater. By its sixth weekend the film was playing in three theaters making $877–$292 per theater. For its seventh weekend, it gained $3,609—$722 per theater in five theaters, an increase of 247.4% from the previous weekend. The film grossed $83,496 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and $37,829 in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. ''Road to Nowhere'' earned $40,294 in theatrical release in the United States and $121,325 in other markets, for a worldwide total of $161,619.

Home media

''Road to Nowhere'' was released to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on . Features include a 15-min behind the scenes (making of the film) video and a 14-min Q&A with Hellman and Gaydos at the Nashville Film Festival.

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with many critics praising the performance of

. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 73% of 26 critics have given the film a positive review.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 59 based on 17 reviews. Kevin Thomas of the ''

'' wrote a positive review saying, "In its masterful use of evocative imagery and music, ''Road to Nowhere'' is flawless". After an interview with Hellman, John Anderson from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said positive things about the film saying "''Road'' may also be as significant to the indie feature as ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

'' is to the popcorn movie". ''Road to Nowhere'' was also included in

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

's Legendary Films Blog. Nick Dawson wrote a positive review after it screened at

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

. Lou Lumenick of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' gave a negative review saying, " 'Road to Nowhere''has a great setup but not much in the way of a payoff". He went on to say "While there are some giggles in the film-within-the-film, the artsy-fartsy direction and flat-as-a-pancake acting invites invidious comparisons to ''

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

''".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film two out of four stars criticizing the story's film within a film narrative. He said, "''Road to Nowhere'' is not a failure in that it sets out to do exactly what it does, and does it. The question remains of why it should have been done. Hellman's skill is evident everywhere in precise framing and deliberate editing. Each scene works within itself on its own terms. But there is no whole here. I've rarely seen a narrative film that seemed so reluctant to flow. Nor perhaps one with a more accurate title".

Awards

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Road To Nowhere 2010 films 2010 independent films 2010 romance films American independent films American romance films Films directed by Monte Hellman Films set in North Carolina Films shot in North Carolina Films shot in London Films shot in Rome Films shot in Italy Films shot in Los Angeles Films about filmmaking 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Filming

Release

Festivals

Limited theatrical run

Home media

Critical reception

Awards

References

Further reading

External links