''Roads and Bridges'' is a 2000 film by

Abraham Lim Abraham Lincoln Lim is an American film director and actor. Early life and education Lim attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he completed his BFA and an MFA in film. He grew up in Overland Park, Kansas in the 1970 ...

about a Chinese-American man facing racial prejudice in the American Midwest. Lim plays the main character, Johnson Lee, a Chinese-American man who is placed on a Kansas road-cleaning crew by his parole officer. The film is about the friendship between Lee (played by Lim) and Darrell (played by Gregory Sullivan), a black man who has experienced years of racist treatment from the white co-workers on the road crew. Lee is also the subject of racist treatment by the road crew. After Darrell rescues Lee from a river, the two men become friends. Other actors include Matt Malloy, Soon-Tek Oh, Jim Akman, Emmet Brennan, and Joe Michaelski. It was produced by Marc H. Glick and Lim, with

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

, Glick, and Lim as executive producers. In addition to directing, Lim also wrote and edited the film. The music is by Bradford Athey and Adam Gorgoni.

Production

Production took six years to complete and went through three

directors of photography ''Directors of Photography'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Dilated Peoples. The album was released on August 12, 2014, by Rhymesayers Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Vince Staples, Aloe Blacc, Catero, ...

. Lim and his crew took many trips from New York to Kansas to shoot the film.

later came on as an executive producer after Lim edited for him on ''

Cookie's Fortune ''Cookie's Fortune'' is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and starring Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Patricia Neal, Charles S. Dutton, and Chris O'Donnell. It follows a dysfunctional family in small-town Missi ...

'' (1999). The story is inspired by Lim's experience with a

road crew The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

in 1984 wherein he befriended Daryl, a Black man, and faced various forms of racism.

Reception

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), ...

'' praised "Lim’s captivating, though sometimes heavy-handed" film, saying that it "succeeds in large part because of its social intelligence and core of well-delineated characters". The ''Daily Northwestern'' praised the excellent performances of Lim and Sullivan and, while noting that the six-year "length of shooting shows in the film’s evolving aesthetic, with some scenes looking amateur and others well-executed", states that the director has dealt with a "tough subject racism)with aplomb". Ted Shen for the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' said that although the

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

s were overly sentimental, the "twists and turns of the men's unfolding friendship are astutely paced" and "languid, stifling atmosphere of a backwater town" are meticulously crafted. The film won the top prize at the

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a charitable cultural film festival organization located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that advocates Asian representations through media arts. Works include films and videos by East Asia, Southea ...

as a

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References

{{Reflist American drama road movies Asian-American drama films Films about racism Films set in Kansas Films directed by Abraham Lim 2000s drama road movies 2000 directorial debut films 2000 films 2000s American films