''The Road Within'' is a 2014 American film written and directed by Gren Wells in her feature directorial debut. The film is a remake of the 2010 German film, ''

Vincent Wants to Sea ''Vincent Wants to Sea'' (german: Vincent will Meer, ) is a 2010 German drama film directed by Ralf Huettner. An American remake, '' The Road Within'' was released in 2014. Plot Vincent, a 27-year-old man with Tourette's syndrome, is institut ...

''. The film premiered at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival and was picked up by

Well Go USA Entertainment A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. T ...

and given a

theatrical release An art release is the premiere of an artistic production and its presentation and marketing to the public. Film A film release is the authorization by the owner of a completed film to a public exhibition of the film. The exhibition may be in theat ...

in April 2015.

Plot

After his mother's death, Vincent (

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...

), a teenager with

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

, is enrolled in a behavioural facility by his father. While there, he rooms with Alex (

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which Patel was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead ...

), a Briton with obsessive compulsive disorder, and meets Marie (

Zoë Kravitz Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film '' No Reservations'' (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero fi ...

) who is in recovery for

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

. After a child films Vincent with his cellphone and Vincent attacks him, he and Marie are called into the office of Mia Rose, a doctor, where she chastises them and Marie steals her car keys. When Alex discovers Marie and Vincent running away in the middle of the night, he attempts to warn Rose and is kidnapped by them. The three of them head towards the ocean where Vincent hopes to scatter his mother's ashes. However Vincent does not remember the exact location of the beachside trip he and his mother made years ago. The trio finally settle on Santa Cruz as their destination. Rose informs Vincent's father, Robert, that his son has gone missing, and rather than allow the police to apprehend them, she and Robert attempt to track them down. Along the way, Marie and Vincent start a relationship with one another. When they finally reach the ocean, Marie collapses before they can reach the water. Marie is hospitalized and while there, the three are reunited with Rose and Robert. Marie, who is being force-fed and has been restrained, asks Vincent to run away with her, but Vincent refuses. Instead he has a conversation with his father, who apologizes for treating him poorly, and decides to stay in Santa Cruz so he can be near Marie. Rather than leave with Rose, Alex decides to stay with him.

Cast

as Vincent *

as Alex *

as Marie *

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparke ...

as Robert *

Kyra Sedgwick Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (; born August 19, 1965) is an American actress, producer and director. For her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama ''The Closer'', she won a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Awa ...

as Mia Rose

Development

Wells was inspired to remake the movie based only on the trailer for ''Vincent Wants to Sea''. She also stated that she was compelled to make the movie due to her own history of disordered eating. Kravitz dropped to for the film and explained she had been drawn to the role due to her own struggles with anorexia.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 ...

, the film has an approval rating of 45% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 5.04/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' praised all three of the lead actors but criticized the "formulaic nature of the piece." Similarly, ''

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), ...

'' had positive words for the "bristling and committed performances by Robert Sheehan, Dev Patel and Zoe Kravitz" while noting that "there remains a nagging tidiness to the whole endeavor that leaves a strained, cloying aftertaste" that kept the movie from truly succeeding.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Road Within 2014 films 2010s road comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films American remakes of German films Films about eating disorders Films about Tourette syndrome Films about obsessive–compulsive disorder Films scored by the Newton Brothers 2014 directorial debut films 2014 comedy films 2014 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films