Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie Review

Monte Hellman is back and he's in a baffling mood

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 17, 2011

Filmmaking hero Monte Hellman hasn’t made a feature in 21 years. The director of such cult hits as “Two-Lane Blacktop,” “Cockfighter,” and “China 9, Liberty 37” returns to the screen with “Road to Nowhere,” a noir-flavored mystery about the puzzling creation of a complicated motion picture. In short, it’s a movie about movies that’s not really a movie. It seems fitting that this bewildering picture is the impetus for Hellman’s return, as it appears the material is actually about him, dissecting the various jealousies and infatuations a driven director develops while in the midst of assembling a motion picture. Hellman is a true artist with a vision for disorientation that carries all the way through “Road to Nowhere,” but the lasting impact of the film will be up to the individual viewer and their personal appetite for cinematic riddles.

The true story of Rafe Tachen (Cliff De Young) and Velma Duran (Shannyn Sossamon) is a tale of lust, greed, murder, and cover-up, making it the ideal vehicle for a Hollywood adaptation. Director Mitchell Haven (Tygh Rynyan) is eager to bring the salacious story to the screen, finally finding a producer interested in funding his vision. Setting off to find the perfect actress to embody Duran’s sultry complexity, Haven stumbles upon Laurel Graham (Sossamon), an aspiring actress actually involved with Tachen’s elaborate plan of misdirection. Fighting to bring her into the movie, Haven falls in love with his leading lady, commencing production with lead actor Cary Stewart (De Young), who also develops a flirtation with Graham. As the production endures its daily challenges, difficulties develop with consultant Bruno (Waylon Payne) and blogger Nathalie (Dominique Swain), a pair holding critical pieces of the true story, finding Haven’s obsession nudging the movie away from the truth, slipping into the comfort of fantasy.

To keep matters in a proper perspective, Hellman’s last film was 1989’s “Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!” That title alone successfully communicates the state of the filmmaker’s career when he ceased to make feature-length movies. “Road to Nowhere” is a fresh opportunity for Hellman and a return to his strengths as a cinema artist, plunging into a semi-surreal odyssey that winds fact and fantasy together into a pointed commentary about the creative process, with all of its inherent fixations, combatants, and elements of control. Instead of chasing genre elements as he has for most of his career, Hellman is offered more of an observational perch with “Road to Nowhere,” conducting this mystery from afar, almost reluctant to grind the gears of the plot, fearful of ruining its mysterious atmosphere.

Scripted by Variety editor Steven Gaydos, “Road to Nowhere” is a baffling motion picture, but that’s exactly how the writer has imagined it. There’s a distinct manipulation in play here, using a non-linear structure and a flurry of last names to disorient the viewer, making the feature more about adjusting one’s personal moviewatching compass than requiring the ability to concentrate on the details. Gaydos and Hellman are purposely trying to throw followers off their scent, blending elements of true crime with the minutiae of film creation, tracking Haven’s efforts to complete his daily production plan while maintaining his affections for Graham. We watch as “Road to Nowhere” (the title of the film-within-the-film) is assembled, employing North Carolina locations, a sparse but vocal crew, and a fleet of tiny digital camera (“Check the card!” is called after a good take). The film experience displayed here also represents Hellman’s efforts, furthering the mind-bending nature of the picture. There’s an autobiographical vibe that’s bewitching, supplying a measure of gravity to a decidedly ephemeral viewing event.

Extracting tension out of “Road to Nowhere” is up to the viewer, since Hellman isn’t much help in the stimulation department. It’s a movie that lingers on real time activities, observing characters watch movies, get dressed for meetings, and wait for automatic property gates to open. Hellman stays on his actors, permitting the cast to emote naturally, to find the center of the scene without being rushed. The stagnancy is maddening at times, often undercutting the small fragments of mystery Gaydos is attempting to bring to a boil. Abstract touches keep the picture awake but never deepen the material, leaving the highlights of “Road to Nowhere” reserved to the film production sequences, with Haven’s on-set jealousies and power plays far more interesting, accurate, and involving than watching a threadbare mystery lumber forward. The picture tries too hard to be enigmatic, often wandering in the wrong directions. Screen confusion shouldn’t be this glacial.

Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio, 1080p) presentation looks rather flat on Blu-ray, lacking prominent textures and demonstrative colors. There are major issues with crush to combat during the viewing experience, with evening shots practically unreadable due to a solidification of blacks. It pulls a lot of detail out of the frame, a problems slightly exacerbated by some accelerated contrast levels. Facial details retain their human feel when communicated in close-ups, finding subtle performance cues registering cleanly. Skintones tend to lose their pinkness during a few scenes, pushing into yellowish hues. Daylight encounters reveal a stronger handle on the overall look of the film, brightening up the lukewarm digital cinematography, though the presentation does reveal some difficulty with banding. The BD doesn't fully support the picture's intricate cinematic stance, clouding some of the finer points of frame detail.

Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix sounds fresh enough to assist Hellman's interest in surprise, highlighting crisp gunshots (sudden pops designed to make the listener jump out of their chair), loud explosions, and sharp vocal outbursts. Dialogue exchanges are always easy to understand, capturing badly needed verbal information in a picture of mumblers and whisperers. The conversations hold frontal, with more group-intensive efforts pushed out into the surrounds some, a circular feel that also provides dimension with echoed chatter. Atmospherics are generous, accentuating the puzzle with a full stream of environmental placement (evening adventures are especially evocative) and nuanced reactions from the characters. Low-end comes to life during violent encounters, but stays relatively modest. Music sounds lush, with soundtrack cuts crisp and direct, supporting the imagery.

Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Q&A (13:46, HD) captures Monty Hellman at the Nashville Film Festival, sharing the stage with moderator/producer/screenwriter Steven Gaydos. The conversation runs through expected areas of creative genesis and production challenges, with questions soon accepted from the gathered attendees. Strangely, Gaydos takes center stage, answering queries about the film in a long-winded manner while Hellman waits for an opportunity to interject. The crowd is thoughtful, prodding the men to think hard about the movie. The whole shebang ends with an awards presentation. The A/V quality isn't strong, resembling a home video from a fan in attendance, but the information offered is valuable to understanding the picture's multiple layers.

• Interview with Shannyn Sossamon (14:43, HD) sits down with lead actress in what appears to be something of a domestic setting, with an unknown interviewer (maybe Gaydos?) hitting the thespian with all types of questions about Hellman and the making of the movie. Sossamon is a good sport, attempting to provide interesting answers to blunt questions, searching for ways to describe the creative space around Hellman, the comfort of his company, and the complexity of his filmmaking. It's a casual chat, resembling a supplemental feature that was intended to be chopped up for an alternative purpose.

• A Theatrical Trailer is provided (2:11, HD).

Road to Nowhere Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Road to Nowhere" is an interpretive experience, spreading its puzzle pieces around the frame, asking adventurous viewers to snap together their own analysis of devious, destructive behavior. I simply wish the effort were more persuasive, compelling outsiders to study every frame of this brainteaser. It's a sporadically interesting picture, but rarely gripping outside of a few fleeting digressions. Still, it's fantastic to see Hellman back in the saddle, working out his clues, diligently scrubbing away clarity to encourage extended post-screening scrutiny. Let's hope it doesn't take 21 years before he decides to make another picture.