Road to Nowhere (2010) - Road to Nowhere (2010) - User Reviews

5/10

yingyangpanda6 October 2011

This movie makes your brain a road to nowhere. Although confusingly slow, for some. For others depth is more important. So deep you cant look around cause everything looks the same.

I watched this movie for the first time on 3 beautiful tabs of perception enhancers and it made me change life perspective and my own personality. How much of it was the movie I Don't know. The movie changes perspective the whole time. It. Is. Odd.People who think they are creative will hate this movie cause it will pee in their eyes.

Real people who 'think' regularly will be enchanted by the detail. They will laugh while the ignorant cry.

Bottom line: not for anyone.

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6/10

A Long Time Coming

Easygoer1020 August 2019

The first Monte Hellman I saw is his most famous, "Two Lane Blacktop" when it came out in 1971. I think everyone from that film is dead, except for James Taylor, who played "The Driver". That was a brilliant film. This one, however, is not quite the same. I do want to point out Shannon Sossamon is cast in this. I think she is a very underrated actress. She is beautiful as well, reminds me of Nastassja Kinski, but doesn't have Ms. Kinski's unique eyes. This film syarts out good, but peters out, unfortunately. It is worth a watch.

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One-Lane Blacktop

chaos-rampant25 January 2012

This was among the most exciting news in recent years, a new Monte Hellman film out of nowhere. In the pipeline for some time but released without any hooplah or major headlines, this much was at least proper for a man who made incognito some of the unique films of the American underground: Ride in the Whirlwind, The Shooting, Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfighter.

But this one intrigued in a different way; gone but always remembered is the great Warren Oates, gone the mute drifters and brooding alienation of that time, but it would not be hackwork for hire, a re-shoot or mere work assignment, this one promised to be a dark personal vision like he hadn't been given the opportunity to direct in a long time.

So gone is Blacktop and Oates, this is a new thing for Hellman. But old in terms of cinema. It is the old trope of a film about a film, filtered through film noir and French New Wave. Lynch, pundits assert.

So one layer is a film about the makings of the film we are watching, referencing a life in movies and around movie sets that Hellman knows too well. Material deliberately chosen to be pulpy and reflecting movie plots that we know from noir is the backbone, a story of illicit love and suicide and behind it political intrigue and stolen money, presumably real events that our visionary filmmaker is fighting to turn into a movie.

Another layer is that story interspersed throughout as a film-within and gradually being shaped into the film being shot. But is it? Or is something more sinister afoot and only masquerading as our film? The idea: where does one dream end and the next begin, and is the space where one bleeds into the other reality or fiction.

The mechanisms that generate images are well sketched: desire, codified as our actress and referencing the femme fatale - another woman playing a role - and film noir dynamics, and the self perceiving itself separate, here very directly our filmmaker selectively framing a part of real life as a moving illusion.

The downside is not that it's slow and muddled as reported by some viewers. The downside is that since Hellman's day we've had several filmmakers probe and abstract deeper. We've had Lynch. This is not as complex or dangerous as believes to be. The machinery is never less than obvious. And occasionally as hamfisted as a camera being mistaken by police for a gun.

Hellman shoots this like it's going to be his crowning achievement. It's not, mostly because in this specific niche compete the most adventurous filmmakers of our time. This is not and has never been Hellman's natural space. He can't help but disappoint. But it's a new Hellman film and in a new direction and that's something to get excited for these days, right?

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2/10

One of the most exotic opening scenes in movie history!

Karaoke-219 June 2011

Opening medium shot: Shannyn Sossamon is sitting on a bed with her back to the headboard.The camera begins to move s-l-o-w-l-y toward a closeup of her face against a backdrop of silence. 3 minutes elapse as we watch her left hand move toward her face. She is holding a hair dryer. She turns it on. It blows in her face. During the next 2-3 minutes we watch as she moves the hair dryer closer to her face. We hear the motor purr. As this soporific scene concludes it sets the stage for a 120+ minute film that defies description. We soon learn that the story is about the shooting of a movie. Mademoiselle Sossamon has been chosen for the lead in this 'movie within a movie' She tells the Director she is 'not an actress' but he wants her anyway. I don't blame him..she's gorgeous and mysterious, perfect for a part that is the centerpiece of this convoluted, incomprehensible, maddening movie. As we watch various scenes of the director 'shooting his movie,' we become more confused regarding the storyline. When the director needs a retake, we watch him shoot the same scene over three times. More than likely the film editor went mad attempting to splice the scenes together to make a coherent story. Rather than give up, he spliced the scenes at random, collected his check and vanished. I commend him for having the courage to allow his name be listed in the credits. This movie was an endurance test. After the first 30 minutes, I took a bathroom break and noticed that at least half the audience had left, presumably in time to get their money back. I am aware there is an audience for this type of movie who enjoy obscure plots populated with ill defined characters. I'll acknowledge that Director Monte Hellman has style, but I'm unable to describe it. If money is not an object, go see this movie. But don't delay. I suspect the DVD is imminent.

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1/10

Detour to Dullsville

tigerfish5011 January 2013

As 'Road to Nowhere' begins, pre-production is underway on a movie project about a notorious murder case involving an absconded embezzler, faked accidents and substitute corpses. The director is seeking a lead actress to play the crime's femme fatale - and his search soon unearths an uncanny double of the villainous vamp, whose only previous credit is an 'exploitation' movie. Coincidentally her character is called Velma - which also happens to be the name of the duplicitous missing showgirl in Raymond Chandler's 'Farewell, My Lovely'. After two-thirds of the film is wasted on long shots of characters tying their shoelaces, watching nail polish dry and rehearsing inconsequential dialog, the actress embarks on a tepid love affair with the film's director, which results in some unexplained melodramatic discord and a violent conclusion.

Although film-within-a-film concepts have been used previously, as in Truffaut's 'Day For Night' and David Lynch's 'Inland Empire', a disciplined director armed with a coherent screenplay should be able to conjure fresh life from the old dog. Unfortunately 'Road To Nowhere' never provides any useful information about the original crime or those involved, nor does it ever clarify various intrigues amongst the film crew. Director Hellman justifies all the heavy-handed movie references and opaque mysteries by claiming he prefers surreal narratives - but his excuse is fraudulent. This isn't surrealism - it's just dull story-telling - or more accurately, no story-telling.

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7/10

Great movie, but I didn't really enjoy it

rooprect20 March 2013

Ever see a movie that is full of art, depth and meaning, but you just don't like it?

David Lynch movies strike me the same way. "Road to Nowhere" seems like a very Lynchian film. It carries a dark, brooding sense of imminent tragedy, characters are mysterious (some may say deliberately 2-dimensional), and the story disorients the viewer by leaping through different planes of existence. It's the kind of movie you're probably expected to view several times before you truly get it.

The story takes us to a small town where we piece together a crime based on small fragments. The whole time, a movie is being filmed about the crime, and that's the real plot. It's actually pretty clever of the director to hit us with 2 simultaneous stories unfolding in cryptic bits, and if I had more patience, I could have absorbed it all. But for the first hour I was just struggling to figure out what's going on, and the long, slow pacing seemed to mock my struggle. Do not watch this movie unless you're prepared to sit for nearly 2 hours like a deer in the headlights.

When the big picture finally materializes, it's almost too late. The abrupt ending may leave you feeling unsatisfied as it did me. But I guess that's where you're supposed to watch it again.

There was one part I'm very glad I saw: a scene where one character recites the poem "Sonnet XXV" by George Santayana. I'd never heard that poem before and immediately paused the movie to look it up.

Another scene, a short one of a plane crashing into a lake, struck me as beautiful. Make no mistake, even though I'm not a big fan of this movie, I enjoyed parts of it and would recommend it to fans of David Lynch ("Mulholland Drive"), Peter Greenaway ("Zed and two Naughts") or maybe--this is a stretch--Wim Wenders ("Paris, Texas"). It's also vaguely reminiscent of Jim Jarmusch ("Limits of Control") but it doesn't have Jarmusch's humorous moments, or any humor really. This is a very serious movie, made by serious people, intended for serious cinephiles. Do not watch this if you're in the mood for "Peewee's Big Adventure" or you'll be likely to crash your own airplane into a lake.

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1/10

Tough, slow going even for die-hard Hellman fans

jt199915 May 2011

While it would be nice to report that after a 20 year absence cult director Monte Hellman has returned with some sort of existential masterpiece on the nature of movie-making, complete with tragic death and lost innocence as some of its themes, this torpid, nearly incomprehensible muddle of a story about a young director making a low-budget film merely leaves one confused and numb.

What might have been a worthy companion piece to Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie" or even the great Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." crawls so far up its own convoluted pseudo-intellectual ass that making it through to the final credits becomes an endurance test.

Hellman commented recently that directing is 90 or 95% casting. He might want to focus a little more on the directing next time, and find a script that has a compelling story and characters one can actually care about. But this has never been his forte, of course.

A good deal of the blame goes to the editor, who allows scenes to meander a half a minute or more after they've effectively ended. The version I saw resembled a rough cut, not a finished film, complete with such snore-inducing moments as the main actress staring at a blow dryer for what seemed an eternity.

If Hellman's goal was to make a "personal" film that he alone can connect to and appreciate, then perhaps he has succeeded. But wouldn't it have been wonderful if this revered auteur could have -- for once -- created something that others could appreciate, too, perhaps even understand and enjoy... a picture with interesting characters and a story worth telling... something that might have been considered releasable by a small but respected distributor.... possibly returning Hellman to the filmmaking world of the 21st century as a viable director.

Alas, this mood experiment with digital photography, bland 1-dimensional characters, a 1970s Leonard Cohen inspired soundtrack and a cryptic, fragmented storyline may appeal to his very close inner circle of fans, but will likely leave the rest of us out in the cold, bewildered, confused, and wondering what all the accolades could have been about back in the 60s and 70s.

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9/10

Dense, poetic & mysterious Journey into the Unknown from Monte Hellman

sos124 June 2011

Monte Hellman remains one of America's greatest living filmmakers, director of metaphysical classics like TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971), arguably the ultimate American Road Movie, COCKFIGHTER (1974) and a handful of others. Like the masterful Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice (whose classic THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE Hellman gives a nod to in ROAD TO NOWHERE), it's something of a crime that Hellman has directed as few films as he has. So there's great reason to celebrate with the arrival of ROAD TO NOWHERE, his first full feature in over 20 years.

Hellman being who he is, ROAD TO NOWHERE is as dense, poetic and mysterious as anything he's made since probably THE SHOOTING in 1968. In fact, his new film is likely his most challenging ever -- but that shouldn't put you off. On the surface, it's the story of a real-life murder-suicide connected to a Southern politician -- a mystery which gets inextricably entangled with the making of a film about the tragedy directed by a moody, obsessive filmmaker (Tygh Runyan, who also played the moody, obsessive Stanley Kubrick in Hellman's "Stanley's Girlfriend") and starring a beautiful, opaque actress (Shannyn Sossamon, in easily her strongest and most rewarding performance to date). Add to this an almost infinite rogue's gallery of characters including veteran actors Cliff De Young and John Diehl, a wry extended cameo from Italian pulp cinema icon Fabio Testi (from Hellman's CHINA 9, LIBERTY 37) -- and you have the strangest Hall of Mirrors this side of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.

If you struggle to make "sense" of the plot, you'll probably miss the point -- since one of the major themes that emerges in ROAD TO NOWHERE is the impossibility of ever making sense of anything. (Hence the title: the Road leads Nowhere, but that shouldn't stop you from taking the journey.) Hellman uses a similar narrative strategy as in his classic TWO-LANE BLACKTOP where about halfway through the story the actual race stops mattering. In ROAD TO NOWHERE, the question of who committed the murder (or whether there was a murder at all) slowly drifts away in a Sargasso Sea of false leads, flashbacks and unanswered questions. What's left is Hellman's portrait of monstrous artistic obsession and some of his most intense and erotically-charged filmmaking ever, played out in long, lingering scenes between Sossamon and Runyan. There's also a bit of M.C. Escher here, like walking up a staircase only to find yourself at the bottom of another staircase, and another ...

If you're looking for an easy ride, then you should probably look elsewhere. But if you want to wander off-road, into the mysterious and inexplicable Zone (to quote from Tarkovsky's STALKER) where nothing is as it seems -- then Monte Hellman's ROAD TO NOWHERE is for you.

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7/10

ROAD TO NOWHERE (Monte Hellman, 2010) ***

Bunuel197615 August 2011

The director's first effort in 21 years shows he has lost none of his craftsmanship: the film is closest in tone to TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) from his earlier work, in that it starts to tell a particular tale but, whilst losing sight of its objective along the way, ends up revealing the real truth underneath, as it were. Given its device of having the movie-making business serve as backdrop to a puzzle, I somehow expected this to be akin to MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) – but I am glad to report that the film very much adheres to the themes Hellman liked to explore well before David Lynch became a household word! This usually involves an odyssey where the protagonist obsesses over something or other, but the answers that he comes up with ultimately say more about himself than anything else! In addition, we have several layers of perception going on at once here: the noir-ish story itself, a film being shot based on this, the insurance investigation that might have detected links between the two, and a parallel probe by a female blogger that tries to make sense of the whole!

Though the central intrigue (incorporating pretty standard elements i.e. an embezzler, a femme fatale and the cop on their trail eventually opting for a cut of the proceeds) is rather sketchily presented, one is still engrossed enough to wish that a solution to the mystery had been provided. Indeed, the waters are further muddled towards the end by not only suggesting that it is still an ongoing plot strand but by having these characters and their movie incarnations played by the self-same actors (the scene in question, in fact, seems to have elicited sheer befuddlement from eminent movie critic Roger Ebert)! Incidentally, casting is effective all around – and especially Shannyn Sossamon's heroine – though I was only familiar with two of its members, namely Dominique Swain (as the blogger-turned-amateur-reporter, who becomes attached beyond the 'call of duty' to the insurance man) and Fabio Testi (a Hellman regular, appearing briefly in the part of the leading lady's father). The male protagonist, then, is the movie's young director – named Mitchell Haven, it is no coincidence that he shares Monte Hellman's own initials: he too begins a romance (with Sossamon), gets in too deep (so that he allows his personal life to cloud his judgment on set) and, finally, becomes the 'star' in his own crime drama!

The device of showing the protagonists watching such established classics as THE LADY EVE (1941), THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (1973) and THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957) on TV comes off as rather heavy-handed – though, by a stretch, one could assume that the idea was to subtly mirror the film's own themes of role-playing, disenchantment and mortality respectively! Also, while it maintains an unhurried pace, ROAD TO NOWHERE is marked by sudden moments of violence – apart from the climactic confrontation that escalates into a shoot-out, the image early on of a plane coming into frame to crash at sea is most memorable. Interestingly, we get two set of credits here – one for the film itself (at the very end) and the other (actually the opening credits) for the one it is about, with which it just happens to share the title! In fact, the very first shot has a DVD-R of the film-within-the-film being loaded in a lap-top: given that it is recorded on the notoriously unreliable Memorex brand, I wonder whether this was an in-joke by which Hellman is telling us not to trust what comes afterwards...

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1/10

It truly goes no where

LOL101LOL7 August 2011

Like the title of this horrible nothing of a film, it truly goes no where, sure I liked the first 5 to 10 minutes and thought hey this could be good. But again I was fooled, I really should have paid more attention to the cast of no body's, it tends to be a good indication what a film is going to be like, and yes I have been wrong before, but most times it is a pretty good way to sort out the good from the bad.

Don't get me wrong this could have been an O.K film but it had no direction of any kind, and really no fault of the cast that this ended up to be a stinker of a boring film. They seemed to really try to hard doing absolutely nothing with a script that has no direction of any kind.

If you are O.K with wasting about 2 hours of your life than go for it, I myself just have better things to do, hence I gave up on this film half way through.

Up there with the worst stinker of the year for 2011, very solid 1 out of 10.

And watch the rating of 6.4 tumble over the next few weeks!

Update Update!!!! and for those who voted positive for this disaster, please note the rating of 6.4, it is coming down! What does that mean? it stinks!

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10/10

A film about a crime from so many blended points of view that you have to see it twice.

jubob217 September 2017

This film is a pleasure to watch but a veritable conundrum to figure out. Watching it a second time will sort an incredible amount out. It is told from the point of view of a blogger, a filmmaker, several of the actors, an insurance adjuster and, most interestingly, contains spin-offs of possible plot lines in the mind of the filmmaker. I think this is where most of the confusion comes from. If you like puzzles, this is the film for you. Wonderful acting, interestingly filmed. Trying to sort out the various plot levels becomes the challenge. Those who say there is no method to the madness haven't looked closely enough. Everyone within the film is trying to figure out this crime so it is only fair that the audience is let in on the game as well.

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7/10

Monte Hellman departs

lee_eisenberg26 January 2024

Monte Hellman's final film starts off looking like a self-reference. We see that it's about the production of a movie, and the opening credits are for the film-within-a-film. But before too long, "Road to Nowhere" turns out to have more than one plot going on.

This is definitely not a movie for most audiences. There are no top stars, no CGI, and no fast action. This is very much a plot-driven movie, and it requires a long attention span. I don't know most of Hellman's work, but it sounds as though he preferred to avoid Hollywood conventions (although he gave Jack Nicholson early roles in some movies).

If you're willing to settle for a serious movie with lesser known people, then this will be one for you. Otherwise you can stick to Marvel adaptations.

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1/10

Apt title

obnxs15 January 2014

The title says it all. This movie goes nowhere. Unfortunately it doesn't go nowhere fast. I should've seen the writing on the wall considering the movie starts out LITERALLY watching paint dry.

From there it only slows down. And devolves to absolutely incredulous stupidity by the major players.

Want to switch the same scene three times? This is your movie.

Want to wonder how stupid people could possibly be? Yep, watch this.

Want to watch paint dry? A full minute of someone tying their shoes? 45 seconds cleaning the garbage out of their car? Film just being run to run film? GET.THIS.MOVIE.

Sound intolerable? Save yourself the 2 hours. Trust me. Or don't, but you were warned.

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10/10

Can't stop thinking about this movie

eyelineronacat12 October 2013

GIve me something really juicy to obsess over, and it's off to the races. I've been a huge fan of Shannyn Sossamon for some time, but I'd missed this movie until recently when it was aired on cable. While I feel that Shannyn is the film's biggest asset, I'm also struck by how her presence is not completely dominating any scene she's in with others. It's clear that this was the right film, right actors, right time and place, because this kind of full-cast chemistry doesn't come along very often. I couldn't help feeling like a fly on the wall who was witnessing the combustible moments, big or small, between these characters.

In someone else's review here, they mentioned a killer opening shot. I agree and feel the same way about the closing shot as well. It could've gone on for another five minutes and I wouldn't have noticed. I'm looking forward to watching Road to Nowhere again so I can catch some of the little things I missed, because I'm sure that I did miss some.

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10/10

Monte Hellman is back with an ambitious and moving gem

highsierrafilms4 June 2011

"Monte Hellman's new movie is entitled Road to Nowhere. The title may bring a bittersweet smile to longtime fans of the brilliant director. Half sweet because it would be an apt moniker for most of his dark journeys, while the bitter half comes from the knowledge that the title could also describe a career that has resulted in great films, but with one near-exception has never resulted in the wide acclaim that he deserves. However, after seeing Road to Nowhere, Hellman fans will be smiling unambiguously with pleasure that this latest work represents a strong return to form for this unique filmmaker after over thirty years wandering in the filmmaking wilderness

The movie tells the twisty neo-noir tale of a film crew shooting a true crime saga about a massive scam that ended in multiple deaths. Things get messy when director Mitchell Haven chooses an unknown actress to star in his movie. Mitchell becomes increasingly obsessed with his enigmatic leading lady who may have a secret connection to the actual crime. Mitchell's obsession and her dangerous game lead them both down a rabbit hole from which there is no escape. However, no synopsis can do justice to the Chinese box-like structure of Hellman's work. Careful viewing is required to decipher which events are "real" and what is the film-within-the-film, with even the credits being playfully deceptive. At age seventy-nine, Hellman has created a powerful and haunting work that can stand with his best films"

Dylan Skolnick Long Island Pulse Magazine

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Thank You, Monte!

solszew21 November 2011

Finally, after 21 years, we get a new Monte Hellman film, and, despite the negative reviews on this site, it is a winner, a magnificent piece of film art! Road to Nowhere is not the typical Hollywood entertainment fluff, and thank goodness. In a world where bad 70's television shows and comic book heroes are shoved down our throats on a weekly basis, a film like this is a lifesaver. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that the themes of alienation, absurdity, and identity that are the hallmarks of Hellman's direction are present in spades, as well as meditations on the nature of art and the nature of film. If you are looking for intellectual stimulation and some relief from standard Hollywood fare, look no further. As films-about- films go, this one stands with Last Year at Marienbad and Persona. Not to be missed.

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10/10

'Road to Nowhere' is a road worth taking

wagesovfeare4 June 2011

If you read the reviews and cinema fan opinions from France, from South America, Italy and Portugal, you'll find there are major critics, novelists and philosophers who've responded not only enthusiastically, but poetically and lyrically about their love for the film. And then there are major filmmakers like Atom Egoyan, who said on stage at the Whistler Film Festival, "'Road to Nowhere' is one of the most extraordinary films I have ever seen."

And Olivier Assayas was recently quoted while on his way to be on the Jury in Cannes, " I was moved by the troubling poetry of 'Road to Nowhere'...it reminds one of the physical impact that great cinema can have. 'Road to Nowhere' is like a shot to the heart."

And closer to home, Noel Lawrence was also enthusiastic:

"A lot of cynics told me ROAD TO NOWHERE couldn't be as good as people said it was. I saw the film last night.. and let the record reflect it is THAT GOOD. While enigmatic as anything Lynch ever shot, its relaxed pacing and subdued direction liberate the film from stylized gimmickry and make its labyrinthine storyline all the more disturbing. ROAD TO NOWHERE will supply grist to the film theory mill for the next half-century." - Noel Lawrence

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10/10

A mind bending Film Noir about the elusive nature of reality

monell57911 June 2011

Warning: Spoilers

ROAD TO NOWHERE is Monte Hellman's first feature film in over two decades and it proves to be worth the wait. An instant classic of the Movie-Movie genre, along with Jean-Luc Godard's CONTEMPT and Truffaut's DAY FOR NIGHT, with strong links to Hitchcock's VERTIGO, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, RASHOMON and Jacques Rivette's L'AMOUR FOU, it's a feast for the mind, eyes and all movie lovers. And, make no mistake, ROAD TO NOWHERE is every bit as original and artistically courageous as those time tested classics.

Hellman's on-again, off-again career, from Roger Corman produced horror projects like BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED CAVE, THE CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA and THE TERROR to the mind-bending, low budget western THE SHOOTING (the first psychedelic western and a possible template for EL TOPO) to the the celebrated 1971 TWO LANE BLACKTOP, which defined the mood of its era, and its road movie twin, COCKFIGHTER, has proved as iconoclastic as his vision and his films have not had an easy time with mainstream critics of their time. But they have lasted. ROAD TO NOWHERE is his most daring, experimental and uncompromising film yet, and it will also last. It has the twists and turns of Hellman's own career story built in but it also has a universal validity in its overriding concern with the nature of Art and the role of the Artist. The nonlinear, mind teasing structure is both a challenge and a gift for those who want to engage with a film on a creative level. It tells either multiple stories or presents multiple takes on one story: the fallout from a film being made about a shady politician, a femme fatale, murder, suicide and possible resurrection. The director becomes obsessed with his leading actress in the manner of a New Hollywood predator on a sophisticated prowl, but there's a supremely nasty surprise in store for him and for our conventional expectations as consumers of the genre. The mind can play funny tricks when sex, money and artistic ambition are in the brew.

RTN starts out as a crime film, a 21st Century Film Noir in which an obsession with cinema determines the fate of the fall guy. Mitchell Haven, the director of the film within the film, appreciates THE SEVENTH SEAL and THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (clips of both are included in key scenes) as masterpieces in the manner of the real Monte Hellman, but Haven can't see what's unfolding right there in front of him, sometimes in his own bed. It questions our assumptions about the reality of everyday experience, the realities of the creative process and the reality we assign to the images we absorb from cinema. There is no set reality in RTN, this is a metaphysical thriller, which contains elements of the meta-fictions of Borges, atmospherically shot in North Carolina's ethereal Smoky Mountains. You won't be able to predict what's coming down in the next scene and, like Edgar G. Ulmer's noir classic DETOUR, only endless movement, existential anxiety and unpleasant change are certain.

If ROAD TO NOWHERE isn't a masterpiece, it's certainly the work of an American Master. It could be described as a haunted, haunting cautionary fable on what happens to people who watch too many movies. In our age of the Blogger and instant Internet searches it also evokes the irony of John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, in which the editor concludes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Each image in RTN has an uncanny, minatory quality, sometimes luminous, sometimes dark, which suck one into the netherworld. It's beautiful, spare, mysterious, tragic and often possessed of a jet black humor. It could be described as a Country and Western Art film, the evil twin of COCKFIGHTER, another Hellman internal/external trek. Monte Hellman dares to allow the viewer space for creative collaboration. This is, perhaps, his authorial signature.

ROAD TO NOWHERE won't reveal itself on one viewing, it immediately seduces you but insists you come back for revisits. Like any memorable work of art it respects your intelligence and rewards your patience in spades.

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One of the major films of the decade

AbsoluFilm5 June 2011

There is a strange phenomenon with Monte Hellman, as well as for example Jean-Luc Godard: each of their films are immediately classics of cinema. "Road to Nowhere", as well as "Film Socialism" the same year, are films far in advance of their times, that everyone knows, more or less consciously, are as necessary as a play by Shakespeare or Beckett, or a composition by Bach or Schoenberg. The desynchronizing between the release and the public recognition wouldn't be so important, if the author, in the meantime, were allowed to make his work and offer us many other cinematic diamonds. But the result is the rarity of Monte Hellman's films, and it's like humanity is depriving itself from emotional and artistic resources it needs so much. "Road to Nowhere" is one of the major films of the decade, related to works by Pierre Corneille ("Illusion"), Luigi Pirandello ("Six Characters in Search of an Author"), Vincente Minnelli ("The Bad and the Beautiful") or Federico Fellini ("8½").

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10/10

On the Road (to Nowhere) Again

ericaarima19 July 2011

In Monte Hellman's first feature in 21 years, 'Road to Nowhere' (based on a script from Steven Gaydos), the director weaves together three separate story lines including the making of a film, the film that is being made, and the mystery on which the movie that is being made is based. A double suicide in Bryson County, North Carolina involving a local politician and a Cuban refugee ends up costing the state $100 million. Shortly thereafter director Mitchell Haven (Tygh Runyan) is making a film based on the event as reported on Natalie Post's (Dominique Swain) blog. The film production begins to unravel when the director becomes involved with the unknown actress, Laurel Graham (Shannyn Sossamon), stirring up jealousy and in-fighting among the cast and crew. Matters are not helped when the film's regional consultant, and former insurance investigator, Bruno Brotherton (Waylon Payne), begins to suspect the actress Laurel Graham of being involved in the actual scandal. As the movie unfolds, the plot threads become an insular maze of self-reference gloriously leading nowhere.

The title, 'Road to Nowhere,' can apply to any number of Hellman's previous works whether in reference to a pass through the Filipino jungle leading to an enemy camp ('Back Door to Hell'), a trail to Kingsley through terrain so barren it looks like a science-fiction landscape rather than the Utah desert ('The Shooting'), or a cross-country race that loses sight of finish line ('Two-Lane Blacktop'). Furthermore, considering the etymological relationship between the words nowhere and utopia, the title can additionally describe the Quixotic quests of the lead characters in 'Cockfighter' and especially 'Iguana.'

I'm glad to see that Monte Hellman is directing again and I can't wait to see where this Road to Nowhere takes him next...because just 'cuz you're heading nowhere doesn't mean you can't make some great stops along the way.

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10/10

Monte's Magnificent Masterpiece.

chiefpunker-75-3599329 June 2011

Just went to the New York premiere last night...

"Road to Nowhere" is artistically designed to be viewed over and over again, as the scenes will piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. Its pace has an addictive nature, much like David Lynch's "Twin Peaks", but conversely, this is perfectly cohesive thematically. It's abstract, dynamically ambitious, yet flawless in its dialogue and divine scripting. This is the best of all of Monte Hellman's films in one, covering all territory and more. Hellman pays strict attention to detail from shot to shot. All of the photography/cinematography is stylish, yet raw and uncut, giving the mood of the film a realistic look under a very experimental screenplay. The story gets complex, a movie within a movie, and sometimes you can't tell which is which as the characters blend, but there's an underlying sense of humor about it all. Scenes go dramatic to funny like you're on the set for the outtakes sometimes, and it's fascinating how the story unfolds like a who-dunnit that is totally unpredictable. Shannyn Sossamon is perfect, and so is the whole ensemble Hellman brings to the screen. Add some great Tom Russell songs and an erratic but beautiful ending, you'll need to see it again and again.

Impressed to say the least, "Road to Nowhere" is as much a homage to the classics as it is the future of filmmaking.

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The Road to Nowhere as seen from the Road to Nowhere as seen......

Lotus1123426 September 2011

Warning: Spoilers

A really bad movie trying to be existential and thought provoking, with supposed stylish scenes, that starts and ends up being just a confusing, intentionally unintelligible borefest.

First we watch a riveting four minute scene with a woman blowing a hairdryer on her face for some reason. Pretty girl, but please. I guess the director thinks that some people when they are pondering their lives or a dilemma break out the hairdryer. Shots ring out later for reasons that are never fully shown or explained. I will tell you why, but there are now SPOILERS AHEAD.

There begins some type of cover up for a crime, that ends up actually being a movie of the cover up of the crime that ends up being a movie of a movie of the cover up of the crime, or maybe not, that ends up being an entirely new crime, but wait.....it is a now a movie of that crime, but that ends up being a filming of the story of that crime, or maybe not......who knows? I am sure this all has some deep meaning to the director, and shadows his personal life or something, but to normal people, no meaning at all. Worse, it is stunningly slow and boring. If you find the above premise intriguing, I would suggest someone could have made a movie like that that would be infinitely more interesting and yet still be confusing and thought provoking. Like maybe Inception or numerous other movies.

I think the movie is summed up by its title, but even more to the point, a line within the movie itself (or within one of the movies of the movies...): " Let's f--- the facts"

OK cut....lets look over this review and see if it reads well....

OK CUT.......THATS A WRAP OF THIS REVIEW..........

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10/10

Special Lion

city-people-film11 September 2013

Road to Nowhere is auteur director Monte Hellman's first film in 21 years and is a breathtaking return to cinema. The film premiered in competition at the 67th Venice Int' Film Festival and won the Jury Award Special Lion for Career Achievement. This recognition is a testament to the quality of the film as well as the genius of the filmmaker behind it. The film also features a terrific cameo from legendary film actor Fabio Testi. I look forward to many more films from Hellman in the future. His latest project is 'Love or Die', which is scheduled to commence shooting in Lisbon in March 2014. He is truly one of the greatest film directors in the history of American film.

William Anderson

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10/10

An American Masterpiece

thebradstevens15 September 2013

These days, American films which attract 'serious' critical attention tend to appear in a blaze of publicity, and are usually forgotten by the time the next self-declared 'masterpiece' is ready for consumption. Monte Hellman's ROAD TO NOWHERE took a different approach, quietly opening in a handful of US cinemas before being released on DVD. Yet in years to come, this will surely be regarded as the defining film of its era. Indeed, it may well be the LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD of our generation: an endlessly fascinating puzzle which resists easy comprehension, and whose solution, like Gatsby's green light, constantly "recedes before us," leaving us with the hope that "tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—." For this is a cinematic masterpiece in a peculiarly American tradition: one that refuses to sit down and behave, but instead wanders restlessly in several directions, accruing, like Melville's White Whale, a range of possible meanings without ever definitively committing itself to any of them. This is not a film to be watched once and dismissed, but rather a work of art to live with, one that - like VERTIGO and CITIZEN KANE - should be returned to periodically in the hope not of finding the key to the Borgesian labyrinth, but rather of better comprehending the labyrinth's nature.

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10/10

Exceptionally Smart, Beautifully Made

jfrentzen-942-20421110 September 2013

Warning: Spoilers

Director Monte Hellman, the artist behind several groundbreaking and intelligent films from the 1960s, 70s, and beyond, has crafted an excellent drama about relationships, betrayal, love, desperation, and movie-making in ROAD TO NOWHERE. On the surface, ROAD TO NOWHERE is about a film director, Mitchell Haven (Tygh Runyan) and the star of his movie, well played by Shannyn Sossamon, and how they cope, together and individually, while shooting a movie recounting an awful crime. Sossamon, who is both strong and enigmatic as the leading lady character must be here, is a star in the making. The backdrop of movie-making, in which Haven deals with cast, crew and external crises or other situations, must have been much like how Hellman has dealt with the intricacies of making a movie.

The good news here is that for all its behind-the-scenes machinations, ROAD TO NOWHERE is not overcooked melodrama or sensationalized but, rather, exquisitely measured. It reminds me of the director's TWO LANE BLACKTOP and IGUANA in that it deals with strong, emotional characters in an unusual situation and setting. Although the underlying crime event has sensational aspects, and showing the making of a movie has its melodramatic moments, Hellman takes a nuanced approach that favors character, and the rest of his cast, including Cliff DeYoung and Fabio Testi in a small role, measure up well. In addition, scenes that are somewhat open-ended allow viewers to draw their own conclusions and interpretations of the characters as the plot gracefully unfolds. This is in response of some reviewers who complain the movie goes nowhere -- they might be better served watching TV movies, in which every plot twist is telegraphed and clichéd. ROAD TO NOWHERE is hardly languid. It bristles with emotion, and with a surprising finale that is not merely violent but packs an emotional gut-wrench.

ROAD TO NOWHERE is also one of those movies worth watching more than once, in order to fully appreciate the layered drama and the artistry of its director.

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Road to Nowhere (I) (2010)

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