Road to Nowhere (2011)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Great Film overall

Better Late Then Never

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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.

Monte Hellman proves with Road to Nowhere that he is the Shaolin master of directing. His Kung Fu is indeed strong and apparently getting stronger every day. When Road to Nowhere was awarded the Special Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, jury president Quentin Tarantino introduced Hellman as "both a great cinematic artist and a minimalist poet." This verbal sketch captures his likeness brilliantly in my opinion, for Hellman is truly the master of "the art of fighting without fighting." This refers to his self-proclaimed aesthetic that "directing should be invisible - don't direct - don't act" and "the director's job, after casting which is like 99% of the job, is to ferociously eliminate anything that doesn't advance the story or that takes the audience out of the story". This is the Tao of Monte Hellman and why he remains Hollywood's Invisible Man in spite of his great talent. True to form, Road to Nowhere is not a film that draws attention to itself. It is not showy or pretentious. The acting is so natural, realistic, and effortless that were it not for the spectacular HD cinematography one might think he was watching a documentary. All considered, though unfortunate, it is understandable that audiences might choose to overlook this amazing film. But I sincerely hope they do not. Because the viewing of it just might change the way they look at cinema forever. Sincerely,Captain Plasma

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.

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.