Road to Nowhere (2010)

Director:

Monte Hellman

Writer (WGA):

Steven Gaydos (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2011 (Portugal)

Genre:

Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Illusion is the first of all pleasures

Plot:

A young filmmaker gets wrapped up in a crime while shooting his new project on location.

Plot Keywords:

Filmmaker | Murder | Passion | Reality vs Fiction

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tygh Runyan	...	Mitchell Haven
Dominique Swain	...	Nathalie Post
Cliff De Young	...	Cary Stewart \bbbbb Rafe Tachen
Shannyn Sossamon	...	Laurel Graham / Velma Duran
John Diehl	...	Bobby Billings
Waylon Payne	...	Bruno Brotherton
Rob Kolar	...	Steve Gales (as Robert Kolar)
Nic Paul	...	Johnny Laidlaw
Fabio Testi	...	Nestor Duran
Maxie	...	Herself
Peter Bart	...	Himself
Pete Manos	...	El Cholo Bartender
Mallory Culbert	...	Mallory
Beck Latimore	...	Doc Holliday Bartender
Thomas Nelson	...	Man in Bar
Bonnie Pointer	...	Herself
Jim Galan	...	Airplane Coordinator
Jim Rowell	...	Airplane Pilot
Gregory Rentis	...	Greg
Larry Lerner	...	Larry
Lathan McKay	...	Erik
Michael Bigham	...	Joe Watts
Araceli Lemos	...	Araceli
Sarah Dorsey	...	Sarah
Mandy Hughes	...	Female Cadaver
Cathy Parker	...	Morgue Technician
Brett Mann	...	Male Cadaver
Vanessa Golden	...	Room Service Waitress
Dean Person	...	Cop (voice)
Jared Hellman	...	Cop (voice)
Jones Clark	...	Cop (voice)
Mitchell Allen Jenkin	...	Guard

Directed by
Monte Hellman

Writing credits (WGA)
Steven Gaydos		(written by)

Produced by
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	co-producer
Steven Gaydos	....	producer
Arthur Gorson	....	consulting producer
Jared Hellman	....	co-producer
Melissa Hellman	....	producer
Monte Hellman	....	producer
Leandro Marini	....	post producer
June Nelson	....	executive producer
Thomas Nelson	....	executive producer
Lea-Beth Shapiro	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Tom Russell

Cinematography by
Josep M. Civit

Film Editing by
Céline Ameslon

Production Design by
Laurie Post

Art Direction by
Callie Andreadis
Araceli Lemos

Costume Design by
Chelsea Staebell

Makeup Department
Christine Della Cioppa	....	make-up and hair
Sarah Dorsey	....	key make up & hair

Production Management
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	second unit director
Larry Lerner	....	first assistant director
Noreen Perez	....	first assistant director: second unit
Noreen Perez	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Stephanie Goldstein	....	art department assistant
Nikki Holland	....	assistant art director
Christine Le'compte	....	art department assistant
Mark Allen Wilson	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Shaun Cunningham	....	foley editor
Terrance Dwyer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Patrick Farrell	....	assistant sound mixer
Rich Gavin	....	sound mixer
Lionel Guenoun	....	post-production sound
Aynee Osborn	....	dialogue editor
Aynee Osborn	....	supervising sound editor
Brendan Vaughan	....	assistant sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Joseph Schultz	....	digital effects artist: 4Ward Productions

Camera and Electrical Department
Carles Civit	....	second assistant camera
Josep M. Civit	....	camera operator
Jason 'Jake' Cross	....	key grip: LA
Will Elder	....	grip
Alex Gaynor	....	set lighting technician (as Alex O. Gaynor)
Jared Hellman	....	digital imaging designer
Gorav Kalyan	....	grip
Sinisa Kukic	....	technical advisor
Jimbo Lee	....	video: behind the scenes
Steven A. Lundgren	....	gaffer: LA
Brett Mann	....	director of photography: second unit
Tashi Palmer	....	still photographer
Gregory Rentis	....	digital imaging technician
Tygh Runyan	....	c cam operator
Alfredo Suárez Pana	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
James Brill	....	digital intermediate editor
Gregory Rentis	....	first assistant editor
Loren White	....	additional colorist

Music Department
Anastasia Brown	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Larry L. Cordell	....	transportation
Jesse C. Watson	....	transportation

Other crew
Sean Cassidy	....	production assistant: NC
Chad Cordell	....	production assistant: NC
Jackson Diehl	....	production assistant: NC
Aaron Fairley	....	key set production assistant: LA
Nick Fanego	....	key set production assistant: NC
Maria Pia Fanigliulo	....	online publicist
Mandy Hughes	....	production assistant: NC
Maria Judice	....	pre-production
Ella Kliger	....	key set production assistant: NC
Toby Lawrence	....	subtitler
Nikki Martinez	....	production assistant: LA
Tiziano Niero	....	production executive: 3rd unit
Quentin Norris	....	production assistant
Nick O'Hagan	....	production executive: 2nd unit
Paul Olson	....	production assistant
Tashi Palmer	....	assistant production coordinator
Karah Prokay	....	assistant production coordinator
Lea-Beth Shapiro	....	production coordinator
Milenko Skoknic	....	script supervisor
Elia Urquiza	....	pre-production coordinator

Thanks
Pamela Clay	....	thanks
Gabriel Cowan	....	thanks
Alan Kosh	....	in loving memory of
John Suits	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Tigers Den Studios

Distributors

• Boid (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• E1 Entertainment (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Monterey Media (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• Capricci Films (2011) (France) (all media)
• Clap - Produção de Filmes (2011) (Portugal) (all media)
• United King Films (2011) (Israel) (all media)

Other Companies

• Local Hero  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

"Caminho para o Nada" - Brazil (imdb display title)
"Put koji ne vodi nikud" - Serbia (imdb display title)
"Road to Nowhere - Sem Destino" - Portugal (imdb display title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and brief violence

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #46763) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Garda, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Tigers Den Studios

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.23" (2011)

Tough, slow going even for die-hard Hellman fans

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.