Road to Nowhere (film)
Encyclopedia
Road to Nowhere is a 2010 American romance
thriller independent film
directed by Monte Hellman
, written by Steven Gaydos, and starring Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne
, Shannyn Sossamon
, Tygh Runyan
, and Dominique Swain
. It is Hellman's first feature film in 21 years.
Road to Nowhere was shot in western North Carolina
from July to August 2009, before moving to Europe. The film premiered on September 10, 2010 at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
and was nominated for the Golden Lion
, but won Jury Award Special Lion for Career Achievement. The film was given a limited release in New York on June 10, 2011 and in Los Angeles on June 17, 2011.
's first feature film in 21 years. The film was written by Variety
executive editor Steven Gaydos. Shannyn Sossamon
was the first actor to be cast after Gaydos saw her in a restaurant rehearsing a scene with another person. Reluctant, Gaydos gave Sossamon his card saying, "I don't do this often, but I wonder if you or your agent would contact Monte Hellman". Hellman told the Los Angeles Times
that he dedicated the film to Laurie Bird
, with whom Hellman fell in love while directing her in Two-Lane Blacktop
.
began in western North Carolina
(where the film is set) from July to August 2009. Hellman shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II
, which recorded 12 minutes at a time on a flash card
(opposed to 10 minutes with a 35 mm film
). Scenes were shot at the Balsam Mountain Inn
in Balsam
for four to five weeks. Several scenes were shot in the Boyd Mountain Log Cabins in Waynesville
for two days. Other scenes were shot at Doc Holliday's bar in Maggie Valley
, the Fontana Dam
, and the Jackson County Airport
. Students from University of North Carolina School of the Arts
and Western Carolina University
were hired as production assistant
s and also served as extra
s. Other shooting locations were done in Los Angeles
.
Jim Rowell, a Cullowhee
resident got a deal with the filmmakers that allowed him to make a fuel pump
repair at the airport in exchange to fly his 1966 Piper Cherokee
four-passenger plane as a stuntman. Rowell did eight to nine passes over the lake flying 300 to 500 feet above the water. In post-production film editors cut the shots back and forth of Rowell flying near the dam and the actual actor sitting in Rowell's plane pretending to fly in front of a green screen
and crash into the Fontana Dam. Natasha Senjanovic of The Hollywood Reporter
called the plane crash "cinema's top plane crashes" and that, "[it] is beautifully shot and comes as a total surprise".
Hellman still needed to shoot scenes in Europe but was over budget. Since the plane tickets were already purchased, his daughter, co-producer Melissa Hellman raised more money through private equity
. Hellman shot in the streets of London
and traveled to Italy
to shoot at Lake Garda
. Scenes were shot in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli
, in front of Michelangelo's Moses
and the tomb of Pope Julius II
all in Rome
.
. The American Cinematheque
at the Egyptian hosted a tribute to Hellman which culminated on May 14, 2011, with a Special Premier of Road to Nowhere. On June 8, 2011, Film Society of Lincoln Center
will host an evening with Hellman, which will include a special presentation of Road to Nowhere and a screening of Hellman's adaptation of Cockfighter.
in New York
on June 10, 2011 and in Los Angeles
on June 17, 2011. In New York the film opened in one theater and grossed $2,521 for its opening weekend. It grossed a total of $4,984 in its first week. In Los Angeles the film opened in six theaters and grossed $6,051—$864 per theater for its opening weekend, a 140% increase in tickets. In its third week it grossed $3,936—$984 per theater, a 35% decrease in ticket sales from the previous week. It was removed from three theaters. In its fourth weekend, a four-day weekend
, the film made $3,113—$778 per theater. By its fifth weekend it was removed from two theaters and had a 67% percent drop in tickets making $846—$423 per theater. By its sixth weekend the film was playing in three theaters making $877—$292 per theater. For its seventh weekend, it gained $3,609—$722 per theater in five theaters, an increase of 247.4% from the previous weekend.
The film grossed $83,496 in France
and $37,829 in Portugal
. Road to Nowhere has made $40,294 in the United States and $121,325 in other markets, for a worldwide total of $161,619.
and Blu-ray
on . Features include a 15-min behind the scenes (making of the film) video and a 14-min Q&A with Hellman and Gaydos at the Nashville Film Festival.
. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 79% of 24 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average of 6.7 out of 10. Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 59 based on 17 reviews.
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times
wrote a positive review saying, "In its masterful use of evocative imagery and music, Road to Nowhere is flawless". After an interview with Hellman, John Anderson from the New York Times said positive things about the film saying "Road may also be as significant to the indie feature as Avatar is to the popcorn movie". Road to Nowhere was also included in Roger Corman
's Legendary Films Blog.
Nick Dawson wrote a positive review after it screened at South by Southwest Film Festival. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
gave a negative review saying, "[Road to Nowhere] has a great setup but not much in the way of a payoff". He went on to say "While there are some giggles in the film-within-the-film, the artsy-fartsy direction and flat-as-a-pancake acting invites invidious comparisons to Mulholland Drive
". Roger Ebert
gave the film two out of four stars criticizing the story's film within a film narrative. He said, "Road to Nowhere is not a failure in that it sets out to do exactly what it does, and does it. The question remains of why it should have been done. Hellman's skill is evident everywhere in precise framing and deliberate editing. Each scene works within itself on its own terms. But there is no whole here. I've rarely seen a narrative film that seemed so reluctant to flow. Nor perhaps one with a more accurate title".
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
thriller independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
directed by Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
, written by Steven Gaydos, and starring Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne
Waylon Payne
Waylon Payne is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor.-Early life:Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy Award-winning country singer Sammi Smith. His father became a longtime picker for Willie Nelson; his mother toured with Waylon...
, Shannyn Sossamon
Shannyn Sossamon
Shannon Marie Kahololani Sossamon is an American actress. She starred in the film A Knight's Tale, which gained her wider fame and praise. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several films such as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Wristcutters: A Love Story, and One Missed Call...
, Tygh Runyan
Tygh Runyan
-Life and career:Runyan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is an environmental science professor at the University of British Columbia, and his mother is a poet...
, and Dominique Swain
Dominique Swain
Dominique Ariane Swain is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as the title character in the 1997 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, and as Jamie Archer in the film Face/Off.- Early life :...
. It is Hellman's first feature film in 21 years.
Road to Nowhere was shot in western North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
from July to August 2009, before moving to Europe. The film premiered on September 10, 2010 at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
67th Venice International Film Festival
The 67th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from September 1 to September 11, 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was head of the Jury. John Woo was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement prior to the start of the Festival...
and was nominated for the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
, but won Jury Award Special Lion for Career Achievement. The film was given a limited release in New York on June 10, 2011 and in Los Angeles on June 17, 2011.
Cast
- Shannyn SossamonShannyn SossamonShannon Marie Kahololani Sossamon is an American actress. She starred in the film A Knight's Tale, which gained her wider fame and praise. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several films such as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Wristcutters: A Love Story, and One Missed Call...
as Laurel Graham/Velma Duran - Dominique SwainDominique SwainDominique Ariane Swain is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as the title character in the 1997 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, and as Jamie Archer in the film Face/Off.- Early life :...
as Nathalie Post - Cliff De Young as Cary Stewart/Rafe Tachen
- Tygh RunyanTygh Runyan-Life and career:Runyan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is an environmental science professor at the University of British Columbia, and his mother is a poet...
as Mitchell Haven - Fabio TestiFabio TestiFabio Testi is an Italian film actor, notable as the star of, among many other films, First Action Hero.Born in Peschiera del Garda, Italy, the 1.84m tall actor started his film career as a stuntman in his college years...
as Nestor Duran - John Diehl
- Waylon PayneWaylon PayneWaylon Payne is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor.-Early life:Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy Award-winning country singer Sammi Smith. His father became a longtime picker for Willie Nelson; his mother toured with Waylon...
as Bruno Brotherton - Bonnie PointerBonnie PointerPatricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer is an American R&B and disco singer, most notable for being the next-to-youngest member of the 1970s and 1980s family music group, The Pointer Sisters. She scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, including a disco cover of The Elgins'...
- Michael Bigham as Joe Watts
- Fabio TestiFabio TestiFabio Testi is an Italian film actor, notable as the star of, among many other films, First Action Hero.Born in Peschiera del Garda, Italy, the 1.84m tall actor started his film career as a stuntman in his college years...
as Nestor Duran - Lathan McKay as Erik
- Nic Paul
- Peter BartPeter BartPeter Benton Bart is an American journalist and film producer. He perhaps best known for his lengthy tenure as the editor of Variety, an entertainment-trade magazine....
has a cameo in the film playing himself
Development
Road to Nowhere is Monte HellmanMonte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
's first feature film in 21 years. The film was written by Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
executive editor Steven Gaydos. Shannyn Sossamon
Shannyn Sossamon
Shannon Marie Kahololani Sossamon is an American actress. She starred in the film A Knight's Tale, which gained her wider fame and praise. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several films such as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Wristcutters: A Love Story, and One Missed Call...
was the first actor to be cast after Gaydos saw her in a restaurant rehearsing a scene with another person. Reluctant, Gaydos gave Sossamon his card saying, "I don't do this often, but I wonder if you or your agent would contact Monte Hellman". Hellman told the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
that he dedicated the film to Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird was an American actress and photographer.-Biography:Bird's mother died when she was three. Her father, an electrical engineer, was ex-United States Navy and worked long hours...
, with whom Hellman fell in love while directing her in Two-Lane Blacktop
Two-Lane Blacktop
Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April, 1971...
.
Filming
On a budget of under $5 million principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began in western North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
(where the film is set) from July to August 2009. Hellman shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon. It succeeds the EOS 5D and was announced on September 17, 2008.-Improvements compared to original EOS 5D:...
, which recorded 12 minutes at a time on a flash card
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
(opposed to 10 minutes with a 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
). Scenes were shot at the Balsam Mountain Inn
Balsam Mountain Inn
The Balsam Mountain Inn is an historic wooden Neo-Classical and Victorian hotel located at 68 Seven Springs Drive in Balsam, North Carolina, United States. In July, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places....
in Balsam
Balsam, North Carolina
Balsam is an unincorporated community located in the Scott Creek township of Jackson County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 49. There is one United States Post Office in the town...
for four to five weeks. Several scenes were shot in the Boyd Mountain Log Cabins in Waynesville
Waynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in Western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about or 50 km southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue...
for two days. Other scenes were shot at Doc Holliday's bar in Maggie Valley
Maggie Valley, North Carolina
Maggie Valley is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 607 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park.Maggie Valley is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, the Fontana Dam
Fontana Dam
Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain and Graham counties, North Carolina, USA. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to accommodate the skyrocketing electricity demands in the Tennessee Valley at the...
, and the Jackson County Airport
Jackson County Airport (North Carolina)
Jackson County Airport is a small airfield situated on a ridge about three miles southeast of the town of Sylva, the county seat of Jackson County, North Carolina. It is also less than 1 mile west of the unincorporated town of Cullowhee, the home of Western Carolina University. The airport is...
. Students from University of North Carolina School of the Arts
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...
and Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University is a coeducational public university located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. The university is a constituent campus of the University of North Carolina system....
were hired as production assistant
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...
s and also served as extra
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
s. Other shooting locations were done in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Jim Rowell, a Cullowhee
Cullowhee, North Carolina
Cullowhee is a census-designated place in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. Cullowhee is best known for being the home of Western Carolina University . The population was 9,428 as of the 2010 census. The area known as Cullowhee has Western Carolina University, part of the UNC...
resident got a deal with the filmmakers that allowed him to make a fuel pump
Fuel pump
A fuel pump is a frequently essential component on a car or other internal combustion engined device. Many engines do not require any fuel pump at all, requiring only gravity to feed fuel from the fuel tank through a line or hose to the engine...
repair at the airport in exchange to fly his 1966 Piper Cherokee
Piper Cherokee
The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of light aircraft designed for flight training, air taxi, and personal use. It is built by Piper Aircraft....
four-passenger plane as a stuntman. Rowell did eight to nine passes over the lake flying 300 to 500 feet above the water. In post-production film editors cut the shots back and forth of Rowell flying near the dam and the actual actor sitting in Rowell's plane pretending to fly in front of a green screen
Green Screen
The Green Screen international wildlife film festival is held annually in Eckernförde, Germany. The festival shows full-length and short nature documentaries about animals in their natural habitat. It is the only festival of its kind in Germany...
and crash into the Fontana Dam. Natasha Senjanovic of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
called the plane crash "cinema's top plane crashes" and that, "[it] is beautifully shot and comes as a total surprise".
Hellman still needed to shoot scenes in Europe but was over budget. Since the plane tickets were already purchased, his daughter, co-producer Melissa Hellman raised more money through private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
. Hellman shot in the streets of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and traveled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to shoot at Lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
. Scenes were shot in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.-History:...
, in front of Michelangelo's Moses
Moses (Michelangelo)
The Moses is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome...
and the tomb of Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
all in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Release
In January 2011, Monterey Media brought the United States distribution rights from Entertainment OneEntertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
. The American Cinematheque
American Cinematheque
The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Image in all its forms. It is considered among the premier organizations of its kind in America....
at the Egyptian hosted a tribute to Hellman which culminated on May 14, 2011, with a Special Premier of Road to Nowhere. On June 8, 2011, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society of Lincoln Center based in New York City, United States, is one of the world's most prominent film presentation organizations. Founded in 1969 by three Lincoln Center executives - William F. May, Martin E. Segal and Schuyler G...
will host an evening with Hellman, which will include a special presentation of Road to Nowhere and a screening of Hellman's adaptation of Cockfighter.
Festivals
Road to Nowhere was selected to screen at the following film festivals:- 2010 Whistler Film FestivalWhistler Film FestivalThe Whistler Film Festival is an annual film festival in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 2001. The festival, which is held the first weekend in December, includes six juried competitive sections and one audience award...
- 2010 Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
- 2010 Palm Springs International Film FestivalPalm Springs International Film FestivalPalm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
- 2010 South by SouthwestSouth by SouthwestSouth by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
- 2011 Nashville Film FestivalNashville Film FestivalThe Nashville Film Festival , held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2009, Nashville Film Festival received close to 2000 submissions from 86 countries, programmed nearly 260 films and had an attendance...
- 2011 Karlovy Vary International Film FestivalKarlovy Vary International Film FestivalThe Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
- 2011 Filmfest OldenburgFilmfest OldenburgSituated in Northwest Germany the Oldenburg International Film Festival covers since 1994 the international movie scene in all of its aspects. This open minded approach leads to an inspiring mix of great premieres, surprising discoveries and original independent productions...
Limited theatrical run
Road to Nowhere was given a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on June 10, 2011 and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on June 17, 2011. In New York the film opened in one theater and grossed $2,521 for its opening weekend. It grossed a total of $4,984 in its first week. In Los Angeles the film opened in six theaters and grossed $6,051—$864 per theater for its opening weekend, a 140% increase in tickets. In its third week it grossed $3,936—$984 per theater, a 35% decrease in ticket sales from the previous week. It was removed from three theaters. In its fourth weekend, a four-day weekend
Independence Day
An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state, and more rarely after the end of a military occupation...
, the film made $3,113—$778 per theater. By its fifth weekend it was removed from two theaters and had a 67% percent drop in tickets making $846—$423 per theater. By its sixth weekend the film was playing in three theaters making $877—$292 per theater. For its seventh weekend, it gained $3,609—$722 per theater in five theaters, an increase of 247.4% from the previous weekend.
The film grossed $83,496 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and $37,829 in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Road to Nowhere has made $40,294 in the United States and $121,325 in other markets, for a worldwide total of $161,619.
Home media
Road to Nowhere was released to DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on . Features include a 15-min behind the scenes (making of the film) video and a 14-min Q&A with Hellman and Gaydos at the Nashville Film Festival.
Critical reception
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with many critics praising the performance of Shannyn SossamonShannyn Sossamon
Shannon Marie Kahololani Sossamon is an American actress. She starred in the film A Knight's Tale, which gained her wider fame and praise. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several films such as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Wristcutters: A Love Story, and One Missed Call...
. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 79% of 24 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average of 6.7 out of 10. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 59 based on 17 reviews.
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote a positive review saying, "In its masterful use of evocative imagery and music, Road to Nowhere is flawless". After an interview with Hellman, John Anderson from the New York Times said positive things about the film saying "Road may also be as significant to the indie feature as Avatar is to the popcorn movie". Road to Nowhere was also included in Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's Legendary Films Blog.
Nick Dawson wrote a positive review after it screened at South by Southwest Film Festival. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
gave a negative review saying, "[Road to Nowhere] has a great setup but not much in the way of a payoff". He went on to say "While there are some giggles in the film-within-the-film, the artsy-fartsy direction and flat-as-a-pancake acting invites invidious comparisons to Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive (film)
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 American neo-noir psychological thriller written and directed by David Lynch, starring Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, and Laura Harring. The surrealist film was highly acclaimed by many critics and earned Lynch the Prix de la mise en scène at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival...
". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two out of four stars criticizing the story's film within a film narrative. He said, "Road to Nowhere is not a failure in that it sets out to do exactly what it does, and does it. The question remains of why it should have been done. Hellman's skill is evident everywhere in precise framing and deliberate editing. Each scene works within itself on its own terms. But there is no whole here. I've rarely seen a narrative film that seemed so reluctant to flow. Nor perhaps one with a more accurate title".
Awards
| Festival | Category | Winner/Nominee | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venice International Film Festival 67th Venice International Film Festival The 67th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from September 1 to September 11, 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was head of the Jury. John Woo was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement prior to the start of the Festival... |
Jury Award Special Lion for Career Achievement | Monte Hellman Monte Hellman Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films... |
Yes |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January... |
Maverick Award | Monte Hellman | Yes |
| Whistler Film Festival Whistler Film Festival The Whistler Film Festival is an annual film festival in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 2001. The festival, which is held the first weekend in December, includes six juried competitive sections and one audience award... |
Special Tribute for Lifetime Achievements | Monte Hellman | Yes |
| Nashville Film Festival Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival , held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2009, Nashville Film Festival received close to 2000 submissions from 86 countries, programmed nearly 260 films and had an attendance... |
Coleman Sinking Creek Award | Monte Hellman | Yes |