{"id":468,"date":"2013-03-10T22:52:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T02:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediafunhouse.com\/blog\/?page_id=468"},"modified":"2020-12-07T05:15:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T10:15:33","slug":"end-of-the-road","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mediafunhouse.com\/?page_id=468","title":{"rendered":"End of the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"
By ED <\/a>\u2013\u00a009\/24\/2012 <\/abbr>FIND OTHERS:\u00a0<\/strong>DVD<\/a>,\u00a0MOVIE<\/a>,\u00a0REVIEW <\/a>GET MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0COMEDY<\/a>,\u00a0CULT<\/a>,\u00a0DRAMA<\/a>,\u00a0JAMES EARL JONES<\/a>,\u00a0WARNER<\/a><\/div>\n

STUDIO:<\/strong>\u00a0Warner\u00a0| DIRECTOR:<\/strong>\u00a0Aram Avakian\u00a0| CAST:<\/strong>\u00a0Stacy Keach, James Earl Jones, Dorothy Tristan, Harris Yulin, Grayson Hall, Ray Brock
\nDVD RELEASE DATE:<\/strong>\u00a09\/18\/2012\u00a0| PRICE: DVD<\/strong>\u00a0$19.97
\nBONUSES:<\/strong>\u00a0featurette
\nSPECS:<\/strong>\u00a0R\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0110 min.\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0Comedy drama\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0widescreen\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0Dolby Digital 5.1
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>End of the Road<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a pitch-black comedy that offers a powerful look at the American zeitgeist at the close of the Sixties. Based on a 1958 novel by\u00a0John Barth<\/a>, the cult film has been \u201cMIA\u201d since a VHS release from Key Video back in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

Director Aram Avakian, best known for his superb editing of films like\u00a0Mickey One<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0You\u2019re a Big Boy Now<\/em>, worked closely with his scripters, Dennis McGuire and the legendary Terry Southern (Dr. Strangelove<\/em>,\u00a0Easy Rider<\/em>), to make the film a warped snapshot of its era. Thus, our catatonic antihero (Stacy Keach,\u00a0The Long Riders<\/em><\/a>) is inundated with the sights and sounds of the times as he is \u201creprogrammed\u201d by a mysterious and charismatic doctor (James Earl Jones,\u00a0Cry, The Beloved Country<\/em>) who runs a very unconventional mental hospital.<\/p>\n

Once the programming is done, Keach\u2019s character goes to work as an English prof at a small New England college, where he has a tragic affair with a colleague\u2019s wife (Dorothy Tristan, who was then married to Avakian). The film thus abruptly transitions from a delirious frenzy to a more somber tone, as it explores propriety and everyday fascism \u2014 embodied by the cuckolded husband character, played by Harris Yulin (Maidstone<\/em><\/a>) \u2014 in a sheltered academic setting.The shift in tone properly captures the period in which the film was made, but the small cast of theater-trained performers (ably aided by a group of sitcom-familiar faces) had to bring to life the film\u2019s rather allegorical characters. Both Keach and Jones are incredibly good, while Tristan and Yulin do much with their simply sketched characters.<\/p>\n

The film is supplemented by a 33-minute oral history of the film, directed by a big\u00a0End of the Road\u00a0<\/em>and Terry Southern fan, Steven Soderbergh (Haywire<\/em><\/a>). Every cast and crew member gets their say, while the departed (Avakian and Southern) are spoken for by their children.<\/p>\n

The principals all remember having a great time making the film, and it is duly noted that several members of the crew, including cinematographer Gordon Willis, went on to work on\u00a0The Godfather<\/em>, since Francis Coppola asked Avakian to recommend technicians.<\/p>\n

The documentary leaves out any greater context \u2014 for instance, Avakian and Southern\u2019s prior works are never mentioned, in order to explain how they got this odd little project off the ground. Thankfully Soderbergh doesn\u2019t candy-coat his history: in addition to many amusing anecdotes, he leaves in reflections on Avakian\u2019s perfectionism and temper, and Southern\u2019s wild lifestyle (fueled in equal parts by genius and chemical stimulants).<\/p>\n

Also interesting are the principals\u2019 accounts of how badly the film did at the box office, and the dissenting opinions of a few concerning its effectiveness as a narrative \u2014 Jones, for instance, notes that it never adequately captures the catatonia undergone by its protagonist.<\/p>\n

End of the Road\u00a0<\/em>is a challenging viewing experience, with a conclusion that is extremely depressing. The unbridled ambition of Avakian, McGuire and Southern resulted in an incredibly memorable and important work \u2014 like many films made in the wake of Easy Rider<\/em>, the film is wildly uneven but also an extremely personal and troubling work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ED \u2013\u00a009\/24\/2012 FIND OTHERS:\u00a0DVD,\u00a0MOVIE,\u00a0REVIEW GET MORE:\u00a0COMEDY,\u00a0CULT,\u00a0DRAMA,\u00a0JAMES EARL JONES,\u00a0WARNER STUDIO:\u00a0Warner\u00a0| DIRECTOR:\u00a0Aram Avakian\u00a0| CAST:\u00a0Stacy Keach, James Earl Jones, Dorothy Tristan, Harris Yulin, Grayson Hall, Ray Brock DVD RELEASE DATE:\u00a09\/18\/2012\u00a0| PRICE: DVD\u00a0$19.97 BONUSES:\u00a0featurette SPECS:\u00a0R\u00a0|\u00a0110 min.\u00a0|\u00a0Comedy drama\u00a0|\u00a0widescreen\u00a0|\u00a0Dolby Digital 5.1 End of the Road\u00a0is a pitch-black comedy that offers a powerful look at the American zeitgeist at the close […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":217,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-sidebar-none.php","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-468","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"kubio_ai_page_context":{"short_desc":"","purpose":"general"},"yoast_head":"\nEnd of the Road - 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