Road to Nowhere

There's a scene late in Road to Nowhere in which an actress asks her director (who she is also sleeping with) how many movies he's seen. He pauses and then replies, "You shouldn't really ever ask a filmmaker that. We don't ever really want to admit how much time we spend obsessing over other people's dreams."

Now, let's dissect that line on a few different levels. First, it is fucking perfect. It's as precise and accurate a line of dialogue concerning our finest artistic medium as I've ever heard. When the character said it in the movie, I literally sat upright, in awe of its succinct brilliance. On another level, the line perfectly describes the movie it is contained in, which, as a whole, I certainly will not be able to do.


Road to Nowhere is as confounding a piece of contemporary American cinema as I've seen. It shifts narrative with no warning, introduces actors who play one, two, maybe even three roles (I think), and never fully let's you in on the joke that no one is laughing at. Usually, movies like this lose my attention about as quickly as it takes to hit the eject button on a DVD player, but there's something about Road to Nowhere that makes it impossible to look away. Something, in fact, may not be accurate, as there are many many things going on here.

The film is directed by Monte Hellman, best known if his iconic cult classic, Two Lane Blacktop. That film was made 40 years ago, and it is the most recent Hellman film I've seen until now. No matter, because Hellman, never a director known to play it by the book, certainly hasn't lost his touch. At age 80, Hellman has proved through Road to Nowhere that he's a man still in welcome of a challenge. He'll shoot a flick adopting the inexpensive means of modern technology (the film was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II, which anyone can buy for less than $2,000), distribute it how he sees fit, then simply move on.  You don't have to like Road to Nowhere (certainly, many will not), but it is damn hard to not appreciate it.

As I attempt to begin a paragraph of plot summary, I realize that little (or none) of it will make sense. That's partly my fault, but it's also the way the film is meant to be revealed. Road to Nowhere doesn't issue many details, and I'm not going to either. Hell, even if I did explain what it's all about, it certainly wouldn't help matters much.

At its core, Road to Nowhere is about a kind, driven Hollywood film director shooting a murder mystery in the same North Carolina town where the real murder occurred. After finding Laurel (Shannyn Sossamon) online, he tracks her down and demands that she play the lead. But, as she constantly reminds him, she isn't an actress, and casting her would be a mistake. But Mitchell (Tygh Runyan), the director, doesn't care. Laurel IS the woman for the part. So cast her he does.

For the remainder of the film, Hellman cross cuts the shooting of the movie with scenes from the movie itself (which, too, is called Road to Nowhere). Sometimes he lets us know that we're watching a scene from the movie within (as the crew is clearly visible), other times, we aren't exactly sure which is which. At the same time, two technical advisors on the film, a blogger who detailed the real crime, and an insurance investigator who knew the real people involved, are digging deeper into the real mystery, thereby exposing some harsh truths about the film itself.

You with me? Neither am I. Look, in truth, Road to Nowhere is a kind of movie you're going to love or hate. Those who try to figure it all out and search for The Why will be as frustrated as they were during The Tree of Life. But for the select few who are able to sit back and immerse themselves in the unique, puzzling world Hellman and screenwriter Steven Gaydos have created, well, then, more power to you. A-