Around the Bend with the Movie Whore

I saw another death ritual movie tonight! (Like Dead Man, Million Dollar Baby andThe Ballad of Jack and Rose.) What's with that? I think, if I tried just a little, I could make anything fit into my death ritual paradigm. This one even featured Christopher Walken, another "he's so bizarre how can you not love him" actor.



A movie about four generations of men in a troubled family, Around the Bend takes us on a scavenger hunt, designed by a dying great-grandfather, played by Michael Caine, as a way for the remaining men to revisit and make peace with the past. Caines son, played by Walken, shows up on the doorstep of his father, son and grandson after 31 years of absence and with them he begins a roadtrip around the southwest United States where each stop digs up memories and makes connections between the men. The trip ultimately, while making them face demons from their past, brings forgiveness and enables Walken to cross over into death.

This is a cool little movie, and worth seeing, but all my leisurally musings about death must come to an end. Some intense planning is going to take place in the next couple of days. Monday I will face classrooms full of nervous and excited students. Woohoo! Here it comes, and I will hit the ground running.