Bonneville (2006)

"...succeeds because of an inherent authenticity of characterization and, of course, three astounding women.  David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
"...there is a spacious quality to Bonneville...its notable cast is a pleasure to behold.  Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Editor's Note Writer-director Christopher N Rowley makes a strong directorial debut with BONNEVILLE, a different kind of road movie. After her adventurer husband, Joe, suddenly dies while they are in Borneo, a lonely and scared Arvilla Holden (Jessica Lange) returns home to Pocatello, Idaho, where her husband's daughter from a previous marriage, the snooty Francine Holden Packard (Christine Baranski), is waiting to bring her father's body back to Santa Barbara, California, and bury him next to her mother. But Arvilla has already had him cremated, so Francine makes a deal with her: If Arvilla will bring her husband's ashes to Santa Barbara in time for the funeral service, she will allow Arvilla to keep the house. However, Arvilla had promised Joe before he died that she would scatter his ashes to the wind. So Arvilla and her two best friends, the loud and boisterous Margene Cunningham (Kathy Bates) and the prim and proper Carol Brimm (Joan Allen), set off in Joe's 1966 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, ostensibly to get to the airport to fly to Santa Barbara, but Arvilla has something else on her mind, leading to a funny and poignant road trip across the beautiful American West as the three mature women learn yet more about life, love, and death. Two-time Oscar winner Lange, Oscar winner Bates, and Oscar nominee Allen are terrific as the three friends, with fine support from Tom Skerritt as cool trucker Emmett L. Johnson and Victor Rasuk as a young hitchhiker named Bo who seemingly appears out of nowhere. The locations, beautifully shot by cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball, include the Bonneville Salt Flats, Bryce Canyon National Park, Las Vegas, and lots of open road. Mixing in elements of such road-trip films as THELMA & LOUISE, ABOUT SCHMIDT, and LAST ORDERS, and with a country folk soundtrack that features songs by Donovan, Amos Lee, Pete Droge, and Nik Kershaw, BONNEVILLE is a sweet, sincere ride.

	Tom Amandes
	Tom Skerritt
	Kathy Bates
	Joan Allen
	Jessica Lange
	Tom Wopat
	Christine Baranski
	Victor Rasuk
	John Kilker - Producer
	Robert May - Producer
	Daniel D. Davis - Screenwriter
	Jeff Cardoni - Composer
	Jeffrey L. Kimball - Director of Photography
	R. Michael Bergeron - Executive Producer
	Daniel D. Davis - Story
	Christopher N Rowley - Story
	Bob Brown - Executive Producer
	Christopher N Rowley - Director

Los Angeles Times
"[T]here is a spacious quality to BONNEVILLE....Its notable cast is a pleasure to behold." 05/30/2008

Variety 6 of 10
Much has been written about the underserved demographic of middle-aged moviegoers starved for films that reflect life experience in their advancing years. They deserve better than "Bonneville," a bland road movie running on empty. It's depressing to see a deluxe cast wasted on such by-the-numbers material -- from predictable plot to fabricated Hallmark sentiment to strenuous milking of warm-and-fuzzy laughs from the irrepressible spirit of three women whose youth is behind them...Crisp widescreen lensing (courtesy of d.p. Jeffrey L. Kimball) of magnificent American West landscapes and its Oscar-bait cast give the project an air of dignity. But the casting to type of three high-caliber actresses, all of whom have amply proven their ability in the past to create vividly etched characters, only underlines the absence of original ideas...No doubt some audiences will respond warmly to the film's affirmation of female friendship, solidarity and resilience, not to mention its wholesome values. And while none of the perfs contains any surprises, the class of its pedigree leads goes some distance toward fostering emotional investment in their characters. But there's a big difference between a filmmaker who can actually convey with real feeling the pain of loss or the courage required to carry on, and one who merely connects the dots to illustrate it. - David Rooney