Reach the Rock

Definitely worth the rental bucks, despite the occasional but forgivable schmaltz at points. Good soundtrack, evidence of John Hughes III and his friendship with Tortoise-guy John McEntire, and a very atmospheric, hazy look to the whole picture. Wonderful moments of quiet, and shots held longer than I'm used to seeing in a Hollywood film. Oddly casual, and quite enjoyable.

This movie proves that you don't need a high dollar cast and/or special effects, violence or sex to make a good film. This had none of those things, yet it held my attention by the actors' performances and the silence that was there, between the lines, so to speak. The attention to detail in minor points was also evident. After watching this film, I think I should look at other films produced by this team of dream makers. At one point, I commented to my viewing companion that this movie had the feel of an older David Lynch production right down to the music, i.e. Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. Thank you Mr. Hughes for such a delightful movie.

I wanted to say that I concur with the previous members' reviews of REACH THE ROCK. This movie holds a special place in my heart, because it was partially filmed in my own town, Westmont, Illinois. The park district and senior center were dramatically remodeled, with SHERMER POLICE DEPARTMENT on our senior center. John Hughes' crew and production company were in town a few weeks. The dramatic events that took place during the filming were amazing! Never being on a film set, and having our town being used for the film made it especially memorable. Only bad part was that the scene where the main character "escapes" from the jail, and steals the squad car were probably 4 mins. of the entire film. Another community about 25 miles away (West Chicago, IL) was used for other parts of the film. I was disappointed that it never made it to the big screen. I caught it on our local WGN-TV one Sunday afternoon, purely out of coincidence. It is a story worth watching, so I do recommend it.

While 2/3 of the IMDb reviewers cast a very satisfactory and satisfied vote between 7 and 10, most professional critics unmercifully panned the movie… you cannot help wondering if we saw the same film… Unfortunately, the film had already several disadvantages: a somewhat cryptic title which failed to attract attention, no stars, no backing from the distributor; so, if you look at the gross turnover in movie-halls, the result is a sheer catastrophe…. It is a pity, as the film is highly enjoyable - though unusual in many respects: it combines extremely funny scenes with very serious ones; there are practically two settings only: the street at night and the jail; and the cast is limited to seven players: two cameos (wizened Richard Hamilton, and intriguing Norman Reedus as the drowned man), two supporting ones (lovely Karen Sillas and seldom-seen Bruce Norris as the pair looking unsuccessfully for privacy); and three main roles : reliable William Sadler, excellent as the police sergeant; bland-faced promising Alessandro Nivola as the hero, and strikingly beautiful (and good actress) Brooke Langton, climaxing the film. Like many others, I came across the film on TV by chance, – but probably in a shortened version: I witnessed Nivola setting up an intricate booby-trap with a paint-tin and the town-clock… but nothing came out of it. Missed a good laugh, for sure….

Like the other reveiwers here, I accidently came across this movie - for me on cable TV in Australia. What a beautiful little film this is. It had a great script, was superbly acted , and was quite moving to me. Highly recommended.