Blackway

Blackway is a 2015 American thriller film directed by Daniel Alfredson and written by Joseph Gangemi and Gregory Jacobs, based on the 2008 novel Go with Me by Castle Freeman Jr. The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles, Ray Liotta, Alexander Ludwig and Hal Holbrook in his final film appearance before his death in January 2021. Filming began on November 12, 2014, in Enderby, British Columbia.[1] The film premiered under the festival title Go with Me at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and released theatrically on 10 June 2016.[2][3]

Blackway
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Alfredson
Written byJoseph Gangemi
Gregory Jacobs
Based onGo with Me
by Castle Freeman Jr.
Produced byRick Dugdale
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Anthony Hopkins
Gregory Jacobs
Lindsay Williams
StarringAnthony Hopkins
Julia Stiles
Alexander Ludwig
Ray Liotta
Hal Holbrook
CinematographyRasmus Videbæk
Edited byHåkan Karlsson
Music byAnders Niska
Klas Wahl
Production
companies
Enderby Entertainment
The Gotham Group
Distributed byTW Media Events (Canada)
Release dates
  • September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11) (Venice)
  • June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Set in an Oregon logging community, Lillian (Stiles), is a woman newly returned to her hometown after the death of her mother. She is being harassed by a local man named Blackway (Liotta), who is a big criminal in their small town. He operates with impunity in this small community on the edge of the wilderness.

After Blackway kills her cat, she goes to the town sheriff for help, but is effectively told that her best option is to leave town. Lillian refuses to be run out of town by Blackway, but Sheriff Wingate is reluctant to act against Blackway out of fear; feeling sympathetic to Lillian, he tells her to go to the town lumberyard mill and ask for a man named Scotty. The events that follow take place in the span of a single day.

In the early morning, Lillian goes to the lumberyard mill, where a group of elderly men are gathered in the shop's office, run by Whizzer. Lillian tells Whizzer that she is looking for Scotty on the recommendation of Sheriff Wingate to help her with Blackway. Scotty isn't there, and the men also tell her the same thing that the sheriff said, which is to leave town rather than go up against Blackway.

One of the older men at the shop, Lester (Hopkins), feels sympathy for Lillian and decides to help her. He takes along a young man named Nate (Ludwig), who is also an employee at the mill and in the shop with the elderly men. Nate is a simple man, but is strong and has a good heart. The three drive around town in Nate's pickup truck looking for Blackway at various locations and asking for him from the locals that he associates with. Through their quest in tracking down Blackway, various bits of details are revealed about the town's locals through flashbacks, conversations, and narratives; this includes Sheriff Wingate recommending Scotty to help Lillian because he figures Scotty might have a score to settle with Blackway. In a flashback Scotty is shown to have been severely beaten by Blackway, but Scotty states in the present that he has nothing to settle with Blackway anymore.

It is also hinted that Lester's daughter, who died of suicide, may have been abusing drugs, linking her to the drug kingpin Blackway. Through various associates of Blackway, the group finds his shady accountant, Murdoch, at a bar. Murdoch gets into a fight with Nate, and seems to have the upper hand after pinning Nate to a table, until Lester bends Murdoch's fingers backwards, causing excruciating pain. Nate then turns the tables and the three are able to leave the bar.

They head to a local diner, where Lester asks the cook, Chris, newly released from prison on drug charges, where they could find Blackway. Chris tells Lester to try Blackway's motel, where he runs his drug business as well as other criminal activities. They find Blackway at his motel in the afternoon, but do not take action, as Lester can see no good opportunity at that time.

Inside one of the motel rooms, Lillian finds an old school acquaintance handcuffed to a bed, and releases her while Lester and Nate distract two of Blackway's men. Lester takes a handgun from one of the men, while Nate acquires a shotgun. Nate causes an explosion inside the motel room, presumably because meth was being cooked in the room; Lillian puts her old acquaintance on a bus to get out of town after rescuing her.

With evening setting in, the three drive up into the deep woods, while Whizzer is narrating to the men in the shop about the dangers of the deep backwoods. Since Nate and Lester have been causing Blackway so much trouble all day, Lester knows that he will be looking for them. They settle in for the night at a camping ground in the woods, and Lester goes off with his antique shotgun, leaving Lillian and Nate alone together.

Blackway shows up during the night, with a pistol pointed at Lillian and Nate. Lester has a clear shot of Blackway from inside a trailer and is about to kill him, but Nate, not knowing about Lester's vantage point, fends off Blackway to protect Lillian and himself. By the time Lester is able to get another clear shot at Blackway, Murdoch discovers him in the trailer and shoots him, while Blackway is able to knock out Nate.

Lillian is able to escape by bending Blackway's fingers backwards the same way she observed Lester do to Murdoch at the bar, and is chased by Blackway into a cabin. Before Murdoch can finish off Lester in the trailer, Nate attacks Murdoch and beats him to death. After a tense game of cat-and-mouse between Blackway and Lillian inside the cabin, they both make it back outside to the campfire area, where Blackway is finally killed by Lester with one shot from the shotgun that he had inherited from his uncle.

Lester tells them that they'll have to drag Blackway and Murdoch's bodies deep into the woods so that the wild animals will scavenge their bodies and they'll never be found.

At daybreak the next morning, the three drive back into town. Whizzer, who is opening up his lumber mill during daybreak, sees the pickup truck coming back into town and realizes that the town is finally rid of Blackway. Lester is dropped off at his house, while Lillian and Nate are driving back to their homes, and an attraction is evident between Nate and Lillian.

Cast

Production

In August 2014, during an interview, writer Joseph Gangemi revealed that Gregory Jacobs and he had created a film adaptation of novel Go with Me by Castle Freeman, Jr.[8] On September 19 it was announced that Anthony Hopkins would star in the lead role and Daniel Alfredson would direct the film, which Enderby Entertainment and The Gotham Group would produce.[4] Rick Dugdale would produce along with Lindsay Williams and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, while Hopkins would also produce along with Jacobs.[4] On October 23, Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment came on board to co-finance and handle international rights to the film.[9] On October 30, Julia Stiles and Ray Liotta joined the film.[5] On November 17, Alexander Ludwig joined the film to play a young sidekick of an ex-logger.[6]

Filming

Filming began on November 12, 2014 primarily in Enderby, British Columbia.[10][11] It would also be shot in Lumby. Filming lasted until late December.[10]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 20% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 3.92/10.[12] Guy Lodge of Variety called the film a "turgid, tension-free revenge thriller".[13][14]

References

  1. Bleasdale, John. "Venice 2015: 'Go With Me' review". cine-vue.com. cine-vue.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  2. "Electric strikes deals for Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles thriller 'Blackway'". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. "Hollywood thriller to debut at Enderby's drive-in movie theatre". Global News. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. Yamato, Jen (September 19, 2014). "Anthony Hopkins Boards Pacific Northwest Thriller 'Go With Me'". deadline.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  5. McNary, Dave (October 30, 2014). "Julia Stiles, Ray Liotta Join Anthony Hopkins in 'Go With Me'". variety.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  6. Yamato, Jen (November 17, 2014). "'Hunger Games' Tribute Volunteers For Anthony Hopkins Thriller 'Go With Me'". deadline.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  7. "First-Look Photo: Anthony Hopkins In 'Go With Me' – Berlin". Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  8. "Screenwriting Interview: Joseph Gangemi". scriptshadow.net. August 28, 2014. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  9. Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 23, 2014). "Electric Entertainment To Co-Fi Anthony Hopkins Pic 'Go With Me'". deadline.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  10. Garcha, Neetu (November 12, 2014). "Filming begins in Okanagan for "Go With Me" starring Anthony Hopkins". globalnews.ca. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  11. "Hollywood Stars Shooting in North Okanagan". thesunonline.ca. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  12. "Blackway (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  13. Lodge, Guy. "Venice Film Review: 'Go With Me'". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  14. "New Release Review (DVD) - GO WITH ME". The Movie Waffler. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
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