The Bridge to Nowhere (2009)

Centers on the rise and fall of four blue-collar men who team with a destitute prostitute to create a high-priced escort service.

Director:

Blair Underwood

Writer:

Chris Gutierrez (screenplay)

Stars:

Ving Rhames, Bijou Phillips, Danny Masterson

Cast

Credited cast:
Ving Rhames
Bijou Phillips	...	Jasper
Danny Masterson	...	Kevin
Ben Crowley	...	Brian
Daniel London	...	Chris
Thomas Ian Nicholas	...	Eddie Stanton
Alexandra Breckenridge	...	Sienna
Sean Derry	...	Darick
Annie Kitral	...	Brian's mom
Alanna Janell	...	Kimberly (as Alanna Romansky)
Tom Kurlander	...	Realtor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Elmer	...	Dirty John
Ryan Gorham	...	Tattooed guy by pool table
Falconer Hudson	...	Police officer
John W. Iwanonkiw	...	Deputy Sheriff

Storyline

The Bridge to Nowhere is the story of four young 20-something men from the rough Upper North Side of Pittsburgh. They are stuck in dead-end jobs and struggle with dysfunctional family lives. The guys, inspired by the images of pop culture and the desire to break away from the neighborhood, regularly scheme to make extra money by running minor underground activities, including: sports booking, poker tournaments and house parties. One night during an evening out the four young men stumble across the "new neighbors", two independent prostitutes, Jasper and Candice, who end up inspiring a new business idea. Trapped in her own existence, Jasper, agrees to join forces with the young men to create, quite accidentally, what turns out to be an empire that launches each of them into financial riches. Along the way each character battles their own demons regarding the choices they have made In the end, however, their world comes crashing down on them in grandiose fashion. It's the city of ...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use, pervasive language, sexual content and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Steve Tolin's TolinFX

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bridge to Nowhere

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Smithfield Street Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

If Goodfellas and Scarface had an illegitimate son

Four close friends from Pittsburgh (Danny Masterson, Ben Crowley, Daniel London, Sean Derry) meet a couple of prostitutes (Bijou Phillips and Alexandra Breckenridge), and decide to hire them to start their own prostitution service. Well, the ringleader (Brian, played by Ben Crowley) decides, and the three others seem to reluctantly go along with it. A fifth member of the gang (Thomas Ian Nicholas) stays out citing moral objections.

The business plan quickly expands to involve drug dealing, which is where Ving Rhames enters the picture as the drug source. Incidentally, Rhames' part is not nearly as big as the movie poster would have you believe, amounting to a total of perhaps 20 minutes interspersed throughout the movie. Since the plot description already says this movie is about "the rise and fall" of a prostitution ring, I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that this business does indeed come crashing down in the end.

This movie starts out pretty slow. Things get more enjoyable once Ving Rhames makes his first appearance, which is fairly early on, but reminds you how much you don't really care about the other characters. I was looking forward to seeing what Danny Masterson could do (you know him as Hyde on "That '70s Show"), but he was just sort of "there", playing it real cool as the level-headed one, and perhaps a little too understated to be interesting. I didn't find Ben Crowley all that convincing as the ringleader/mastermind or the junkie bad boy he transformed into, and I thought his part was too big.

This movie is certainly no Hollywood blockbuster, but the effort is apparent. Many obvious cues were taken from Scarface and especially Goodfellas, eg. the ever-present voice-over narration. In the end I can say I enjoyed this movie, but only barely. The best thing I can say about it is that it's a pretty believable story, and does succeed in showing how easy it might be to make it big, as long as you're willing to sacrifice your morals and your future. Oh and Alexandra Breckenridge is very hot and fun to watch.