Reach the Rock

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Reach the Rock
Poster of the movie Reach the Rock.jpg
VHS cover
Directed byWilliam Ryan
Written by John Hughes
Produced byJohn Hughes
Starring
CinematographyJohn J. Campbell
Edited by Gerald B. Greenberg
Music by John McEntire
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16)(United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$4,960

Reach the Rock is a 1998 American comedy drama film directed by William Ryan and starring William Sadler and Alessandro Nivola, and was the final film to be written and produced by John Hughes.

Contents

Premise

A small-town troublemaker (Alessandro Nivola), directionless and alienated, ends up spending a night in a jail cell, where he and the police chief (William Sadler) engage in a battle of wills and wit.

Cast

Production

Writer/producer John Hughes came up with the premise for Reach the Rock basing the character of Robin off "base kids" and "farm kids" he knew in his youth displaced by the transition of "rural communities" to "bedroom communities" who while tough were also social outcasts among the wealthier residents of Chicago's North Shore. [4] Hughes compared the character of Robin to John Bender from The Breakfast Club calling him the natural evolution of Bender had he stayed with Molly Ringwald's character, Claire, and never moved on. [4]

After director Chris Columbus dropped out of directing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation due to Chevy Chase's unpleasant prima donna behavior, Hughes offered Columbus two other scripts he was working on as possible replacements. The two scripts in question were Reach the Rock and Home Alone with Columbus opting to direct the latter as he didn't respond to the former. [5] [6] In the early 90s, Hughes offered Reach the Rock to Patrick Read Johnson who had made his feature debut with Spaced Invaders . [7] Johnson stated that he loved the script calling it "the most serious thing John had ever written, in my opinion" but due to the film being primarily a performance piece with no actions sequences or special effects Johnson passed on the film as he didn't feel confident he could do it justice. [7] Johnson later expressed his disappointment with the final filmed version of Reach the Rock. [7]

In May 1996, open casting for the film, under the title Reach for the Rock, had begun with the studio looking for two unknowns who could be "...the next Johnny Depp and the next Winona Ryder". [8] In May 1997, it was reported that Alessandro Nivola had secured one of the leads. [9]

William Ryan, an assistant working under Hughes, would be given the script by Hughes to direct and although Ryan never directed again he did go on to run Hughes Entertainment. [10]

The soundtrack featured a compilation of Chicago-based post-rock artists, among them Tortoise and associated acts Bundy K. Brown, The Sea and Cake and John McEntire. It was released on Hefty Records, a label owned and operated by Hughes's son, John Hughes III. The film gets its title from a song by the band Havana 3am. [11] Reach the Rock would mark the final writing credit for Hughes in which he was the sole author. [11]

Filming took place in Chicago's Northwest Side as well as West Chicago from July through September 1996. [12] [13]

Richard Lightstone who worked on the film as a sound engineer stated the film was made out of contractual obligation to Universal Studios who per the stipulations of a contract with Hughes were owed a film made by him. [14] Hughes only visited the set once and mainly left William Ryan in charge of the production. [14]

Release

Initially the film had been planned for a Spring 1998 release, but Universal Pictures ended up giving Reach the Rock an extremely limited theatrical run in the United States on October 16, 1998, where the film only played in three theaters in three cities for a one-week engagement grossing only $4,960. [13] [4] [15] The film was given a home video release on July 27, 1999. [13]

Reception

The film received generally negative reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 38% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average rating of 4.5/10. [16] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 1 out of 4 stars. He compared it negatively to Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles , and complained that the movie was "very sad" and felt like it was playing "in slow motion." [17]

References

  1. ↑ "William Sadler". IMDb. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Alessandro Nivola". IMDb. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Brooke Langton". IMDb. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 McGilligan, Patrick (2010). "Chapter 12: Barbara Turner Free Spirit". Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s (June 2008). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-25105-2. OCLC   426147374.
  5. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (December 22, 2024). "'He Was a Complete Jerk': Home Alone Director Rejected Christmas Vacation After Meeting Chevy Chase". Comic Book Resources . Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  6. ↑ Wilkinson, Amy (November 6, 2015). "'Home Alone' turns 25: A deep dive with director Chris Columbus". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 IGN, Staff (2001-02-08). "Rise and Fall (and Rise) of a Hollywood Director: An Interview with Patrick Read Johnson (Pt 3 of 5)". IGN . Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
  8. ↑ "First Baldwin baby boy on the way". Variety. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  9. ↑ "D'Works, U lasso 'Cowboys'". Variety. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  10. ↑ Honeycutt, Kirk (February 15, 2015). John Hughes: A Life In Film: The Genius Behind The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Home Alone. Race Point Publishing. ISBN   9781627886239 – via Google Books.
  11. 1 2 "Reach The Rock: the story of the forgotten John Hughes film". Filmstories.co.uk. May 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ Chicago Tribune, Staff (August 25, 1996). "CHICAGO RECLAIMS STARRING ROLE AS HOLLYWOOD'S KIND OF TOWN". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 "Reach the Rock (1998)". TCM . Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  14. 1 2 Gilchrist, Jim (August 25, 1996). "Director John Hughes dies of heart attack, age 59". jwsoundgroup.net. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Barker rates 'Best Laid'". Variety . Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Reach the Rock". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  17. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1998-10-16). "Reach the Rock movie review & film summary (1998)". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved 2023-09-11.
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