SAVAGE CINEMA'S BURIED TREASURE: "REACH THE ROCK" (1998)

“REACH THE ROCK” (1998)
A John Hughes Production
Written and Produced by John Hughes
Directed by William Ryan

“I think I was able to get at something immutable, and I’m proud that it has lasted. I was desperately afraid of getting it wrong. It’s really about characters and what they have to say. I’ve spent 15 years looking for that again.”
-John Hughes December 1999

Originally published in the Premiere Magazine article “Teen Days That Shook The World: An Oral History Of ‘The Breakfast Club’” by Sean M. Smith

Now this is the definition of a “Buried Treasure”!

John Hughes’ “Reach The Rock,” as directed by William Ryan seemed to function as sort of a creative rebirth and cinematic atonement for Hughes. As you can see from the above referenced quotation from the man himself, I think we can infer that he may have been feeling a tad creatively wanderlust, in regards to what the studios may have wanted from him after the gargantuan success of “Home Alone” (1990). While “Reach the Rock” is not one of Hughes’ golden features, it was a welcome return to form and it does indeed show Hughes attempting to flex his creative muscles one again with something more personal, albeit much darker, more somber, sadder and not nearly as euphoric as his classic teen films. Since this film was created and (barely) released around the same period as he wrote his still unproduced screenplay of “Tickets” (1996), we can see that he was mining for that sense of truth again and clearly enjoying not being bogged down in bigger budgeted Hollywood high concepts.

Set in the more working class area of Hughes’ mythical Shermer, IL over the course of one long, hot summer night, “Reach The Rock” stars Alessandro Nivola as Robin Fleming, a 22 year old high school dropout and restless miscreant with a criminal record. As the film opens, Robin is in the middle of committing his latest escapade. His scheme is to break the front store window of the local Ace Hardware store with the hopes of getting himself arrested and sent to the Shermer police Station, where he will be placed under the watchful of his arch nemesis Sgt. Phil Quinn (William Sadler). Yet, for Quinn, being forced to jail and watch Robin carries an almost unbearable weight as he, albeit wrongfully, blames Robin for the drunken drowning death of his nephew Danny (Norman Reedus) in the recent past.

Throughout the night, Robin, after covertly pilfering a set of keys, playfully releases himself from his cell. He escapes and returns to the Shermer Police Station, steals and joyrides in police cars and destroys more public storefront properties, all the while evading Quinn and his Deputy Ernie (Bruce Norris), who is secretly attempting to have a summer night’s tryst with his comely girlfriend Donna Tillman (Karen Sillas). Yet, for Robin, this night is not about a war of wits with Quinn or even cat and mouse games with the police. It is about a possible reconnection, which may lead to a possible future, with Lise Kendall (Brooke Langton), the wealthy daughter of a Shermer, IL judge, Robin’s on and off again girlfriend since high school and now ready to leave Shermer for a new post college career in New York.

“Reach the Rock” is an earnest drama which carries the John Hughes standards of the truncated time line of the story structure, small cast of characters, rich with terrific dialogue, cat and mouse hijinks as well as a healthy helping of the youth vs. authority figure battles we have seen before in 1985’s “The Breakfast Club” (John Bender Vs. Mr. Vernon) and 1986’s “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (Ferris Vs. Edward Rooney). Where the film separates itself from the classic Hughes pictures, much like his screenplay for “Tickets,” it presents less of a fantasy, wish fulfillment world and one more rooted in painful reality. There is no happy ending. And there is nothing for Robin Fleming that is transformative. When the movie concludes, Robin Fleming is more informed, and that does leave a sense of hope before the end credits scroll. “Reach The Rock” is a film about a troubled and aimless young man’s arrested development as well as also existing as a somewhat dark night of the soul for an older man unable to forgive.

The film commits itself to its characters while even cleverly sneaking in some comments about Hughes own cinematic output. The aforementioned cat and mouse hijinks between Robin, Quinn and Ernie have a weariness that is unlike Hughes’ work prior to this film. It’s a bit tiresome and in regards to the character of Robin Fleming, that fatigue locks firmly into his existential plight. What may have been hysterical when he was 16, is terribly pathetic at 22, especially when there’s no audience to goad him along or to impress and his antics only land him repeatedly in jail. But for Hughes, I could not help but to wonder if this were a bit of a self-aware commentary that he was growing weary with the extended slapstick pieces himself. At that time, Hughes was relegated to the increasingly impersonal “Home Alone Business” that had been injected into “Home Alone 2” (1992), a hugely entertaining but unnecessary sequel as well as “Dennis The Menace” (1993), a lively adaptation seriously marred by the inclusion of a pointless villain and “Baby’s Day Out” (1994), an almost modern day silent movie unfortunately filled with more inept burglars.

Beyond that, “Reach The Rock” is not a complete success. Alessandro Nivola and Brooke Langton, while making a very attractive couple and containing a bit of heat, lack the weight necessary to really bring Robin and Lise to life and to really ground the film with depth. These are not bad performances by any means. Just not as strong as what we are used to in Hughes’ work. It just felt as if everything was left to Hughes’ writing to carry the fullness of the experience on its own. Much better is William Sadler, who does infuse Hughes’ script with just the right touch of sardonic wit, dark regret and pain as well as a strong sense of life’s possibilities. William Ryan’s direction is a tad flat where it needs to be as snappy and sharp as Hughes’ writing.

But what Ryan does very well is to convey the feeling of that sleepy, humid, languid long summer night, a feat to which he is wonderfully aided by John McEntire, Chicago based drummer and producer for the bands Tortoise and The Sea and Cake. McEntire’s electronic and percussive score perfectly sets the mood for “Reach The Rock” and the excellent combination of atmosphere and music reminded me very much of Francis Ford Coppola’s impressionistic black and white teen drama “Rumble Fish” (1983), which was scored by Stewart Copeland, drummer of The Police.

Returning to the meteorological, I also found it interesting, especially after having read “Tickets,” how Hughes utilized the weather to accentuate the world he is trying to illustrate for us. In “Tickets,” the bitter Chicago winter reflected the bleakness of the world itself while the hot summer night of “Reach The Rock” reflects the building tension and boiling passions ready to be released with an oncoming rain storm.

But, what affected me most throughout this melancholy film is how John Hughes’ romanticism rings loudest throughout the proceedings…and heartbreakingly at that. In some respects, “Reach The Rock” conceptually answers the question of what may have happened to the characters of criminal John Bender and prom queen rich princess Claire Standish after their Saturday detention in “The Breakfast Club” which concluded with a shared kiss and Claire’s gift of a diamond earring to Bender. In “Reach The Rock,” Robin lovingly carries around a locket in his pocket given to him by Lise with the inscription “Tomorrow Never Knows” (Hughes’ fascination with The Beatles strikes again). Moreso, this film is a story about Robin’s longing. His longing to leave Shermer for certain, but his longing for Lise to finally return to him, profess her endless love and take him to New York with her. But, it is not to be as Lise firmly explains that he was not much more than a prop to cause emotional damage to her Father, with whom her relationship had been more than difficult.

From here, we receive another deeply felt John Hughes life lesson which is fueled through a strong sense of a character’s self-awareness. Robin Fleming’s journey is one where he must learn to rely upon himself to ultimately relieve himself of his inner pain. The life he wishes to have is one that he has to make for himself and there will be no shining princess to rescue him. His life’s success or failure is due to the choices he makes, if only he would at last make the right choices.

Hard questions and hard decisions are at the core of “Reach The Rock” and I am wondering if the tiny release of that film was a piece of the reasoning that John Hughes experienced when he had to ask himself the hard questions and make the hard choices about continuing his potential involvement with Hollywood. I have the feeling that big box office success for “Reach The Rock” was the furthest from his mind. Maybe this film was what he needed to do to find that sense of truth he had been searching for all over again.

SAVAGE POSTSCRIPT:
So, where can you see “Reach The Rock”? Like I said, the film’s theatrical release was pitifully tiny as it screened in very few theaters in Chicago and new York only. The film has never been released on DVD and of course, you will not find it on Blu-Ray either. I own a VHS copy of the film and you can still purchase a VHS copy the film through Amazon for the hefty price of…$1.75 plus shipping. A meager price to pay for the Hughes connoisseur and completist…and more than worth the investment.