Blackway
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Daniel Alfredson
Written by	Joseph Gangemi Gregory Jacobs
Based on	Go with Me by Castle Freeman Jr.
Produced by	Rick Dugdale Ellen Goldsmith-Vein Anthony Hopkins Gregory Jacobs Lindsay Williams
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Julia Stiles Alexander Ludwig Ray Liotta Hal Holbrook
Cinematography	Rasmus Videbæk
Edited by	Håkan Karlsson
Music by	Anders Niska Klas Wahl
Production companies	Enderby Entertainment The Gotham Group
Distributed by	TW Media Events (Canada)
Release dates	September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11) (Venice) June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

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. Filmed in Canada in 2014, it premiered under the festival title Go with Me at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2016.

Plot

Set in an Oregon logging community, Lillian, is a woman newly returned to her hometown after the death of her mother. She is being harassed by a local man named Blackway, 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, feels sympathy for Lillian and decides to help her. He takes along a young man named Nate, 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.^[1] 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.^[2] Rick Dugdale would produce along with Lindsay Williams and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, while Hopkins would also produce along with Jacobs.^[2] On October 23, Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment came on board to co-finance and handle international rights to the film.^[3] On October 30, Julia Stiles and Ray Liotta joined the film.^[4] On November 17, Alexander Ludwig joined the film to play a young sidekick of an ex-logger.^[5]

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.^[8] Guy Lodge of Variety called the film a "turgid, tension-free revenge thriller".^[9][10]

References

External links

• Blackway at IMDb
• Blackway at Rotten Tomatoes
• Blackway at AllMovie