Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Road Builder (1971)
Director: Alastair Reid
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Brown rules the roost in her rambling old mansion, gossiping with cronies about the vicar's (entirely imaginary) sex-change operation and visiting casual cruelties on her aging adopted daughter (Neal). Her other mistake is to hire personable itinerant Clay to look after the garden, when someone called the Travelling Maniac is on the loose. Starting as an analogue of Night Must Fall, Dahl's script segues fascinatingly into areas explored contemporaneously in Chabrol's Le Boucher. The contributions of Thomson, Pratt and Herrmann are exemplary, but Reid is the sort of plodding director something of this sort absolutely doesn't need. From the novel Nest in a Falling Tree by Joy Cowley.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Alastair Reid
Producer: Alan D Courtney, Norman S Powell
Cast: Patricia Neal, Nicholas Clay, Pamela Brown, Jean Anderson, Graham Crowden, Brigit Forsyth full cast
Duration: 102 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'
Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Review a Coens' movie and win!
A signed copy of the script for 'A Serious Man' is up for grabs, and we want you to look to your inner film reviewer to win it
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Sheffield Doc/Fest round-up
Sheffield’s annual Doc/Fest is Britain’s largest documentary festival. Edward Lawrenson learnt a few new things by taking the train north.
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now