Product Details

• Actors: Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Christine Baranski, Tom Skerritt, Joan Allen
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0016MOWOG
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,676 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bonneville" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sentimental, but not too sugary, Bonneville proves there's a road movie for every taste and demographic. While the testosterone-fueled Easy Rider took aim at the young and the disaffected, this female-centric offering targets a more mature, less cynical audience. After her husband, Joe, passes away, Arvilla (two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange) faces the prospect of homelessness as he neglected to update his will. Her single-minded stepdaughter, Francine (Christine Baranski), now in possession of the property, intends to sell their Pocatello home if she doesn't hand over her father's ashes, so Arvilla and Mormon best friends Margene (Kathy Bates) and Carol (Joan Allen) pile into Joe's refurbished 1966 Bonneville Pontiac convertible with the urn and head to Santa Barbara. On their trip through Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, the Vegas Strip, and other Western wonders, they meet helpful skateboarder Bo (Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas) and chivalrous trucker Emmett (Tom Skerritt), who takes a shine to the widowed Margene. Though nothing goes quite as planned, friendship helps smooth the bumpy ride from Idaho to California--and beyond. The characters in Bonneville may be older and wiser than the women of Thelma and Louise or Fried Green Tomatoes, in which Bates appeared, but this smaller-scale effort shares the same sisterly values and the central trio establishes a touching rapport. Supplements include a making-of featurette, deleted and alternate scenes, and a short gag reel. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Stills from Bonneville (Click for larger image)

Product Description

Faced with the decision of a lifetime, Arvilla Holden (Jessica Lange) hijacks her two best friends (Kathy Bates, Joan Allen) and sets off in a vintage '66 Bonneville convertible across the great American West to deliver her husband’s ashes to her step-daughter. What begins as a simple trip, will end up becoming a chance to rediscover themselves, their friendship, the importance of promises - and of living life to the fullest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Film with Heart: Appreciating Fine Actors, July 3, 2008

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

BONNEVILLE creeps up on the viewer. It is a solid marriage of light comedy and sentiment and the somewhat slight story is brought to life by the natural gifts of a trio of superb actors. Why it did not find popularity in the theaters is probably due to the topic of death and the cast of 'older actresses', but it is a solid little film that deserves more attention.

Arvilla (Jessica Lange) has lost her husband of 20 years and promised to scatter his ashes over places the couple loved. Her step daughter Francine (Christine Baranski) demands the 'ashes' be buried next to her mother's grave in Santa Barbara, threatening her stepmother with eviction from her Pocatello, Idaho home if Arvilla doesn't comply. Two of Arvilla's friends - the restless widow Margene (Kathy Bates) and the oh-so-Mormon Carol (Joan Allen) support their friend and plan to fly with Arvilla to take the ashes to Santa Barbara. But circumstances begin to change when the threesome bond tightly and decide to take Arvilla's husband's old Bonneville on a road trip to California. From here on the film is a Road Trip - a time when the three women learn lessons about life and death and love and compassion from each other - and from a young hitchhiker Bo (Victor Rasuk of 'Saving Victor Vargas', 'Stop-Loss' etc) and trucker Emmett (Tom Skirrett). The trip from Idaho to California passes through some of the Southwest's most beautiful scenery, places once shared by Arvilla and her late husband, and slowly the urn of ashes is distributed along the way to the dreaded Santa Barbara funeral.

Christopher N. Rowley directs this sweet story by Daniel D. Davis with great respect for the gifts of the three fine actors, allowing them to show us just why they remain some of our finest talent on the screen. It is not a great film, but it has such a fine heart that we can relax and just ride along with it. Grady Harp, July 08

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Gem, June 21, 2008

By	Vittoria de Artemisia (California) - See all my reviews

Bonneville is that rarest of gems; an intelligent, wonderful movie that stars women over the age of 50. Jessica Lange plays Arvilla, a recently widowed woman who has promised to deliver her husband's ashes to her hostile step-daughter, Francine (Christine Baranski) in California. Her two friends, played by Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, won't let her make the trip alone. They set out in Arvilla's late husband's Bonneville convertible intending to drive to the airport, but Arvilla changes her mind and decides to drive to some of her late husband's favorite places. This is a great road trip/female buddy movie with flawless performances, beautiful scenery, laughter and tears, even a little romance mixed in along the way. Bonneville only recieved limited release in theaters apparently because of the common Hollywood belief that people only want to see movies that are loaded with special effects and violence. So, even if you've never heard of this movie, buy it! You won't be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bates, Lang, Allen, Baranski....a great movie with the top down!, July 14, 2008

By	Shannon L. Yarbrough "Shannon L. Yarbrough" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked up this movie through Netflix as a recommedation for liking Kathy Bates. I'd never heard of it, but I'm a sap for "Thelma and Louise" type movies so I gave it a try. And I'm glad I did.

Thelma and Louise fans will definitely relate to this one, despite there being three ladies in the convertible this time. The similarities are astounding...right down to them picking up a cute hitch hiker and coming into possession of a lot of money, and wearing the signature scarves and sunglasses with the top down. But, Bonneville definitely stands on its own and has it's own completely different storyline.

Yeah, it's a bit of a sappy movie. Two women driving cross country with their recently widowed sister to deliver her dead husband's ashes to his demanding daughter (a small part played by Baranski). But anyone who has lost a loved one, or possibly had to deal with overbearing family members who weren't always around when the person was living, will definitely relate.

The ending is completely predictable, and plays out just as I expected it would but with a nice simple twist at the end. But just as the overall theme of the movie resonates, sometimes it is more important to just throw up your hands, shrug it off, and accept what life hands to you today. You'll always have your memories, and no one can take that away from you.

A true gem of a movie that will make you laugh and cry, and an all star cast that does it justice!!