The City of Your Final Destination (2010)

37% of critics liked it
(54 reviews)
43% of users liked it
(2,678 ratings)

Historically noteworthy as the first Merchant Ivory production that lacked the involvement of longtime producer Ismail Merchant (he died three years prior to this movie's release), director James Ivory's The City of Your Final Destination embodies an adaptation of Peter Cameron's 2005 novel of the… More Historically noteworthy as the first Merchant Ivory production that lacked the involvement of longtime producer Ismail Merchant (he died three years prior to this movie's release), director James Ivory's The City of Your Final Destination embodies an adaptation of Peter Cameron's 2005 novel of the same name, written for the screen by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Omar Metwally stars as Omar Razaghi, a young graduate student in the U.S. who wishes to author a biography on the late Jules Gund -- an enigmatic writer who spent his final years with his family in Uruguay, then committed suicide. Omar writes the Gund clan to request permission to pen the text, but is shocked and baffled by the family's refusal to comply. At the urging of Omar's forceful girlfriend, Dierdre (Alexandra Maria Lara), Omar books a seat about the next flight to Uruguay, visits the Gund enclave, and tries to persuade them to change their minds. Present are Gund's gay twin brother Adam (Anthony Hopkins), his widow Caroline (Laura Linney), his mistress Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and his young daughter by Arden, Portia (Ambar Mallman). Omar works on the family members one by one, but runs into extreme difficulty both with Caroline -- a hateful woman bearing deep-seated resentments, who initially refuses to comply with the project at all costs -- and with Adam, who agrees to participate on the condition that Omar perform a dangerous favor in return. Meanwhile, passions begin to stir between Omar and Arden, and Dierdre decides to pay a visit. Unfortunately, The City of Your Final Destination received severely limited theatrical distribution, and failed to make much of a splash at the box office, despite favorable notices from a number of U.S. critics and Ivory's excellent track record. ~ Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: James Ivory
Written By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Apr 16, 2010 Wide
On DVD: Aug 17, 2010
Studio: Screen Media Films

Critic Reviews

Tom Long, Detroit News
Slow, dull and wielding absolutely no emotional impact despite a fine cast.
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com
It's like Paul McCartney's songs after the split with John Lennon - there's some good stuff, but nothing classic.
Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer
A movie that feels as if it should have been a masterpiece. As it is, it's flawed, uneven work but deserves careful viewing.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
There's no dramatic mainspring to the story, but the civilized dialogue is refreshing, the South American locations are lovely and Jorge Drexler's score is rapturously romantic.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
What was intended as a tart elegy for a vanished way of life becomes a valedictory to a certain kind of filmmaking: beautifully appointed, intelligently played, and civilized into inertia.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
One can dislike half of what Merchant Ivory has done and yet, in principle, still support the cause. Cutting-edge isn't all.
Simon Miraudo, Quickflix
The performances feel honest, and are perfectly attuned to Ivory's sauntering directorial pace. No one is in a hurry to have any epiphanies or enjoy the release of emotional catharsis. I appreciated it.
Don Groves, sbs.com.au
Ivory without Merchant films a bloodless, dreary tale
Paj Sandhu, Moviedex
Sometimes it's nice to just relax and listen to the deep soothing tones of Anthony Hopkins, even if what he's saying is absolute dribble.
Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
It's of moderately passing interest this film, but that's all. I hope Ivory and Prawer Jhabvala find their feet with the next one.
Ben McEachen, Empire Magazine Australasia
Looks like a Merchant Ivory movie. Bores like a lesser one, too.
David Stratton, At the Movies (Australia)
This is a very disappointing film. It lacks life, really.
Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies (Australia)
This is a rather drab affair with a protagonist who seems to have had a personality bypass.
Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
It's not an entirely boring film. After a while, your pulse rate slows and you settle into the landscape. The two-hour running time, however, puts you in acute danger of growing moss.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
A rich and engaging film from one of cinema?s grand masters
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
With all the cinematic trademarks of a James Ivory film, this adaptation of Peter Cameron?s novel seduces us slowly, as we get to know the characters whose lives are intertwined for better and for worse
Rob Thomas, Wisconsin State Journal
"Destination" is another effort by director James Ivory in his long-running campaign to give arthouse audiences a comfortable place to take a nap.
Jeff Meyers, Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
An aptly lush but below-the-numbers yarn
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review at Movies for the Masses
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
This adaptation of the Peter Cameron novel is pretty dull, and the whole thing is so lacking in energy that it becomes a chore to watch.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Thomas J

A slow moving story of finding love. Interesting people may not always make the most interesting characters. The actors give strong performances, but the story just feels to drag.
jay n

Sometimes a movie is nothing special neither good nor bad just okay but contains within it a top flight performance, this is one of those films and Laura Linney's is the performance of note. She plays a woman who is icy and remote but thanks to her skill she makes her intriguing… More
Sometimes a movie is nothing special neither good nor bad just okay but contains within it a top flight performance, this is one of those films and Laura Linney's is the performance of note. She plays a woman who is icy and remote but thanks to her skill she makes her intriguing and at times very humorous. Why isn't this woman a huge star? Had she been around in the 30's and 40's she would have been right up in the forefront with Davis, Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck tearing her way through the grade A material. The rest of the picture is standard with beautiful cinematography but just an average story and the rest of the performers fail to impress.
♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Omar Metwally, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hiroyuki Sanada, Norma Aleandro, Alexandra Maria Lara, Kate Burton, Norma Argentina Director: James Ivory Summary: After duping school officials into awarding him a grant to write a biography on novelist… More
Cast: Omar Metwally, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hiroyuki Sanada, Norma Aleandro, Alexandra Maria Lara, Kate Burton, Norma Argentina Director: James Ivory Summary: After duping school officials into awarding him a grant to write a biography on novelist Jules Gund, grad student Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally) must travel to Uruguay to get legitimate authorization from the late author's three executors. My Thoughts: "What a complete absolute bore this film was. It's a character study film that's characters are boring and not interesting at all. The story goes nowhere in the almost two hour time frame. I had high hopes with greats like Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney being in the mix, but even they couldn't pick this film off the ground. The acting wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. The story dragged on and on. I was impatient for it to be over with. I thought maybe the ending would be worth all the nothingness I sat through. Wrong. The ending was just as pointless as this entire film was. This film is one I would recommend other's to pass on.."
Chris G

The City Of Your Final Destination is a flat, dull film that spends its entire running time sitting in neutral, refusing to go anywhere at all. Omar (Omar Metwally) wants to write an autobiography of a famed one hit wonder writer, but needs the authorization of the dead writers wife… More
The City Of Your Final Destination is a flat, dull film that spends its entire running time sitting in neutral, refusing to go anywhere at all. Omar (Omar Metwally) wants to write an autobiography of a famed one hit wonder writer, but needs the authorization of the dead writers wife (Laura Linney), brother (Anthony Hopkins), and mistress (Charlotte Gainsbourgh). They send him a letter and refuse. Now this should be then end of the movie because you then write the unauthorized biography like Kittey Kelly. Omar's a nice guy and decides to travel to Latin America from Kansas and plead his case. The wife is quite cold, the brother is on his side, and the mistress falls in love. Conflict ensues. Oh, did I mention Omar already had a girlfriend (Alexandra Maria Lara). There are two problems with this film. The first is that the script drags like the muffler of a 1983 Chevette. It just sits there like a great gob of slime, jiggling all over but not going anywhere. There are some nice scenes and some really bad ones. The premise of the film is inane in the facts that it wouldn't matter of he had their permission anyway. It's not like they offer up much help in the first place, other than showing him the gondola in the boathouse. And what about that title which has nothing to do with the film, unless you can tack it onto two of the supporting characters. I don't know if The Gondola was already taken or not, other than being a nice sandwich at Avanti's in Bloomington (shameless product placement). It's a weak story that tries to be an epic. An epic what? It's not quite a coming of age story and it's not quite a romance. It's just a movie. A boring one. The second problem is in the acting. If you're going to cast Laura Linney and Anthony Hopkins in a movie please get a cast that can at least keep up with them. Some of these scenes are an embarrassment for the actors that have to share screen time with either of the two. Linney's character is rather cold so we don't miss her as much when she's off screen, put Hopkins' portrayal leaves us missing him when he's not there and we're left with the hacks. It's very painful to watch. So other than a couple of decent performances in this film it's an overall waste of time. It's not the worst film I've seen in awhile, but it's not even close to being one of the best either. Weighing it totally, this film is a boring, forgettable piece that will probably be a minor asterisk in the careers of a couple of good actors and the peak for a couple of bad ones.
Walter M

In "The City of Your Final Destination," Omar(Omar Metwally), an untenured professor, is denied permission to write a biography of Jules Gund, a famous writer, by his survivors. Fearing the adage of 'publish or work in fast food,' his girlfriend Deirdre(Alexandra… More
In "The City of Your Final Destination," Omar(Omar Metwally), an untenured professor, is denied permission to write a biography of Jules Gund, a famous writer, by his survivors. Fearing the adage of 'publish or work in fast food,' his girlfriend Deirdre(Alexandra Maria Lara) eggs him on to plead his case in person and even books his flight to Uruguay. At least, Portia(Ambar Mallman), Jules' daughter by the mistress, Arden(Charlotte Gainsbourg), is kind to him when he gets there as Arden invites him to stay in the guest house while Caroline(Laura Linney), the wife, rudely ignores him. At least, Adam(Anthony Hopkins), the brother, is willing to cooperate, as long as Omar does something in return. "The City of Your Final Destination" is almost, nearly, not quite a good movie that is held together by its great international cast(Norma Aleandro shows up from time to time), especially Anthony Hopkins who again proves that his performances get better the farther he is away from Hollywood. Now, if only the movie had a beginning or an end. For example, it should have started with Omar's arrival in Uruguay. Come to think of it, the middle is not so great, either, as the story mostly meanders through a haunted landscape. It is a shame because there was potential here, especially on the contentious subject of how difficult it can be to deal with literary executors in licensing material which I have been reading a lot about recently.
Mark A

One comes to expect a certain level of quality to a Merchant-Ivory production, and this certainly delivers. The cinematography is lush, the characters are fully drawn, and the story quietly exposes the prejudices of those characters. Omar (Omar Metwally) is a young academic who… More
One comes to expect a certain level of quality to a Merchant-Ivory production, and this certainly delivers. The cinematography is lush, the characters are fully drawn, and the story quietly exposes the prejudices of those characters. Omar (Omar Metwally) is a young academic who travels to Uruguay to pursue permission to write an authorized biography of an author who only produced one book before committing suicide, but earned enough to retreat to South America with his wife, Caroline (Laura Linney), his mistress, Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and his brother, Adam (Anthony Hopkins). Omar's quest is prompted by his overbearing girlfriend, Deirdre (Alexandra Maria Lara), but immediately runs into the determined opposition of Caroline. The rest of the film is devoted to finding alliances and negotiating the required permissions. It is certainly slow paced, almost languid, but it never loses its way and the story unfolds as it inevitably must. One feels great sympathy for all but the girlfriend, yet even she mellows by the end.
hawk l

Intriguing study in various shades of control and submission, and wonderfully delicate love story, with Charlotte Gainsbourg providing its emotional center.