In 2002, Road to
Perdition was shot in the Fox Valley. Maybe you watched some of the
filming yourself; it would have been hard to miss, as the production pretty
much took over the town -- changing facades and names of most businesses
on State Street -- for many days! Listed below are other movies that were
also filmed
locally. If you have any additional information to add to this list,
please e-mail us.
Road to Perdition
(2002)
Much of the filming of this movie took place in the Fox Valley towns
of West Dundee and State Street in downtown Geneva.
In Road to
Perdition, Tom Hanks
plays a hit-man who finds his heart. Michael
Sullivan (Hanks) is the right-hand man of crime boss John Rooney
(Paul Newman), but when Sullivan's son accidentally witnesses one of
his hits, he must choose between his crime family and his real one.
The movie has a decidedly slow pace,
probably because director Sam Mendes
(American Beauty) seems to be in love with the gorgeous period
locations. Hanks gives a deceptively battened-down performance at
first, only opening up toward the very end of the film, making his
character's personal transformation all the more convincing. Newman
turns in a masterful piece of work, revealing Rooney's advancing age,
but at the same time, his terrifying power. Jude Law
is also a
standout, playing a hit man-photographer with chilling creepiness.
(Amazon.com)
Downtown Geneva during Road to Perdition
filming
Novocaine
(2001)
Some scenes of this comedy were filmed at the Geneva Motel on Rt. 38
just East of Kirk Rd.
A screwball
noir
comedy that marks a promising directorial debut by first-timer David
Atkins, Novocaine has a knack for the offbeat, beginning with the
casting of Steve Martin
as Frank, a dentist who traps himself in an
escalating series of secrets and lies. Frank likens his dilemma to
the insidious rot of tooth decay, personified by quirky drug addict
Susan (Helena Bonham Carter), who enters his office, steals his
narcotics, and draws him into an unexpected flirtation with
disaster. Frank's brother (Elias Koteas) complicates matters almost
as much as Susan's nut-ball brother (Scott Caan), but it's Frank's
fiancée and hygienist (Laura Dern) who shotguns the movie to its
outrageous and gruesomely off-putting conclusion.
(Amazon.com)
Wayne's World
2
(1993)
Somewhere in the
world, there are probably people who don't understand why Mike
Myers's character, Wayne Campbell, is funny--which is too bad.
Granted, the laughs are often cheap and silly, but there's no one
who can embody a comic character and riff within that character the
way Myers does. Wayne and his pal Garth (Dana Carvey) were fixtures
on Saturday Night Live before the unexpected success of Wayne's
World, which is about what happened when they tried to take their
local cable-access show citywide. This time, they want to stage
Waynestock, a mammoth rock festival in their little Chicago suburb
(Aurora, IL), even as Wayne copes with girlfriend Tia Carrere's
interest in record-company exec Christopher Walken. For extra fun,
Garth gets involved with the "babelicious" Kim Basinger. Yes, the
humor is scattershot and the plot is lame--but you'll find yourself
laughing nonetheless. --Marshall Fine
Wayne's World
(1992)
Wayne Campbell
(Mike Myers) and his nerdy pal Garth (Dana Carvey) are teens who
live at home and have their own low-rent cable-access show in
Aurora, Illinios, in which they celebrate their favorite female
movie stars and heavy-metal bands. When a Chicago TV station smells
a potential youth-audience ratings hit, the station's weasely
executive (Rob Lowe) tries to coopt the show--and steal Wayne's new
rock & roll girlfriend (Tia Carrere) at the same time. It's filled
with all kinds of knowing spoofs of movie conventions, from Wayne
talking to the camera (and forbidding other characters to do so) to
hilariously self-conscious product placements and labeling a moment
a "Gratuitous Sex Scene."
Groundhog Day
(1992)
A laughable and interesting comedy, The location for most
of the shooting of the film took place in Woodstock, Illinois.
Unfortunately, Phil wakes up to find that
he is reliving February 2nd... over and over and over and...
TV meteorologist Phil
Connors (Bill Murray), news producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman
Larry (Chris Elliott) from fictional Pittsburgh television station WPBH-TV9
travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day
festivities with Punxsutawney Phil. Having grown tired of this assignment,
Phil grudgingly gives his report and attempts to return to Pittsburgh when a
blizzard shuts down the roads. Phil and his team are forced to return to
Punxsutawney and stay in town overnight. (From Wikipedia)
Bad Boys
(1983)
The location of Rainford in
the movie is actually St. Charles.
Sean Penn
plays as Mick O'Brien, a chronic offender whose path to a
Chicago juvenile corrections facility seems utterly preordained. The
institution is hardly conducive to reformation--it's a jail for
problem kids, and a cauldron for all the societal ills that sent
kids there in the first place. Mick's there because he was involved
in a shootout during a botched robbery of drugs from rival street
gangster Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), whose little brother was killed
when Mick accidentally ran him over with his getaway car.
(Amazon.com)
Coach of the Year (1980)
An ex-football star, paralyzed
from the waist down during Vietnam, accepts the challenge of
coaching football in a juvenile reform school. The reform
school depicted is the St. Charles Boys School and many of the
scenes were shot there. Some local football coaches --
including a couple from Geneva High School -- had small bit parts in
the film that starred Robert Conrad.
Harry and Tonto (1974)
Paul Mazursky's HARRY AND TONTO is an offbeat
comedy-drama with a subtle and remarkable central performance by Art
Carney as Harry, a 72-year-old widower who takes off on a
cross-country odyssey with his cat, Tonto, after he's evicted from
his Manhattan apartment building. Along the way he visits his eldest
daughter, Shirley (Ellen Burstyn), in Chicago and plans to meet up
with his son, Eddie (Larry Hagman), in California. Harry's road trip
is filled with small vignettes that remind him of where he's come
from and where he's going. Inspired by the vitality of the many
characters he comes across, he's left to ponder his own quiet life.
Harry also remembers a past love when he meets up with Jessie
(Geraldine Fitzgerald), an old girlfriend who used to be a vivacious
ballet dancer but now lies senile in a nursing home. Among the
gallery of other memorable characters he meets on the road are a
young female hitchhiker, a hooker, and a down-on-his-luck Indian
chief. Ultimately, Harry reaches the West Coast and finds that
things are not quite as he planned, but at the end of the road, he
remains deeply inspired by his new vision of life, filled with hope
for the future. A remarkable ensemble cast of oddball characters
infuses Harry's trip with unique vitality, humor, and honesty.
(Amazon.com)
Wayne Campbell
(Mike Myers) and his nerdy pal Garth (Dana Carvey) are teens who
live at home and have their own low-rent cable-access show in
Aurora, Illinios, in which they celebrate their favorite female
movie stars and heavy-metal bands. When a Chicago TV station smells
a potential youth-audience ratings hit, the station's weasely
executive (Rob Lowe) tries to coopt the show--and steal Wayne's new
rock & roll girlfriend (Tia Carrere) at the same time. It's filled
with all kinds of knowing spoofs of movie conventions, from Wayne
talking to the camera (and forbidding other characters to do so) to
hilariously self-conscious product placements and labeling a moment
a "Gratuitous Sex Scene." 
The location of Rainford in
the movie is actually St. Charles. 
