Man from Reno

Yesterday, Hollister got a treat with a big-screen showing of Man from Reno, a neo-noir, cross-cultural, mystery movie, of which some of the scenes were set in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, and other parts of San Benito County.  Whoo-hoo!

The award-winning Man from Reno came out in 2014. It was co-written and directed by Dave Boyle who was at the showing and did a Q&A after the movie. An extra treat for us, movie-goers.

The movie opens with Sheriff Paul Del Moral of San Marco County (think San Benito County) coming across an abandoned car on a dark and very foggy night. After a few minutes of investigating, he gets back into his car, drives several feet, and bang! A running man collides into his car.  This unknown Japanese man is taken to the hospital (set in Hazel Hawkins Hospital), but, after recouping, walks away without anyone noticing. And, so begins the mystery.

Meanwhile, 100 miles to the north, popular mystery author Aki Akahora has arrived in San Francisco. She has run away on a whim, no longer able to take all the adoration from fans in her home country of Japan. She's depressed and looks to be suicidal, but she breaks out of her funk when she meets a man who makes her feel like living again. He quickly moves into her hotel room, then, just as quickly, disappears leaving his suitcase behind. And, so begins another mystery.

The movie moves forward between the two suspenseful stories. The only thing I predicted correctly was that the two tales would eventually intertwine. Everything else about the plot—surprise!

Another enjoyable aspect of Man from Reno for me was recognizing settings in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, San Francisco, and Sausalito. As you read previously, the hospital scenes in the fictitious San Marco County were set inside Hazel Hawkins Hospital. I'll only tell you about one other setting. The sheriff's office was actually the Red Cross office on Fifth Street.

Missed Man from Reno yesterday or want to see it again? The movie is now available at Netflix, Amazon, Google Play, DIRECTV, and other online sites. Want to learn more about the movie, check the Man from Reno website.