Naman Shrestha
Starring Brian Cox and Sinqua Walls as the Vietnam Vet Ike Fletcher and the wounded marine John Colter, respectively, ‘Mending the Line’ is a drama movie that centers upon the unexpected bond the two share as they spend some quality time together fly fishing. When the injured John returns home to the US with his demons from the war, he is disturbed to the core, affecting his friendships and love interests. Things take a turn for the better when he meets Ike, a Vietnam vet turned fly-fisherman, and Lucy, a photographer turned librarian who likes to read aloud to veterans.
As John gradually recovers from his physical traumas, Ike manages to help him deal with his emotional trauma by teaching him how to fly fish. Besides Cox and Walls, the Joshua Caldwell directorial has a talented cast, including Perry Mattfeld, Chris Galust, Patricia Heaton, and Wes Studi. The flashbacks of the Afghanistan warzone that John envisions repeatedly represent his mental turmoil. It slowly improves when he starts learning to flyfish with Ike as the loud and violent backdrop of the war is replaced by the serenity of Montana’s natural space. Thus, it is understandable why many of you might be wondering where ‘Mending the Line’ was filmed.
Mending the Line Filming Locations
‘Mending the Line’ was filmed in Montana and California, especially in Park County, Gallatin County, and Yellowstone National Park. As per reports, principal photography for the Brian Cox starrer commenced in late August 2021 and wrapped up in October of the same year. Now, without wasting time, let’s dive right into all the specific locations where John goes through a transformational journey in the drama movie!
Park County, Montana
A significant chunk of ‘Mending the Line’ was taped on location in Park County, including the city of Livingston. Meanwhile, Angler’s West Fly Fishing Outfitters at 206 Railroad Lane in the unincorporated community of Emigrant doubled as the fly shop for the drama film. In a November 2022 interview with Flylords, the director Joshua was asked to elaborate on the fly shop scenes. He explained, “Finding the fly shop was one of the more challenging locations because you’re basically asking a business to close down for a couple of days right in the middle of fishing season in Montana.”
Joshua expanded further, “Through our partnership with Sage, we were connected to Matson Rogers at Angler’s West Fly Shop in Paradise Valley, who very kindly allowed us to impact his business for a couple of days while we shot the film. That said, we ended up running out of time at the fly shop location before we could finish filming all of the stock room scenes. As a result, our Production Designer Freddy Waff built the stock room in space at our hospital location and did a wonderful job creating a seamless match.”
Other Locations in Montana
For shooting purposes, the production team of ‘Mending the Line’ also traveled to other locations across Montana. Several locales of Gallatin County, mainly Bozeman, are featured in key portions of the movie. In addition, the cast and crew members were also spotted taping numerous sequences in and around Yellowstone National Park.
Oceanside, California
To record the Afghanistan war scenes where John gets wounded physically and traumatized mentally, the filming unit utilized the premises of the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton at 20250 Vandegrift Boulevard in the city of Oceanside. Established in 1942, the base camp was used to train U.S. Marines for service in World War II. Nowadays, it is home to numerous Operating Force units, such as the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Read More: Is Mending the Line Based on a True Story?
