Movie reviews

This is a very enjoyable road trip movie starring the superb Jeff Bridges (Starman) as Kyle Garrett, a baseball legend, who has chosen to live his life away from his wife Katherine played by the lovely Mary Steenburgen (Back to the future part 3) and son Carlton played by Justin Timberlake (Black snake moan).

Matters come to a head, when Katherine is diagnosed with a heart condition that needs surgery, but she will not have the surgery unless her husband comes to pay her a visit. It falls to Carlton to find his father and somehow convince him to turn up so his mother can have the surgery.

He takes along his friend Lucy, played by the lovely Kate Mara (Transsiberian), and together they find Kyle signing autographs, and being charming to all who recognise him as the legendary baseball player he was.

It turns out Carlton has been trying to follow in his father's footsteps, but things are not going so well with him at his team, his coach played by Ted Danson (Friends) does a short cameo, and tells him if he doesn't sort his mind out, someone else will take his place.

Along with trying to convince his absent father, to come along with him; so his wife, and his mother can have the live saving surgery she needs, he also has regrets over breaking off with Lucy, and inevitably Kyle notices the friction between the two of them.

On meeting Kyle again after an approximate four year span, we get a little insight into the relationship between father and son. Kyle is signing autographs and introduces Carlton to a colleague as a fan, but the colleague does a confused look when Carlton purposefully introduces himself as "Carlton... Garrett".

On explaining to Kyle that his wife is sick, and has requested him at her bedside, surprisingly for Carlton his father agrees, and he phones his mother at the airport, telling her he is looking right at him, and that they are coming to see her, much to her joy.

However it turns out things are not so straightforward as Kyle has apparently lost his wallet, and he will not be allowed to board the flight without suitable identification. Lucy suggests they drive instead, and hence the title.

It tells of the broken relationship between a father and a son, and their journey together to fix this in more ways than one, during this road trip.

Labels: drama, father and son, film review, film reviews, films, Jeff Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Kate Mara, Mary Steenburgen, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, relationship, romance, romantic, The Open Road

I must say despite the bad reviews I have heard, I loved this movie, there were so many things to like, the idyllic country side, the superb performances of Samuel L Jackson and Christina Ricci (what a performance by her, there I was seeing the larged eyed cutie on Casper and the Addam's family giving a performance like that)

The ensemble cast were all good, especially John Coltrane jnr as the warm hearted preacher friend to Samuel L Jackson, and regardless of what some of the reviews I have heard say, Justin Timberlake gave a noteworthy performance as the angst ridden boyfriend of the local flossie(Ricci).

And ofcourse there is the music, apparently Samuel L Jackson played all the songs himself, and some have said he could retire from the movie biz and take up an alternative career as a bluesman.

The movie was one of redemption, I heard some people got up and left the theatre because a petite white female is chained up by a black old man, I have to wonder if there were watching the same movie, race was never the issue, only time I can say racial stereotypes were touched on, was when Samuel L Jackson askes in unbelief if Rae(Ricci) can't cook.

Samuel L Jackson plays Lazarus (called Laz) a bible believing retired bluesman, who gave up his music for marital happiness and children with his wife as a farmer in Tennessee, but whose wife has just left him for a younger model, who happens to be his brother, so Laz is now living the blues, ashamed by how the local community sees him, he hides out in his farm, drinking moonshine, while drinking his problems away, Rae unceremoniously gets dumped in his farm after a house party of booze, sex and drugs. He takes her into to his come to tend her wounds, while on his way to town to get her some medicine he finds out she is the local tramp who will sleep with anybody, apparently she has a sickness that is only satiated with sex, on returning he finds her sprawling all over the place still recoving from her booze and pill ridden escapade, seeing that she needs help, he does it in the most unconventional of ways by chaining her to his radiator, with the help of a 40 ft chain.

Despite what the posters and trailers may indicate this is not a BDSM or sexually exploitative movie, you realise after a while that Rae is looking for a father figure, and Laz is looking for a daughter he never had, it is a beautiful tale of redemption found in each other from two opposites. I have never seen anything like this before, no doubt the director Criag Brewer aimed to turn a few heads with some of the storyline, but the overall effect is a brilliant piece of cinema, and the score by Samuel L Jackson just about completes this lovely movie.

Labels: abuse, Black Snake Moan, blues, Christina Ricci, Craig Brewer, Deep south, drama, film reviews, John Coltrane Jnr, Justin Timberlake, Laz, Movie Reviews, promiscuity, Rae, Samuel L Jackson, sex