Rating: 
Summary: A Rorschach test
Review: Given the reviews here, 'Wellville' may be one of the most effective psychological tests available. In this way only, it's like Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' or Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' ...MY opinion? Within cinema over the past 100 years, this movie rates much higher than the book does among english novels. Boyle isn't terrible, he just isn't memorable. It's much harder to forget this movie. I loved it, perhaps because I'm a vegetarian who tries not to take himself too seriously. This is a refreshingly playful film.
Rating: 
Summary: An Evil Movie
Review: Giving people unnecessary enemas is nothing more than object sodomy. This form of rape is not funny.
Rating: 
Summary: A refreshing look at "Alternative Medicine"
Review: Granted, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE may not be one of my absolute favorites, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Considering some of the quasi-medical gadgets and assorted "cures" that are still being peddled to people today, this movie was quite refreshing. While the scatological references might have been a bit too much, they nonetheless reflected the obsessions and fetishes of many health gurus of the period with surprising accuracy. Although fiction, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE was based a true story, which makes the whole tale a bit more disturbing - but also a bit more humorous. NOTE: For those who saw the movie, the Texas town of Glen Rose might have had its own version of Dr. Spitzvogel in the person of one Dr. Milling, a "magnetic rubbing" practitioner who was gunned down by a female patient's husband - possibly out of jealousy. Something to think about!
Rating:
Summary: Offbeat and very funny!
Review: I had to watch this twice before I really appreciated the fabulous humor lying in wait in this video, it practically jumps out at you but you have to be ready to appreciate it! To see Anthony Hopkins in such an uncharateristic role is also a treat! Just illustrates the great scope of his talents! Amazing! If folks followed some of the health advice in this movie, there would be lots less coronary failure! If you liked The Gods Must Be Crazy and movies like that, you will LOVE this movie. It gets funnier with every viewing!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't read the book first...
Review: I made the unfortunate mistake of reading The Road to Wellville before watching the movie. I think it would be less forgiving if I had watched the movie first, then read the book, but the inconsistencies in the movie vs. the text are so blaring that I just lost all interest in the movie. The screenwriter took many liberties with the text to make this movie a more "adult" film, and I found this really disheartening since this is not what T.C. Boyle intended it to be. I'm not against "adult" movies (i.e. nudity), but there a few things that occur in the movie that do not occur in the book at all. The ending of the movie was to most "let's tie this up real quick-like" ending I've seen in awhile, and in fact, the ending (where all the main characters meet to watch the "san" burn down and then slowly walk away) didn't even happen like that. I know, I know.... it's like comparing apples to bananas to pineapples, but I just want others to know that if you've read the book, don't bother with the movie. If you haven't read the book, then you'll probably get a bit of a kick out of the really quirky movie. Laura Flynn Boyle plays an excellent patient with "green sickness" (this was before she became unusually thin). There is a great cast of actors involved as well. Nice to see them play characters outside of what they normally do.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read the book first...
Review: I made the unfortunate mistake of reading The Road to Wellville before watching the movie. I think it would be less forgiving if I had watched the movie first, then read the book, but the inconsistencies in the movie vs. the text are so blaring that I just lost all interest in the movie. The screenwriter took many liberties with the text to make this movie a more "adult" film, and I found this really disheartening since this is not what T.C. Boyle intended it to be. I'm not against "adult" movies (i.e. nudity), but there a few things that occur in the movie that do not occur in the book at all. The ending of the movie was to most "let's tie this up real quick-like" ending I've seen in awhile, and in fact, the ending (where all the main characters meet to watch the "san" burn down and then slowly walk away) didn't even happen like that. I know, I know.... it's like comparing apples to bananas to pineapples, but I just want others to know that if you've read the book, don't bother with the movie. If you haven't read the book, then you'll probably get a bit of a kick out of the really quirky movie. Laura Flynn Boyle plays an excellent patient with "green sickness" (this was before she became unusually thin). There is a great cast of actors involved as well. Nice to see them play characters outside of what they normally do.
Rating:
Summary: WORTH SEEING ONCE, THAT'S ABOUT IT!!!
Review: I saw THE ROAD TO WELLLVILLE although I thought ANTHONY HOPKINS was great as DR KELLOGG I just found the the rest of the cast like MATTHEW BRODERICK and BRIDGET FONDA to be uninteresting and dull although I do admit DANA CARVEY has his moments that make you laugh. It's not enough to compensate for the above. Also the story is a little weak too and sometimes confusing in what way it is I won't say just watch and find out. I'd like to recommmend THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE but I find I can not.
Rating:
Summary: Awful~ I'd Give it less if I could
Review: I saw this at a video rental store and said, "Wow, look at all these great people in it this must be good." I was wrong. The people in this movie are amazing, and the story isn't bad, but its not a comedy. It's not a drama either. It really is just nothing. The cast strives to do as much with the film as possible, but its not worth it. And how can you put Dana Carvey in a role that isn't even funny?
Rating:
Summary: Uh-yeah........
Review: I watched this movie hoping that the bad reviews attributed to it were the result of people who did not know what they were talking about, but even I became nauseated watching the film. Sure, we can applaud Kellog for daring to suggest sexual happiness was essential to mental health at a time when societal norms still was extremely uptight about such matters, but does anybody believe it was taken to this level. Honestly, I may never look at breakfast cereals the sameway again. I want to stress that it is not the company's fault, but hollywood's overindulgence and bad script writing. Throughout the movie, it seems there are moments where naked people are thrown in for the sake of having them naked instead of contributing to something actually worthwhile. What could have been a tounge-in-cheek comedy turned into a horrible waste of time and money. That it did not ruin the careers of any of the actors involved with it says much more about their pre-Wellvile aclaim rather than the movie itself.
Rating: 
Summary: An Overacted Mess of a Movie That Could've Been So Good
Review: I'd love to give this movie a great review, I really would. I read Boyle's book and looked forward to comparing it to the movie. The differences couldn't have been more striking. So many of the subplots were mishandled and sparsely explained in the movie, I was glad to have read the book beforehand just so I knew what they were talking about! With the exception of Anthony Hopkins and Bridget Fonda, the acting was abyssmal. Everytime John Cusack went bouncing across the screen, shrieking over-animatedly about this and that, the impact of his words was throughly lost on me. I didn't feel the essence of any of the characters. I do realize that the movie is not supposed to be a deep exploration of the inner psyche, but it would have been nice to actually be able to believe anything these characters were saying or feeling. All in all, great story, great concept, great effort, I'm sure, but "road to Wellville" hits so far off the mark, it's a wonder Cusack or Broderick ever worked again. Read the book instead.
| 
