Freeway

Rating:
Summary: A must see for thriller/morbid comedy fans.
Review: Reese Witherspoon provides a different and refreshing change to acting, very secure in herself and somewhat comical. A somewhat real life depiction of what really goes on in North America, and where God or carma catches the bad guy.

Rating:
Summary: Reese Witherspoon..
Review: This film is Reese Witherspoon's best effort. it all start when her mom is arrested for prostitution and she avoid going back to foster care by cuffing a children services representative. She decide to go to stay with her grandma in Stockton, while hitchiking she encounters a man named Bob Wolverton (played by Kiefer Sutherland) who turns out to be a serial killer. This fresh and unique film is hilighted by outrageous performences and crisp direction. Also starring: Amanda Plummer, Don Heyada, Michael T. Weiss, Brittany Murphy. Directed by:Matthew Bright. Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone executively produced this film. Originally Rated NC-17, but was cut down to a "R" Rating. Uncensored version not available on videocassette. MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive strong language, some explicit sexual dialogue, drug use, strong sexual content and brief nudity.

Rating:
Summary: A brutal, bloody trip
Review: Where's the kinder and gentler Kiefer Sutherland of Lost Boys and Stand By Me? You're saying, "Say what?" Trust me, Kiefer was far more K&G in those 2 earlier films. This is a semi-twisted affair, with Reese Witherspoon as a SoCal white trash teen whose already lousy life is going to hell. The car she steals breaks down, & she gets a ride with the wrong dude, Sutherland. Brooke Shields is wonderfully shrill as his trophy wife. A great touch is when Witherspoon's character pulls out a photo of her father to show Sutherland, and it's a snap of Richard Speck, '60s Chicago nurse-killer. This is strong stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Life in the trash lane...
Review: Freeway (1996), written and directed by Matthew Bright, takes the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood, infuses it with part Jerry Springer, part America's Most Wanted to create a highly disturbing, yet often times satirical, dark look at our collective fascination with serial killers.

The film stars Reese Witherspoon as Vanessa Lutz, a somewhat illiterate 15-year-old California girl whose life is anything but a bowl of cherries. Her mother (Amanda Plummer) is a drug-addicted prostitute, working just outside the motel where the family lives, while her step-dad Larry, played by Michael Weiss (The Pretender), is a lecherous, alcoholic, drug abusing parolee who has spent more of his life in prisons than out. Trouble develops when Vanessa's mother gets arrested, along with her stepfather, and Vanessa is headed into the foster care system once again. Deciding to forgo the system, Vanessa escapes, trying to make her way to her paternal grandmother, a woman she's never met, but figures it's got to be better than the alternative.

Upon breaking down on the freeway, she meets Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland) who offers assistance in a ride. The man seems a bit too helpful (at least to me), but Vanessa takes Bob up on his offer. We learn Bob is some sort of councilor, and he begins to probe (figuratively speaking) Vanessa about her family problems, getting her to discuss more and more details. She trusts him initially, given that it is usually easier to discuss highly personal matters with a complete stranger than those closest to you, but, when Bob begins to get too explicit, Vanessa tries to walk away, to which Bob's true colors come through. You see, there's a serial killer on the loose, one whose target appear to be young women picked up on the freeway. As Vanessa determines that Bob is in fact the killer, she manages to escape, but not before shooting Bob a number of times, leaving him for dead. But Bob doesn't die...he's severely messed up, but doesn't die.

Soon Vanessa is picked up by the police, as Bob, now a victim, and his wife (played by Brook Shields) aggressively press for the prosecution of Vanessa as an adult. It's no surprise to Vanessa that the police are reluctant to by into her version of the events, seeing only a troubled youth who viciously shot and then robbed a man trying to assist her. As the authorities try to determine whether or not they can prosecute Vanessa as an adult, she manages to escape, and makes her way towards her grandmother's house, while the police, finding new evidence to support Vanessa's story, begin investigating Bob, who has since gone missing.

I've given you a fair synopsis so far, but I left out a lot of things, like the dark, comedic elements, the graphic violence, and the incredible amount of profanity. Reese Witherspoon does a wonderful job, presenting an interminably cute, yet violent and brutal when she needs to be, product of her environment. Her character seemed very similar to the one she played in a later film, Election (1999), except a lot trashier, but less devious. Kiefer Sutherland seemed to enjoy his role, presenting an initially suave exterior hiding a fairly hideous and disgusting individual, full of contempt and thoughts of uber-violence. His visage after suffering the attack from his would be victim nicely matched what I felt the character to be like on the inside, disturbing, disgusting, and intensely grotesque. The supporting cast including Dan Heyda, Bokeem Woodbine, and Brittany Murphy all add nicely to this intensely out-of-whack modern day version of the little girl in red and the big, bad wolf. One can't help notice influences of Oliver Stone's 1994 surrealistic nightmare Natural Born Killers within this film, and I wasn't surprised to learn Mr. Stone was actually an executive producer for Freeway. While lacking the intense, skewed, and sometimes confusing visual imagery of Natural Born Killers, Freeway does share it's darkly comedic elements, holding little back from its audience. As I said, the violence is more of the visceral sort, but I did notice in many instances the aftermath of the violence was shown, rather than the actual act as it happened. The amount of profanity seemed a bit extreme at times, but it was there for a reason (what that reason is, I am unsure). With elements in film like this, I am usually of the opinion that less is more, in that a subjective placement of such language in certain areas of the movie can create the shocking elements desired rather than large quantities spread throughout.

The quality of the print here looks very good in wide screen format, and the audio is excellent. Not much in the way of special features other than a commentary track by the writer/director and a theatrical trailer. The price for this DVD is certainly attractive, but know that it earns its' 'R' rating, and certainly isn't for everyone.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: "'Cause I'm p*ssed off, and the whole world owes me"
Review: There is nothing sacred in FREEWAY. Movies like this get your friendly neighborhood "family values" handwringers drooling in righteousness. Oliver Stone was executive producer, which may be one reason why it feels just like and Oliver Stone movie. Yet I think its far better than the self-indulgent NATURAL BORN KILLERS (definitely superior to U-TURN). Its pretenses are much lower, and then there's Reese Witherspoon.

This is possibly her best performance; she definitely doesn't play it safe here. An endearing, sociopathic and illiterate 15-year old who "had an anger problem, but not any more." It's fun to think of the LEGALLY BLONDE fanatics renting this and being horrified at their princess turning tricks and having a black boyfriend. At the same time, she really does do interesting movies. ELECTION is way different, yet I think is a great companion to this movie with its dark, subversive humor. AMERICAN PSYCHO and CRUEL INTENTIONS are by no means good movies, but we're not talking Sandra Bullock's stuff here.

Anyway, FREEWAY is in its own class, taking urban white trash clichés in absurd and droll directions. Vanessa Lutz's prostitute mother, pederast step-father and their crack rocks are taken away by the County cops, and she just wants to get to grandmother's trailer park where everything will be okay. (Her dream sequence, with a trailer park paradise with kitsch giraffe statutes makes for an hysterical ideal) So she sets off, on the I-5 in southern California. She eventually falls into the hands of bourgeois child therapist and ambitious serial killer Bob Wolverton (Keifer), who manipulates her into talking about herself. This is one of the best parts of the movie.

Sutherland is fine as the wolf. The two detectives are hilarious. Dan Hedaya as the slightly bemused older guy, and Wolfgang Bodison as the patronizing young guy who Vanessa beats the crap out of at one point.

Strange moral debates constantly play out in the subtext of the movie, and I think enhance its humor. There are few well-written movies that even approach the black humor and socially sacriligeous quality of this movie. It's up there with REPO MAN and WAY OF THE GUN.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Deceiving Movie
Review: The official Amazon.com review got this movie all wrong. Although it is kind of about post-Springer/Cops world, this is less of a social commentary as it is a dark comedy. There's so many good one liners ("Do you wanna get shot a whole buncha times?!") and just generally funny characters (the mildly-retarded yet aggressive lesbian). If it is a commentary on society, it's not commneting on the media, but on the modern-day family unit. An interesting note is that the picture Vannessa shows Bob of her father is actually a picture of a convicted serial murder Richard Speck.

All in all, a very funny, very odd little movie. I can't recommend it enough, especially for the great acting of Witherspoon and the typically bad acting of Brooke Shields.

Rating:
Summary: not for the mild mannered!
Review: I love this film, but there are probably many who will hate it. It is a black comedy/satire. Reese Witherspoon has never been better in a role that could have been easily botched. If you have seen her later pictures, this one will shock you! Kiefer Sutherland is suitably ghoulish and sick.

As I said, this film is certainly not for everyone. It is a little crass, but it is excellently made and is entertaining from beginning to end. Reese is DYNAMITE!!

Rating:
Summary: Yikes!!!
Review: This film is a real train wreck. You can't take your eyes off of it, and you're ashamed that you cant. It reflects and magnifies todays life in America...the tabloid culture. Keifer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon are repugnantly fascinating.If you want to see something disturbingy different, I would recommend it, but don't expect to get anything ot of it, but maybe a few bad dreams.

Rating:
Summary: Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood...
Review: This is the best modern interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood to date. What if Red Riding Hood were trailer trash taking the family jalopy to Grandma's house in order to avoid getting put in foster care? What if the wolf were a serial killer that picked up girls along the particular freeway which lead to Grandma's house?

Reese Witherspoon is Red Riding Hood, or Vanessa Lutz, as she is named in this incarnation of the Grimm girl. Her momma (Amanda Plummer) turns tricks for drug money, while her stepdaddy (Michael T. Weiss) is a child molesting addict sitting around the motel in which they live, watching TV and getting trashed. When both of her parents are arrested, quick thinking Vanessa informs the police that she has a grandmother in Stockton that will take her in so that she can avoid getting shuffled into the system. Mind you, she isn't lying, but she has no idea how grandma will feel about her arrival. So, she basically escapes the P.O. and leaves it all behind, including her boyfriend, a hood rat that happens to be black. This fine point becomes important later on, so pay attention.

Unfortunately, the road to grandma's is fraught with danger due to the "I-5 Killer", and our Red Riding outta da 'hood breaks down on the way there. She accepts the ride from the cleverly named Mr. Wolverton (Keifer Sutherland), and all hell breaks loose.

Witherspoon is convincing, hilarious, tough, and intelligent despite gross ignorance of a lot of things, including the concept of literacy. Sutherland is a very scary man, and I could never have imagined anyone else in this role. Brooke Shields plays Mrs. Wolverton, a wife in denial of her serial killer husband's double life, and she is perfectly (and surprisingly) neurotic, and memorable in her relatively small role. Look for Brittany Murphy in the girls' facility as a lesbian nympho who's done way too many drugs. There's a classic fight scene in the prison there too that left me slackjawed the first time I saw it. Heh. It was great.

A darkly hysterical take on the old fairy tale, this is not for the feint of heart or easily offended. For those who can hack it, this is probably one of the most underrated comedy-thrillers of all time. And keep in mind, that it is a /fairy tale/ should be enough to forgive a few of the plot flaws, which are not distracting enough to even get into in this review.

You will enjoy every twisted moment of this interpretation of Grimm.





Rating:
Summary: "Look Who Got Beat With The UGLY STICK"
Review: This movie is one of the funniest films ever made. True its a dark comedy and sometimes your unsure of whether to laugh or cringe but the movie is without a doubt unforgettable. Trust me, even the prudest of you out there will have to at least crack a smile at the outrageous lines this movie delivers!