Freeway (1996)

Wonderful Movie

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Imagine Little Red Riding Hood, except the story is set in the ghettos of 1996, Little Red Riding Hood is a dirty blonde teenage punk with anger issues, the mother is a crack-headed prostitute, the grandma is a trailer park low-life, and, oh yeah, the Big Bad Wolf isn't a wolf at all: he's a serial murderer, or, as the news so fondly labels him, the I-5 killer. If you live in 1996, are a prostitute, and are hitchhiking, scurry away, because your life may be in danger. But if none of these characteristics fit your billing, then there is nothing that should be stopping you from watching Freeway, unless you are a prude to the tenth power.When it comes to movies as unhinged as Freeway, my love for all things absurd and trashy rises to unseemly biased levels. There is something about low-budgets and Tarantino-esque exchanges that touch me in the way that most films can hardly muster. Few can brag about having an ever- present crisis of tawdry characters getting into some seriously bad situations, and even fewer can say that they've devised a film so dauntless in its over-the-top personality that it nearly laughs itself to death.Witherspoon, who is best when playing against type, portrays Vanessa, a 16-year old delinquent who is anchored to the ground by her prostitute mother (Amanda Plummer) and drugged-out stepfather. In school, reading a sentence like "The cat drinks milk" is a feat of Shakespearian hardship, as Vanessa, more enticed to be called a badass in the slums of Los Angeles, is devastatingly illiterate. But anyone who lacks school smarts and lives on the bad streets of town is bound to be a little more unhinged in their fight in the rat race, after all.After her parents are arrested, Vanessa decides that she's done with the government, skips foster care, and heads towards the home of her grandmother, who she never has actually met. Only a few miles into the journey does her car breakdown — lucky for her, a clean-cut stranger (Kiefer Sutherland) comes to the rescue, introducing himself as Bob Wolverton, a high school counselor. Vanessa immediately confides in her makeshift chauffeur about all her weighty problems; but after traveling for a few hours, Wolverton's true nature is bitterly revealed. He turns out to be one of those sadistic creeps you read about in the paper — some may know him as the I-5 Killer. Vanessa isn't about to become some helpless next victim, however: she is, fortunately, packing a pistol. She shoots her would-be murderer several times, takes all his money, and leaves him for dead. But chances are, when you leave someone for dead, they tend to not actually die, and, as the film would like to remind us over and over, Vanessa should have shot Wolverton just one more time.The saga of Freeway is as combative and unpredictable as the tabloid coverage of a true-crime cat-and-mouse game, its participants so grandiosely sinful in their shabby hysteria that, by the end, when Vanessa is completely exhausted, mascara streaming down her face like a jilted prom queen, her asking for a cigarette is as riotous as Lucy and Ethel trying as hard as they can to get the chocolates from overloading on the conveyor belt.Freeway is a comedy, but it's not a comedy for the Anchorman generation and maybe not even for the ones who thought The Carol Burnett Show was a shining jewel in television. It's mean-spirited enough to drive Regina George away, but even the meanest of people can be hilariously mean. The film is a melodramatically contorted white-trash vision; not laughing would almost be rude. Matthew Bright, as cynical and clever as he is, has accomplished the rare act of making a B-movie thriller brilliant in its tackiness. Witherspoon and Sutherland have never been so enthralling. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

I've yet to see Tiptoes, the film from which director Matthew Bright was fired (and, sadly, his last movie to date), but I've found everything else by the film-maker to be hugely entertaining thanks to a unique off-kilter style that appeals to my sense of the bizarre. Bright's distinctive approach is very much evident in his debut Freeway, an unforgettable spin on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood: the twisted plot is extremely exploitative and suitably lurid, the characters are grossly exaggerated, the direction is lively, and even though the fairytale is known to most, I'll wager you've never seen it told quite like this.Reese Witherspoon plays white trash juvenile delinquent Vanessa Lutz, who, after her streetwalker mother (a hilariously OTT turn by Amanda Plummer) and crack-head stepfather are arrested, escapes from her social worker to go looking for her grandmother up North. En route, Vanessa experiences car trouble, but is aided by good samaritan Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland), who offers her a lift. What Vanessa doesn't realise is that Bob is the serial killer who has been slicing up hookers on the I-5 interstate, and he plans to do very bad things to her (AFTER he's killed her, of course!); unfortunately for Bob, Vanessa is more than capable of protecting herself.What follows is a darkly humorous tale full of surprises, memorable characters, extreme violence and great performances, not just from Witherspoon and Sutherland, but also from an excellent supporting cast that includes Dan Hedaya, Brooke Shields and Brittany Murphy. The film also benefits from a quirky score by Danny Elfman that suits the demented material perfectly. Any film that features the star of 24 with a messed up face and a poop bag, and the star of Legally Blonde hiding a makeshift knife up her holiest of holies is easily worth a 9/10 from me.

So there's me thinking I'm taking a break from my obscure exploitation movies and I find myself sat before this beauty. Made in 1996, which doesn't seem so long ago, but it's before Keiffer Sutherland settled into the 24 TV series and before Reese Witherspoon had even made Election, and while they have both gone on to much bigger if not better things, director Bright has not. Well, I don't know what possessed him to imagine he was going to make too many Hollywood friends with this mighty chunk of wild and anti-establishment, two fingered spout of anger, but it is enormous fun to watch. Also, as with so much exploitative cinema it seems to tell far more truths than your average 'serious' movie. Sutherland is effective but Witherspoon amazing, I had forgotten how tremendous she could be. Varied, violent, funny and furious, this is worth a watch anytime.

Great movie, easily one of Reese Witherspoon's best performances. The main character of this story is sassy without being obnoxious, smart without being overly booked learned, and likable, even though she does bad things. Kiefer Sutherland gives an amazing performance as a serial killer who becomes a victim and is even lauded as a hero. The story has a biting edge to it but without losing its strength as a satire. The main character, Vanessa, is wonderfully portrayed as both a perpetrator and victim. It is the duality of this character that makes this movie especially interesting. She is bad but also nice; she is nasty but also vulnerable. Three cheers for Reese Witherspoon. This movie succeeds as a parity of action movies and a strong dramatization of the degenerate side of modern society.