Roadside Prophets (1992)

Just perfect...

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Excellent but underrated film

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 movie definitely falls in between of what people like to see and what they like to hope for..While most of the blockbusters, that come out nearly every week, filled up with the special effects, but the "Prophets" show the simplicity of the idea, and the execution is on the top level! Two guys, bikers, hook up out of the blue, and end up becoming more than just simple pals, because, Joe takes on a challenge to see to his new passed friend last will...i would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see beyond the shine of Hollywood and glamour of most of the sunset strip.View it, you may like it!! Cheers.

This is one of those films which you can watch a dozen times and get something different out of it each time. Lots of guest appearances in this movie. I remember the first time I watched it and thought he looks familiar then realized it was Timothy Leary (Tune In, Turn On, and Drop Out Dude from the 60's) not long before he died. I had seen him on a lecture tour around the same time as the movie came out. Also people like Arlo Guthrie, David Carradine, Don Cheadle, John Cusack, etc. My favorite part is the entire section with David Carradine.This is a road trip movie and if I didn't already know who had directed it, I would have thought it was a Robert Altman film. Lots of good weirdness and things for you wrap your head around. Quite a few "in" jokes that you might not catch the first time you see it. If you watched one time and thought it was okay, then watch it again.

Road movies aren't easy to pull off. 'Roadside Prophets' tries and isn't entirely successful, but still has enough cool scenes and good intentions to make it worth watching. Musicians turned actors, Doe (X) and Horovitz (Beastie Boys) play bikers who form an uneasy partnership. One of the problems with the movie is right there - Doe is a natural actor, Horovitz isn't, and doesn't convince. Anyway, the two set out travelling across America, in a deliberate homage to 'Easy Rider', and the movie in a subtle way is a eulogy for the 60s and a comment on the changes America has seen since then. Many interesting faces pop up in cameos - John Cusack, Timothy Leary, David Carradine, Don Cheadle and Alex Cox regular Biff Yeager to name several - which is half the fun. Especially Cusack's character. It was a pity there wasn't more of him here. 'Roadside Prophets' is uneven, but still enjoyable. If you like this I suggest you have a look at the road movies of Canadian director Bruce McDonald, especially his superb 'Highway 61', a more original and successful movie than this.

This laid back, low key and off-beat homage to Easy Rider set against the scorched Nevada desert was a treat to watch. John Doe plays Joe, a Harley-loving loner who leaves his factory job and sets out to find "Eldorado", Nevada where he plans to spread the ashes of Dave, an amiable biker he met in a bar and who had the misfortune to be electrocuted while playing a video game.There's a lovely sense of the absurd to the proceedings as Joe pours Dave's ashes into a sky-blue motorcylce gas tank which he straps to the back of his 50's vintage hog and heads out down the highway. He's pursued by a Sam, a kid with an obsession with Motel 9's and a puppy dog determination to ride with Joe and become his friend. If there's a weak link it's Adam Horovitz as Sam. The character is underwritten and Horovitz just doesn't make it work.But what's really nice about the film is the whimsical, darkly comic look back in fondness to the spirit of the sixties as embodied in guest appearances by Arlo Guthrie and Timothy Leary. Arlo runs a restaurant (not Alices'!) and Tim drives a tow truck. Great turns by both as they wax philosophical on the mysteries and meaning of life. David Carradine does a cool and hilarious cameo as Othello, a hooka smoking desert guru.The tone of the film is playful with a nice tongue in cheek sense of humor that is very hip. While the main storyline falters occasionally there's a nicely crafted and very funny subplot carried on by telephone between Joe and a woman who works in personnel at Joe's plant.The star turn of this flawed gem goes to John Cusack who does an astounding and hilarious performance and a poverty activist whose does his bit for the movement by ordering massive amounts of food at restaurants, stuffing his face then doing a classic "dine and dash" routine. He shows up twice and is a treat to watch.The ending falls a little flat but the climax of the film works just fine as Joe finally finds "Eldorado", a tiny Nevada oasis of neon and casinos where they bet everything on Dave's dream. An easy film to watch and enjoy for those who were there.