Interstate 60 (2002)

The Worst Film Ever

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A lot of fun.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Interstate 60 is the best quirky, philosophical road movie you've never heard of. It beats me how a script this tantalizingly good, with a cast so prolific, went so far under everyone's radar. It's made with a karmic, phantom tollbooth-esque sensibility, like if Alice In Wonderland and The Big Empty had a baby, and it was made by the same guys who did Back To The Future. The script is simply a wonder to behold, and I was amazed to find it wasn't based on some best selling book by Richard Linklater or someone. James Marsden plays a guy on the seemingly perfect track. With career lined, a nice girl and everything. Until fate deals him a mysterious hand, and he's prompted to take a trip down 'Interstate 60', a road which doesn't appear on any maps, and seems to not exist at all. He's puzzled to find himself on it anyway though, in a trippy dream of a voyage which puts him face to face with all sorts of outlandish characters, including genie like gentleman O.W. Grant (Gary Oldman having oodles of fun), a serial killer, a police captain of a town addicted to a really strange drug (Kurt Russell), a clairvoyant doctor (Christopher Lloyd), and eventually the elusive girl of his dreams (Amy Smart, unbelievably cute). The trip is meant to teach him something about himself, and through journeying a road that isn't really there, find one that right for him, and will give him the benefits of life in their fullest. For all the colourful, kooky trappings the film is dressed in, and even though the intelligent banter is delivered light heartedly, its actually serious minded stuff that begs attentiveness and contemplation from its audience. There's a surreality to it of course, a certain detachment, but the exchanges of characters couldn't be more grounded in our reality, and more human. There's a cameo from Michael J. Fox, and career best from Chris Cooper as well in a one of the many spot on sequences that show off the film's writing. This ones the definition of a hidden gem, just this side of normal, with a delicious cast that delves into the various concepts they chat about with willing interest, comic deft and an infectiously fun sense of the absurd.

Is this a joke ? Or are people becoming more and more easy to please ? How could this straight to DVD (and RIGHTFULLY SO) piece of crap can get a 7,6 out of 10 average rating here ? That's beyond me and tends to prove that our current "human" society is getting worse and worse... I'm a massive fan of parallel-alternate universe movies (time travel ones too) and I was ready for a treat here and I'm also a super massive fan of BTTF , Michael J.Fox and Mr Lloyd but wow what a joke of a flick we got here... What's so funny and entertaining about Gary Oldman showing his sex to the horror of Mardsen exactly ? What's the point of our lead character to fall in love with an absolute unknown from pictures that come out of his mind WHILE having already a lovely girl friend he is supposed to care about ? This movie is so gross, vulgar and appalling that I could not believe it was the same person who worked on the masterpiece called BTTF...Let's not talk about James Mardsen being a joke of an actor (as charismatic as a tooth pick), he ruined the movie from start to finish with his dumb smile and empty eyes (zero emotion).To cut it short, if you want just entertaining movies about the same matter go for something like Lost Highway or the old series Sliders.Avoid this crap at all costs, Michael J Fox is not even inside the movie and has the worst lines he has ever said in his whole career.

Upon watching this movie I had to set up a account and write this review just in the hopes that nobody would actually waste their time watching this. I saw that it was directed by Bob Gale and had some A-list actors like Christopher Lloyd, Kurt Russell, Gary Oldman and Michael J Fox and saw that it had a HIGH review. But in all honesty whoever thought this was a clever movie had to have been really high. The whole movie is very predictable and you will find yourself coming to conclusions a half hour before the movie gets you there. No spoiler alerts here because none are needed, anyone with half a brain can see what is coming next. Unfortunately I sat through the whole movie in hopes that it would get better but no chance of that so don't waste your time. Very disappointed these actors would agree to such a crappy film!

I watched this the other night on my Roku box and found myself thoroughly entertained. Sure, it's not perfect. James Marsden, playing the main character, seems to be channeling a young Tom Cruise a lot of the time. And some of the situations or adventures he finds himself in come across as a little forced, as if there's a point to be made and damned if the writer/director, Bob Gale, is going to let anyone stop him from making it. But don't let these things interfere with your viewing enjoyment. The story, the cameos, the subtext and the movie's rhythm work like a charm. Oh, yeah, by the way, charm is the operative word.This movie comes to you with some serious pedigree. Bob Gale, the writer/director, wrote Back to the Future, one of the cleanest, sharpest movies ever made. Whether you like this type of film (mystical, fantasy) or not, you have to agree Back to the Future is flawless from a purely technical, three-act point of view. Interstate 60 has this same kind of flawless energy. So often today movies get re-written and massaged to the point where structure falls by the wayside to make room for more effects and whammies. Other movies seem so formulaic it's as if they were written by a computer.Basically, Interstate 60 is a fantasy road movie. It's Homer on acid. Or Ken Keasey on a magical mystery tour. Actually, it's more like Gulliver's Travels. If you like Gulliver's Travels, you'll like this.