Roadhouse 66

This movie has a lot to say in it. The open road, the classic cars, the good times, that sort of good things. Well, until a group of hoods run by Hoot (Alan Autry, Bubba on "In The Heat of The Night") shoot a hole in a 1955 Ford Thunderbird driven by a New York college graduate(Judge Reinhold). Judge Reinhold plays Beckman Hallsgood, Jr., the son of a fast food restaurant magnate traveling on Route 66 going from New York to California to attend a meeting. Along the way, he comes across some hoods in a Chevy Bel Aire accosted him, then they shoot a hole in the radiator of his beloved '55 T-Bird. Along the way, Beckham meet a drifter named Johnny Harte (Willem Dafoe), a musician living in obscurity. He knows cars, and he's good with a guitar. Both men head to Kingman, Arizona where Hoot and his crew hang out. There in Kingman, they meet a local mechanic name Jesse (Kaaren Lee) who is a beautiful blonde who is good with a wrench. After finding a radiator, they would be able to move forward. However, with Hoot and his crew around, Beckman decided to enter the car race. After a night of passion for both parties, tragedy strikes. Sam(Stephen Elliott), the junkyard owner who helped Johnny and Beckman dies in a fire that also claims the repaired T-Bird. So Beckman entered the race, driving the Mustang. The race is on, and Johnny enters as well. One member of Hoot's crew turned on him. Just say that it's all good. The most important things I liked about the movie were the cars, and the trains that rolled on by. And the roadhouse they went to: PRICELESS. Get your kicks on Route 66! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I think this movie would be considered underrated for everyone who was in college or university by the '80s.

I'm from 76 so was very happy while watching this movie. Despite the simple and predictable history, the movie goes very well without became boring one single moment.

Willen Dafoe, Judge Reinhold and all others in first line are perfect for their roles.

It is very nice the '80s atmosphere of the movie about everyday life issues of people growing ages of that time, in a film almost entirely shoot at outside locations.

If you know what to expect from a '84 road movie about rivals driving supercars around the city and racing on route 66, you must watch this one.

And if you really enjoyed this movie, I strongly suggest you must watch another one very alike: "Roadie" (1980), with Meat Loaf in main role (IMDB tt0081433).

Lemme see if I done got this right:

Hayseed peoples they be peoples too and most of your cinema pickings they's for city folks with pretensions and academic duh-grees and walking around using fancy French words and stuff like that.

But a good old boy likes a good barroom brawl now and then and some cute dixie chicks - and you should have more skin than Daisy used to show on prime time - and oh but we gotta have a great big old car race with clumsy looking backwoods Chevy 56s and 57s and they gotta rev their engines like they got no mufflers no more.

And we gotta have some good old country picking through this here race and - intermittently as they say - throughout the movie.

But here's the trick: you don't almost have to pay nobody any good money to do no good cos them hayseeds what like movies like this they don't know much about no film making anyways, and as long as ya got the obligatory nudie bonk with female nipple and round female breast in subdued light and stuff and someone playing who's ostensibly studying James Burton on guitar, then that's real fine Slim - they'll never notice the difference! No way!

And the money keeps on coming in... And who said money doesn't make the world go 'round?

PS. For the best laugh of all, waiting until the closing titles - listen to the music! The people who made this movie - who are these people? Oh goodness.

The box copy hints that this is an action-comedy adventure, but don't be fooled. There really isn't much comedy and the action is pretty intermittent for an adventure movie, but the two lead performances make the exercise watchable. Spoiled preppie Judge Reinhold and cool drifter Willem Dafoe make a likable mismatched pair of traveling buddies, and once you get past the odd logic that Dafoe as Johnny would bother taking his social opposite under his wing to show him the rules of survival on the road, the movie passes pleasantly. The wide open, largely empty desert makes a nice setting and is well used as a place of isolation, where a philosophical loner like Johnny can find solitude to think. The viewer gets slowly sucked into Johnny's view of the world and begins to cheer Reinhold in his philosophical make-over, and leaves with a positive glow. The movie is neither particularly striking or memorable visually, but the chemistry between the two actors makes the time pass amiably and it can be revisited to get back the same good feeling. This is one of those movies that is more a mood altering substance than entertainment, but as such it's nice.

Willem Dafoe plays a drifter who quit the music business after his band partner was killed in a car accident. Judge Reinhold is the stereotypical rich kid from back east, driving his 55 T.Bird. These two meet up in the Arizona desert and spend some time in a small town because of car trouble. There they are harassed by a trio of local goons, and are attracted to a couple of cute blonde sisters. The acting is good, the location photography is stunning, the 57 Chevy, 55 Thunderbird, 55 Chevy, 59 Caddy and 66 Mustang are great, there is even a touch of nudity, along with some terrific rockabilly tunes. "Roadhouse 66" is definitely above average entertainment. If you can sit back and just enjoy the ride, this movie will not disappoint. - MERK