Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road

This brilliantly original film somehow bypassed theatres due to the usual studio stupidity. An intelligent, offbeat road movie with fantasy elements is a hard thing to sell, so they don't bother and the film eventually limps its way onto DVD.

With a bit more money this could have been one of the best films ever. As it is, director Bob Gale makes the best of things and it's a reflection on how strong the story is that he can get away with it on a measly budget. There are great cameos from Michael J.Fox and Kurt Russell amongst others.

Like Donnie Darko, this is a weird little indie film you may never have heard of but buying the DVD will be one of the best choices you'll make.

"Interstate 60:Episodes from the Road" involves a confused college man, Neal Oliver (James Marsden), who wants to be an artist while his father pressures him to go to law school. He desperately wants answers and O.W. Grant (Gary Oldman) magically grants him his wish. Neal ends up on the non-existent I-60 traveling to the non-existent city of Danver where he hopes to meet his dream girl (Amy Smart). Along the way he meets many interesting people and learns several valuable lessons. Christopher Lloyd is also on hand along with glorified cameos by various notable actors (e.g. Michael J. Fox, Kurt Russell and Ann-Margret).

The plot starts out a little tortuous, but it morphs into a road movie before too long, broken up into several quirky segments, which is why the flick is subtitled "Episodes from the Road." Critics deride the picture on the grounds that the messages are clunky, moralistically naive, and preachy. But it's unique and intelligent with quality reflections about life, which are made simple so "stupid people" or teens can grasp them. In short, this is a fairly entertaining oddball road fantasy that's distinctive and insightful.

If you like films like "Michael" (1996), "City of Angels" (1998), "Holy Man" (1998), "Bruce Almighty" (2003) and "Evan Almighty" (2007), "Highway 60" (2002) is cut from the same thematic cloth, except that the supernatural being is a magical Irishman.

The movie runs 1 hour, 56 minutes and was shot in Ontario (Sunderland, Cannington and Toronto) and Arizona (Phoenix).

GRADE: B

James Marsden. Gary Oldman, Ann Margret. And the old team of Michael Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Think back to the future. And this film has many references to B. T. T. F. the legendary galaxy of stars. Oldman is O. W. Grant, who grants wishes. Mysterious. And Ray (LLoyd) keeps popping up too. With options. Possibilities. Marsden is Neal, an artist at heart. But his dad wants him to become a lawyer. Ray gives Neal an assignment. On a road that doesn't exist. So off he goes, and meets all kind of strange, wacky magical folks. On strange missions of their own. Kurt Russell is a cop. Lots of talk of choices. What's inevitable. What isn't. Just roll with it. Written and directed by Bob Gale. ... who just happened to write the screenplay for back to the future. Full circle. Good stuff. Fun fairy tale.

I really enjoyed this movie, that I have never heard about before, even though I watch a lot of movies. It must have been extremely poorly distributed for me to miss it, especially since it actually has quite good ratings. It has humor, message, talent, attitude and after thought. It might be 16 years old, but it still MUCH better than some of the stuff that is made today. It puzzles me that I have never heard about it, considering the amount of big actors in it. But better late than never. Don't let this slip away, see it you too!

The only way I got to see this film, was to order it online from amazon.com and ship it over from the US. I can't even remember how I came across hearing of the film, I think I was just browsing the net one day and saw the name 'Bob Gale' attached.

I'm a huge fan of the BTTF series, and pretty much appreciate all works done by cast and crew of the series in other titles. Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Christopher Lloyd, and the great MJF to name a few! So how come I'd never heard of this film 'Interstate 60', as it contains 3 of the 4 aforementioned magical ingredients (albeit the 2 actors in secondary roles).

Intrigued, I set about attempting to obtain the movie, which proved more painstaking than trying to remove barbed wire from your rear end.

Nowhere in the UK has it or had even heard of it, there was no cinema release, no straight-to-video, nothing. Not even big Brit name Gary Oldman (who appears for his fair share in the film), or legend Kurt Russell seemed to have secured its distribution.

Anyway, to the film, I think it has to be seen to be appreciated, I rate the plot quite well, with its quirky and surreal sense of humour. The direction and camera work are fantastic (albeit a little rough around the edges) for a low-end budget film, and is something Bob Gale should be proud of for his first outing as a director. The narrative element from BTTF, using the main character as eyes and ears for the audience is again used to good effect, and is once again an engrossing way to tell the story in 'Interstate 60'.

Perhaps big distributors felt that the film was too odd, or strange to merit a push for release, which is a shame, as it's a hidden gem and well worth shipping over international waters anywhere. Strangely enough, it seems as though its one of the only films amazon will ship over to another country (so maybe they know its true value).

If your at all interesting or intrigued as I first was, then you should definitely attempt to get hold of the film while its still about.