I've seen the DVD box for Highway sitting on the shelf at my local video store for ages and I've always passed, opting for something else. One day my best friend suggested hiring it, and I thought why not, I wasn't going to hire it any other time. At first glance it looks like your typical teen-targeted product-placement-riddled road movie. Upon watching it, there is much more to this film than its average cover art lets on.
Jared Leto is perfect as the hapless pill-popping "God Of F***" Jack Hayes, and Jake Gyllenhaal is equally suited to the role of Pilot, his stoner child-hood pal. Their performances are commendable, as they generate a feeling of genuine camaraderie between each other. John C. McGinley and Jeremy Piven both come out of nowhere with excellent performances as over-the-top drug dealers. And Selma Blair almost fades into the background; she's not a bad actress but doesn't really do anything to make her performances stand out. The story isn't five star material, but it doesn't have to be, and that's where the movie succeeds, it doesn't try to take itself too seriously.
Some of the previous reviews for Highway on this site have been particularly scathing, which is fair enough seeing as each person is entitled to their own opinion, but for people who have yet to see it I suggest giving it a chance before pre-forming an opinion. I personally thought it was a fun, fast paced and unpredictable road movie, much better than some other trash released in '02 (e.g. the laughably lame "The Tuxedo", the feeble Mummy series spin-off sword-in-sandal outing "The Scorpion King", and the pretentiously boring "The Hours" to name a few).
After reading the previous reviews, one thing is obvious, the reviewers couldn't connect with the film, and just didn't appreciate it for what it was...fun and entertaining, which is what a good film is supposed to be.
