Roadhouse 66

I'll be fair here, this is just a time passer. I enjoyed it more, when I first saw it back in 85. It's when I first watched Willem Dafoe who's become my favorite actor, but later I realized he was in Streets Of Fire as the lead thug. Now I remember. His performance was done with a intensity of evil when looking back on "Street's" that I really haven't watched since I first saw it in 84. With this one, that wouldn't have a chance at the cinema, he plays a retired rockin' roll singer Johnny Hart who has his reasons, for getting out. Standing in the middle of the road, just like John "Hitcher" Ryder, he's nearly run down by college guy, Reinhold, who's trying to outrun these local thugs, lead by a bad boy Hoot, (Alan Autry) who shoots out his radiator. He's met by drifter Dafoe, who when asked his reasons for standing in the middle of the road, he just answers with a brief smile. For Reinhold this is only the start of conflict, between him and the thugs, who reappear at this Roadhouse that functions at a bar, diner etc. Things escalate into more serious problems for them, when the local car wrecker, who caught Reinhold and Dafoe using one of their cars as a place of sleep, is burnt to death in his shed. All fingers point guiltily to Reinhold, as if he's responsible for the whole catastrophe, where Dafoe and him, plus their girlfriends (who are sisters), were using the shed to rebuild one of the cars for the big town race. Granted, this is the most exciting part of the movie, Hoot resorting to dirty play, before and during the race. Alan Autry gives probably the best performance of the film, and sexy Kate Vernon is good as Reinhold's girl. Dafoe sings a rock song in this too, where he met upon by an old buddy, though I doubt it's really him. In between these two things we have a stick fight between Dafoe and Autry which was pretty cool, where the old lady running the place intervenes with her gun, before they tear up the establishment. So Dafoe redeems himself with this song, that I wish I could get a hold on, plus the one at the start. Roadhouse 66 has a nice ending too, where we don't really know if hoot dies. The movie's no real feat, with no real potency, but still it's a good yarn, but movie wise, fair.

When "Roadhouse 66" first appeared on cable in Canada almost twenty-five years ago, I sat down to watch it, though about halfway through I quit watching it. I didn't remember why, however, so with it now available on DVD I decided to rent it and give it another try.

I did make it all the way through this time... but barely. It didn't take me long to figure out why I stopped watching it the first time. This is one BORING movie. Although it runs about an hour and a half, there is only about thirty minutes or so of plot. The rest of the time, nothing of consequence happens.

To make matters worse were the characters. Reinhold's character is the worst. His character is incredibly stupid, and you'll eventually relish the scenes where he gets over his head and into serious trouble. The bad guys are really mean-spirited for a movie that tries to be somewhat light-hearted the rest of the time.

Oh, and the climatic race sequence? It was one of the most boring car races I have ever seen. For one thing, the cars for the most part seem to be going half speed instead of full-out.

Maybe I'll give the movie another chance twenty-five years from now...

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.

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.

One can easily see why Judge Reinhold was cast in the role of Det. William 'Billy' Rosewood in Beverly Hills Cop. This movie, which came out the same year, but was probably made earlier has the same character exactly. It is a real treat seeing him in the role of clueless rich kid. Maybe he gave up on the idea of running Pork Boy franchises and went straight to Beverly Hills for a job.

I always enjoy Willem Dafoe, and I really like his character here. You even get to hear him sing. He does his best work with Kaaren Lee, while Judge is taking care of Kate Vernon.

Great soundtrack and a predictable ending. It even has Stomper (Kevyn Major Howard) from Death Wish II, and 'Bubba' Skinner (Alan Autry) from "In the Heat of the Night".

The 66 Classic was not the most exciting race I have ever seen, but certainly the most scenic. Makes me want to head to Oatman, AZ right now.