Freeway

Matthew Bright stuns with his outrageous directorial debut 'Freeway', one of the most original and subversive movies to emerge from Hollywood in years. Bright wrote the utterly bizarre 'Forbidden Zone' over twenty years ago (once seen, never forgotten!), but 'Freeway' shows he is a major talent. His only real competition in the hyper-real pop art black comedy stakes is Gregg Araki, whose 'Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere' display a similar kick ass sensibility.

Reese Witherspoon is dynamite as the white trash lethal Lolita Vanessa Lutz. Along with 'Election' her best role to date. Kiefer Sutherland gets his most interesting part in years as her nemesis, the slimy Bob. And the supporting cast is equally strong, especially dependable character actor Dan Hedaya ('Blood Simple', 'The Usual Suspects'), the cute Brittany Murphy ('Clueless') who oozes sex appeal, and Amanda Plummer ('Pulp Fiction') and Michael T. Weiss (er... 'Howling IV') as the parents from hell. I also got a real kick out of the cameo by veteran Sydney Lassick ('..Cuckoo's Nest', 'Sonny Boy'). Pity we don't get to see much of him here, or anywhere for that matter!

Witherspoon has gone on to well deserved stardom, but this remains one of her finest accomplishments. Bright faltered with the largely disappointing 'Freeway 2', but my money is on him. Anyone who can create a movie this fresh and cool deserves to be remembered!

Although it started out slow, it really picked up the pace when Vanessa gets into Bob's SUV type vehicle. As the movie went on, it easily turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in years. Dark, gory and still full of laughs in a twisted way. How Reese Witherspoon didn't win an Academy Award for this is a mystery. I have found new respect for Reese and glad to know she isn't all about fluff movies catering to woman (i.e., "Sweet Home Alabama"). I hope Reese digs into the grittier side of life again and does another movie of the "Freeway" caliber and leave her mantle of "the next Meg Ryan" at home!

Way to go Reese, this movie is definitely worth owning!

In my opinion, this was hands downs Reese Witherspoon's best role before Legally Blonde. I wished she played more roles like this, (urban, raunchy, touch, the trailer pk side wasn't bad at all neither). After watching this, You can see she has been hollyweird whitewashed (the only way to get an academy award) now. But this role in Freeway truly tells me that she has depth of character for the film industry. This is one of my oldies but goodies I've seen now more than ten times already. Hey Reese, can you bless with a role like this again? No harm in asking.

I remembered Kiefer Sutherland played a psychotic killer....and IMDB lead me right to this one. I had seen bits and pieces of this movie on cable and couldn't believe how good it was, but back in those days we didn't have "channel info". This movie is wickedly funny, and Reese Witherspoon plays the most hilarious, bad-girl, tough trailer trash role I've ever seen and plays it fantastically. The slutty makeup and outfits she wears as well as the endless stream of profanity she swears are definitely a lot different than her "modern day" good girl roles she seems stuck in now. This movie is funnier than you can possibly imagine, as things keep happening that just blow you away or shock the pants off you and no main character is what they seem to be at first. Definitely unpredictable, this dark comedy is a rare lost gem I was glad to find again.

While watching this film I was disgusted, disturbed, and horrified while all the while LOVING THIS FILM. Living in a house where fairy tale literature is commonplace (my wife studies Children's Literature), I was surprised by this film. Seeing it in the value bin at most video stores, I expected poor production, horrible direction, and a pathetic cast. We have all seen these films that boast big names, but somehow never fully follow through. Freeway is nothing of the kind. It is a carefully written and delivered retelling of one of our most beloved fairy tales with a extremely dark twist.

Reece Witherspoon (pre-Legally Blonde) gives a performance that surprised me. I did not realize that she was so capable of bringing this character to life. Her counterpart, the illustrious 'Wolf', played by 80s child Keifer Sutherland, is yet another powerful force in this film. The two of them nearly carry this film on their shoulders. This is one of those perfect examples of a film that did not have much publicity after its release, but has since then obtained 'cult' status through avid viewer's word of mouth. This is definitely a film for all movie critics, film buffs, and fanatics to gaze at just once. I know there were some poor reviews when it was first released, but I am sure that a second viewing would bring this gem back to life.

I would also like to add that director Matthew Bright is a film genius. He successfully took a very wholesome and good natured story (or that we think) and transforms it into the fearsome dark story that it should be. Our society has the consistency of taking dark elements and transforming them into stories for our children. A wolf eats a grandmother in this story … how happy and uplifting is that? I applaud Bright for taking this story and transforming it into a modern day fairy tale. It is gripping, fascinating, and downright beautiful.

If you enjoyed Natural Born Killers and was hoping for a nicer twist, this film is your answer. I also suggest that if you couldn't get enough of Freeway that you try to get your hands on the very rare Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby. See how Bright delicately transforms yet another dark fairy tale (Hansel and Gretel) into a modern masterpiece.

Grade: ***** out of *****