Freeway

Freeway is written and directed by Matthew Bright. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Dan Hedaya, Wolfgang Bodison, Brooke Shields & Brittany Murphy. Plot is darkly based around the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale and sees young runaway Vanessa Lutz (Witherspoon) hit the road after her parents are arrested. Setting off to visit her grandmother she agrees to a lift from the kind and well spoken Bob Wolverton (Sutherland), only to find that he's not as nice as she first thought. He in turn is in for a big surprise himself since Vanessa is more than capable of looking after herself.

Twisted and richly humorous, Matthew Bright's movie oozes originality and quite frankly deserves to be better appreciated: never mind better known! Going into it for a first time completely oblivious to its structure will arguably aid the experience. Suffice to say that the less known about it prior to viewing it the better. All I have to say is that it's violent, sweary and contains very sexually explicit dialogue, so if those things are likely to offend then perhaps stay away from it. But what if I offer up that those things are dealt with a satirical bent? That the tough scenes, and some of them are very tough, are basis to a caustic narrative about social hypocrisy and the often stupidity of the law? Interested? You should be, because once viewed you're unlikely to forget it. It's no surprise to see Oliver Stone's name etched onto the production credits, since this very much feels like a dirty second cousin to his Natural Born Killers. I'd argue that here we have the better acted film with Witherspoon and Sutherland giving virtuoso performances: with admirable support coming from the likes of Bodison, Shields and Murphy.

One of the most undervalued film's of the 90s? You bet it is! 8.5/10

Based on the classic Grimm Brothers tale, Little Red Riding Hood; Freeway is the disjointed and frankly weird odyssey following a young girl on the way to her grandmother's home. The film begins much like any other hitchhiking film, with a young girl being picked up by a slightly sinister driver. However, you won't be able to predict where it's going to go from there, as Freeway continually puts its characters in absurd situations and delivers the unexpected. The plot doesn't exactly adhere to the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and after the basics have been laid down, it's basically anyone's game right down to the gripping and hilarious climax. The film sees Reese Witherspoon's juvenile delinquent being picked up by Kiefer Sutherland's child psychologist after fleeing from her home when her mother and step father are arrested. After telling the psychologist of her relationship with her step father, she soon realises that he's enjoying what she's saying a little too much; and it's not long before she asks him if he's the infamous I-5 killer, and he doesn't do anything to convince her he's not...

Freeway doesn't introduce any characters that are particularly likable, and all are guilty to a degree. Most audience members will be on the side of Witherspoon's character, as although she certainly has personality problems, she's great fun to watch and her twisted logic isn't usually far from being spot on! Witherspoon got one of her best roles in this film, and really does carry it despite her young age. Kiefer Sutherland stars alongside her, and it's rather odd seeing him in the psycho role after getting so used to him being Jack Bauer in 24. He does do it great, however. Perhaps the best thing about this film is the pitch black humour that goes hand in hand brilliantly with the absurdity of the piece. The plot is really freewheeling, and the film jumps from road thriller to prison drama to the court room in the blink of an eye, and this helps to ensure that the audience is always kept on their toes. This film won't appeal to people that don't like their movies to be pitch black and unpleasant, but anyone who enjoys a good does of absurdity shouldn't hesitate to track this film down!

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.

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!

You ever recommend a film to a friend only to have the relationship strained after they take you up on your advice and spend their hard earned monies watching a film that they end up describing as ‘terrible', ‘awful' and ‘tormenting'?

This was the case when I recommended 1996's Freeway to a friend. Now granted, I had not seen the film in eight years, but I had fond memories and I could even remember the Roger Ebert/Gene Siskel show giving the film a recommendation back when movie reviews actually meant something. So it was therefore without fear that I challenged my friend (let's call him ‘Jim' to protect the guilty) to rent Freeway after we discussed one day how much we enjoyed films that were two blocks away from norm.

Three days later, there was a threatening phone call and a doll looking very much like me with a pin in its back hanging from my mailbox. I knew at that moment, that maybe I had made a mistake, and I purchased Freeway at the local DVD Warehouse to reacquaint myself with what has now become a friendship speed bump.

Freeway stars Reese Witherspoon and Keifer Sutherland in an updated version of the Little Red Riding Hood tale. Reese plays Vanessa Lutz, a young misguided teenager who sets out to meet her grandmother after police bust her mother and stepfather for drug possession and soliciting. While on the run from social services, Vanessa meets Bob Wolverton (Sutherland) who offers her a lift after her can breaks down on the high way.

Bob comes across as a sweet guy. A counselor for boys who offers sound advice and really seems to care. But as we all know in Hollywood, that is too good to be true. Just when Bob seems to gain the trust of Vanessa, he becomes increasingly agitated and violent. Vanessa relies on instinct and reaches for a gun given to her by her fiancé and shoots Bob. Four times.

As Vanessa goes to juvenile hall awaiting a trial, she finds out that Bob didn't die. Bob made his way to a local hospital and although saved from the big cloud in the sky, Bob is a hideous self with a deformed face and electronic voice box.

The movie then follows Vanessa as she violently escapes from jail and runs to her grandmother's house where Bob is in hiding a la the fairy tale. So with the police in hot pursuit it becomes a cat and mouse game that explodes with gunfire at a nearby trailer park.

So the movie was over, and quite frankly, I liked it even more the second time. The violence was ever present and the language (the movie was originally NC-17 due to it's explicit dialogue) was like a power drill to the forehead. No cuss word was left out. From A to Z, Reese Witherspoon spoke more profanity than in the rest of her filmography combined.

Upon my second viewing, I wondered if Reese Witherspoon has ever been challenged as much as writer/director Matthew Bright pushed her here. She ends up pulling off someone who can be very kind hearted, yet has a temper this side of Hannibal Lector. Kudos also to Keifer Sutherland who is no stranger to playing the weird unlikable characters. In Bob Wolverton, he gives us a creature that is so heinous and hideous that you will add this to your memory banks along with The Lost Boys and Stand By Me, whenever someone mentions his name.

I was also reintroduced to actors that I had forgotten contributed to the greatness of this independent. Dan Hedaya (Cheers), Amanda Plumber (Pulp Fiction), Brittany Murphy (Don't Say A Word) and Brooke Shields are just some of the talent that cross our viewing paths throughout this odyssey.

So now that it was over, I wondered where I lost Jim on the road to acceptance. Was it the time the teenager was describing in detail having oral sex with her stepfather? Was it the scene when Bob tells her he is going to have sex with her after he kills her? Maybe it was when Vanessa walks into a local diner covered in Bob's blood or we first see Bob after his attack with one eye gone and his head stuck between four spikes resting on his shoulders. Who knows? All I can write is that after viewing Freeway eight years later, I offer no apologies. The movie is brisk, violent and profane. I liken it to a Tarantino wet dream, and I would recommend it again no matter what the cost.

P.S. Jim, call me.

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