Highwaymen

This is an easy to watch straightforward thriller. The type of movie you just back and enjoy.

A crazed serial killer is running young women down and it's up to Jim Caviezel to hunt him down. The plot is far fetched as many action thrillers are but the cast do such an impressive job that it's hard not to get involved in the story. Whereby most action movies involve actors of a questionable quality, Jim Caviezel and Rhona Mitra are excellent in this ably supported by Frankie Faison.

There are some terrific high action action moments including one particularly suspenseful one.

My only criticism of the film would be the pantomime bad guy and the fact that the ending is as predictable as a wet English summer. However there is much to enjoy in this film and i'm surprised it wasn't a bigger hit.

It is great to finally get a film that doesn't run to the safety of digital video, computer special effects, and loud music.

"Highwaymen" finally gives us a thriller, that avoids all the crutches of the mainstream film-making that we have seen in the last few years. The stunts are all metal cars crashing into each other - no fancy effects (i.e. Nic Cage jumping a bridge in a digital mustang during the cheesy "Gone in 60 seconds" remake). Here we have car doors getting ripped off and then actually being replaced with second-hand parts by the characters in the film - a realistic car chase film. Finally.

The music, by Mark Isham, is very simple and very scary. It brings back memories of "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" - when filmmakers knew how to use frequencies to build tension. There is no Brittany Spears or Metallica singles on the soundtrack, indicating that at least one filmmaker still can hold his own, and not fall to the popular vote when designing a film's soundtrack.

The acting is excellent - Jim Caviezel is great.

The cinematography is first class - and on film, which is refreshing when much of the movie takes place at night and many filmmakers get scared and run to video nowadays (Michael Mann "Collateral"). Great land scapes and long empty roads are brilliantly photographed by cinematographer Rene Ohashi.

By far the best are the sound effects. All the car engine sounds are greatly accurate - from the Barricuda's Hemi to El Dorado's big block - all sounds are accurately placed and brilliantly timed. This, and all the great car-talk within the dialogue makes for a true car film that anyone who loved the old car chase films of the late 60's to the late 70's, would greatly enjoy this one as well.

I had heard about this flick awhile back and never got the chance to see it on the big screen because New Line had to go limited release(which is just dumb) so hardly anyone got to see this film which is a shame because it's a real great flick. From the opening moments I was thrown into the world of the film was never bored.Director Robert Harmon does a great job of shooting car chases the way they're never been shot before. The film is more a slasher than anything:it's got the killer who kills with his car,you got Jesus himself,James Caviezel,out on a mission to stop him at all cost and the lovely Rhona Mitra as the woman cought inbetween.Words cannot descibe how cool this film is,the action is bad a$$ and the use of the way they used the car as a weapon was great. Now while this movie isn't perfect, it is a great show and slasher logic does apply to it, if you wanted real world logic than go watch a drama or something...if you want to kick back and watch a cool flick than this is it. Much props go out to director Robert Harmon for bringing out this great film and much love to Rhona Mitra for looking so hot.

This could've been a descent movie had someone edited out the nonsense and the unacceptable scenes that made absolutely no sense. Believability is a priority in any movie and a hook to keep em guessing right up to the end, not some safety cop blasting a shotgun for no more reason than shock value. Lastly ....a great cast deserved better. So much of the movie lacked any kind of logic and/or continuity. Maybe some interjection of humor could have helped this dark movie or possibly a surprise ending that set things straight or maybe even a few flashbacks to help balance the meat of the story line. I wanted to care about the characters and their plight but I just didn't.

If you are familiar with "The Hitcher," with Rutger Hauer, and liked it, you might like this one. The main difference in the two movies is that in here, the killer never leaves his car. It's not as intense or well-made as the former, but Highwaymen is decent enough for one look. It's very short so you aren't going to be wasting the whole day, anyway.

The story in a nutshell: a serial killer runs down a young woman in his car at random and is not caught for years until Jim Caviezel, whose wife also was a victim of the killer, figures out it's the same guy, and tracks him down for a showdown of his own.

The film starts out well, and is very intense, but loses momentum in the second half. Boredom isn't the problem, it's the credibility of the story. There are just too many holes in the plot and nothing becomes credible. It's no wonder this movie never got much publicity: it has too much of a "B" feel to it, despite Caviezel's presence.

However, it is entertaining and the actual running time of the story is a mere 76 minutes, so if you're looking for an hour-and-a-quarter of escapism, this is it.