Redwood Highway

Shirley Knight was a fine actress and she inhabits the role comfortably here, portraying a range of emotions and characteristics smoothly. The rest of the actors are well cast and are very believable. The story's simple but makes a lot of sense in a world where older folks often feel marginalized and struggle to believe they're maintaining lives of meaning. Here's my one, huge complaint. You don't have to be a genius to not walk in the direction of the traffic on rural roads. Vehicles are approaching from behind - in other words, you can't see what's coming - at high rates of speed. You can be killed in an instant by someone who's texting, otherwise distracted or impaired. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) website states, "If there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic and as far from traffic as possible." How many people were involved in the production of this film which promotes a highly stupid and dangerous practice?

Excellent and moving movie! Loved it. It is about courage and facing our demons! If you are a Golden Indigo, you will 'Get' this movie! At the start of the film, which was written by Gary Lundgren and James Twyman and directed by Lundgren, Marie (Knight) is living in a seemingly comfortable retirement home in Oregon. But she's not a happy camper. Her son, Michael (James Le Gros), placed her there against her will, and although she's sociable, she's clearly sharper and more vigorous than many of the other residents. When Michael comes for a visit, he wants to make plans to take her to his daughter's wedding. Marie claims to disapprove of her granddaughter's fiancé — a drummer in a band — but she's also disgruntled by the family's treatment of her and she declines the wedding invitation. Marie then begins to have second thoughts, but she's a proud woman, and decides to make the 80-mile journey to the coast on her own.

There are a lot of worthwhile elements in this story and it is reasonably well portrayed. The actors do a good job. However, why is it that no one anywhere near the production of this film knew that it is not only completely, hugely stupid to walk with traffic on a road, it is also illegal in many states. Why on Earth would you want to have your back to traffic that is barreling towards you at 50 plus miles per hour, as you walk in the same direction and therefore cannot see what is coming? Why on Earth would you not want to face the traffic, walking against the traffic, so that you can see what is coming and get the hell out of the way if necessary? Astoundingly bad. Hopefully no kids saw this insanity.

I've watched this many times. Grandma wants to stay independent and active, and her son wants her to be careful and cautious, and that's just not her. She wants to do whatever she wants, but, interestingly, she wants to influence her granddaughter into not doing what she wants. And anybody who's ever known a 22 year old, that ain't gonna work. Grandma decides she's going to walk to the wedding. It's a long walk. It's 80 miles. The bulk of the movie is her journey, the people she meets, the people that help her, and her physical limitations that we all face eventually. Shirley Knight does a good job.

But it was awful. The character of the son was particularly shallow, but others also contributed to this hot hokey mess. There could have been a story here, but apparently the job of writing a coherent script fell to a totally incompetent wannabe. I actually watched the whole thing, curious, hoping it would get better. It didn't.