Down the Road Again

Such a wonderful movie. I saw "Goin' Down the Road" decades ago and it made a big impression on me. I was a young man, about the same age as "Pete" and "Joey", when I first saw it. At first I thought it was a documentary as it was filmed in black and white and seemed totally unrehearsed. All these years after the fact, I can still recall the huge influx of young men from the East coast, into Ontario, during the 1960s. Most of them were fine fellows, who worked hard and loved to party. Some of them quickly became disillusioned with Ontario and moved restlessly on to the next promised land, the West Coast. Others remained in Ontario, put down roots, raised families and lived out their lives here. The rest simply didn't acclimate to the huge difference between life in Ontario and life in the Maritimes and eventually, returned to the East coast, disappointed, but happy that they gave it a try. I never failed to watch the original movie when I came across it, often in the wee hours of the morning. Invariably, I enjoyed the story immensely, but I was always left wondering what happened to the two restless young men who were so skillfully played by Doug McGrath and the late Paul Bradley. I was delighted when I stumbled across "Down the Road Again" while I was channel hopping a few months ago. I had no idea that a follow up to the original movie had been made. I found "Goin Down the Road" originally while I was channel hopping, so my discovery of the sequel, in exactly the same way, forty years later, was very appropriate. I enjoyed the sequel so much that I tried to find an email address for Doug McGrath, just so I could send him a short note to tell him what a great job he and the rest of the cast did and how much I loved both movies. I always felt a vague sense of sadness when I saw the two young men leaving Toronto and heading West at the end of the first movie. Happily, this final instalment answered most of the questions that were raised in the first movie. As I watched it, I felt like I was meeting up with some old friends from my distant youth and finding out how their lives had turned out.

I liked this movie. I enjoyed seeing some of the original cast members continue the story of the original film. A simple, if somewhat Dickensian story line, with a made in Canada feel. I think some part of me hoped for the look and feel of the original, i.e. low budget, grainy, gritty story. But probably not realistic to assume the director would try to capture the feel of the original, technology has changed too much. Loved seeing the same actors gather to finish the story they started so many years ago--though the time-lines seem a bit off if the original was 40-odd years ago wouldn't the "young" actors be playing people in their 40s?

We Canadians need to tell ourselves our stories. This is a good one and worth seeing with the original. More Don Shebib please, more of his DVD's, more main stream Canadian cinema.

I can't understand why more of Donald Shebibs' movies are not readily available on DVD. I saw this one today and had to drive all the way to the Kanata Cinemas to see it. Disgraceful, that a film like this doesn't get better distribution.

This is a great sequel to a Canadian Classic. Often sequels just don't come up to the mark, but this one has got a great story and nearly all of the cast from the first film reprise their roles.

I'm very glad that this film was made. Too bad most Canadians will never see it nor even hear of it.

I'm disgusted with the way Canadian films are (non) distributed in this country.

If you can appreciate the original then you will love this film. If you didn't like the original then there is little point in seeing this one.

I'm so glad that this film was made. This was a beautiful way to revisit the original story. So often, our mistakes in life are left unresolved, our broken relationships stay broken, and our old wounds are still sensitive when touched upon. Too easily, we turn away and refuse to visit the past. Pete would never have made that trip back east, if it weren't for Joey's death. Yet, he did, because of his loyalty to his lifelong friend. The sequel gives us new information which adds much for understanding the motivations of Pete and Joey in the original story. This movie illustrates, how, when you take a risk and revisit your past, it could lead to a new beginning. Wonderful performances from the actors in this film, old and young, make this not only an affectionate homage to the original film, but a meditation on the passage of time, on facing one's past, reinterpreting it, renewing old relationships, and making new ones.

I am from Oshawa and find it interesting when she wants to go with Pete to Nova Scotia she says she needs a ride to Oshawa and then tells him it was a ruse and would not go to Oshawa if you paid her. I had meant Joey and Pete in a pub in bloor and yonge (moishe tavern Haden street) in 1971 area and beat them in a game of table shuffleboard. Pete like the movie did not like to lose and threw a beer glass at me. It missed me and was funny.

I deserved it since I was a bad winner as well and rubbed it in.

I moved to Oshawa in 1988 so that reference to Oshawa was also funny.

I really enjoyed the movie and it was hard to get but found it thru Amazon.