frankselden

I am a huge Hitchcock fan and see several parallels between his suspense films and this Spielburg debut. Yet, perhaps because my expectations were at the Hitchcocklevel, I finished this film slightly disappointed. Although suspense is definitely present throughout the movie, it requires movement on the road to surface and thus limits Spielburg from adding other dimensions. The protagonist never develops out of his mousy man characteristics. If he had only listened to the gas station attendant the movie could have continued for another 30 minutes but I am glad it didn't because I started getting bored shortly before the end. Perhaps the goal of this film was to test the possibility of maintaining suspense with only one dimension, one primary actor, two vehicles, sparse scenery, a low budget and no explosions. If I ever watch this movie again I will pay closer attention to the license plates on the truck's bumper to see if they are car plates (hinting that the driver may have collected them from past victims) or truck plates (hinting at multiple state registrations). The open door on the truck seems to serve the same purpose as Christine's lights coming on at the end and is a great touch.

Animated films are not my favorite genre and I am not a Nascar fan. I anticipated that I would reflect on the 2 hours in a movie theater as quality family time rather than quality entertainment but this movie had me hooked from the beginning. My kids did not have my background to understand Route 66 history but they didn't need it. The loved the film for other reasons. I lived in small towns where a day is fueled with hope of what might come over the horizon. I have actually been cow tipping and laughed at the tractor scenes. I really appreciate the part of the theme of a successful member of a younger generation listening to and profiting by the wisdom of someone older. Far too many children's shows revolve around a plot with stupid adults and the youth needing to save the world. This film perhaps restored, for me, a little faith in our entertainment industry. This is one movie the whole family really can enjoy. See this movie if for no other reason than to support the production of this type of message.