Goin' Down the Road

This film has been criticized for many things (poor acting, poor direction among them). However, it is still widely regarded in Canada as an incredibly good film. While it's true that we in Canada may keep a special place in our hearts for the film because of the subject matter (two men from rural Nova Scotia who move to Toronto to start a new life), the film still holds water even to a non-Canadian.

Like the men in the film, both of my parents moved to Toronto from Nova Scotia to start a new life in the Canadian "promises land". And like the film, they did it in the same era (1968-9). And, like the film, my father resorted to stealing food from a grocery store to eat. It is these facts that makes the film so special to me.

The plight of these two gentlemen is so common in Southern Ontario that I think it actually helped propel this film into the cult status it still maintains today. The film is earthy, gritty and has documentary-style camera work that makes it believable. The use of an actual audio clip of a distraught woman crying in the hallway of a boarding house (used in the scene when our heroes are trying to sleep their first night in their new boarding house room) and the real alcoholic war veterans interacting with the film's stars make this film so real, it's disturbing. Hollywood could take a few cues from this movie.

Frankly, I think the acting is superb. Then again, I think that the method acting and melodramatic style used in film like Gone With The Wind is disgusting and plastic. The director's role in this film was clearly leading his troops very well. I highly recommend this incredibly well done film.

It took me 30+ years to find this film (on video) after being on a TOP TEN list in 1970 by a cool critic. I got a clean copy on Ebay that plays out (like FIVE EASY PIECES) as a mood piece of the times, fascinating character study, and overall good film of the BEST year of films overall (1970) with unknown actors.

Find this one. You won't regret it and you don't have to be Canadian or from the Golden 70's. Heartbreakingly realistic but humorous...at the most bleak and surreal moments and MacGrath and the others will smoke and live in real time before your eyes..it's not dated. Donald Shebib (whatever happened to this cool guy?) directed like a young M. Scorsese (with unknowns) that you'll never forget. Find it or you'll never be able to listen to THE DOORS again with a clean conscience.

They just don't make them this way anymore. I'm an American viewed, but appreciated the importance of this film in Canada. The film has a highly realistic, "70s feel" grittiness with a pace that always keeps you interested. This is not meant to be a crowd pleasing film. Worth a view.

After reading so many good reviews on this film and seeing an in-depth and up-to-date documentary with some of the cast members and Trailer Park Boys' writer/producer/director Mike Clattenburg I finally caught an airing of this film on the IFCC. It's more a drama than a comedy though you can't help but laugh at these poor guys. Pete and Joey are a pair of East Coast bumpkins who come to Toronto for a better life, but they now face a new series of hurdles as they try to fit in to the metropolis but only land a string of short term manufacturing jobs. Life gets tougher and eventually becomes worse as they drift through a period of structural unemployment.

Cool to see the backdrop filming locations along the downtown Yonge/Dundas street corner and an old Loblaws sign. And when did grocery packers last wear bowties? Then there's a cameo with Stompin' Tom Connors who looks almost exactly today as he did back then. Few copies of a DVD release but one must see the televised documentary (seen on Star! and the Drive-In Classics channel) to complete the whole story.

Fans of The Trailer Park Boys TV series may enjoy this film for the story, though fans of the original cult horror hit Black Christmas, another Toronto filmed project that included Doug McGrath among the cast, may find Going' Down The Road interesting just to catch a glimpse of the city of Toronto, the way it was in the seventies.

Not only is this a great Canadian movie and a touchstone of '70s culture (stubby beer bottles!), it's one of the best movies made anywhere about the working poor. The low production values and laidback acting work to good effect. It spawned plenty of awful imitations, but few were as rawly heartfelt and honest. Essential viewing for Canadians