Open Road - La strada per ricominciare

This movie has it all revealed in the title; we have the typical road movie, the open situations that need closure, the family gathering when almost-tragedy might happen, the girl that almost got away, the father-son estranged yet reliable liaison, the change in the hero's mind along the way.

And above that, it has the sparkling dialog, Jeff Bridges (I just love how he cries in most of his roles, because he can and he's so damn good), the wise replies that might (or not) mean something to you at some point. The open spaces, and a feel-good impression that will make it perfect for a late evening when you just don't feel like sleeping. Or you would feel like taking a long walk somewhere, only it would be wiser not to in the middle of the night.

I probably shouldn't give it a ten, but grades "don't mean nothing" to me, it's all about whether I liked it or not, and I sure did like it.

This movie didn't do much for me. It's the story of another dysfunctional family, without much happening to make the family very interesting. I guess the theme is that no matter how rotten your Dad is, he's still your Dad, and can be loved and forgiven. I suppose that's true enough, as long as there are some good memories to outweigh the bad. But the Dad in this movie doesn't seem to have left too many good memories behind.

I like Jeff Bridges on screen. He's made some very good movies ("Fearless" for instance), and some that didn't impress me much ("The Contender", "Sea Biscuit", "The Fisher King"), but no matter the quality of the film, he always seems to rise above the material. In this movie, he plays such a rotten piece of work - a self-centred, boozy, sleazy, loud-mouthed jock living in the past - that I started to see the less redeeming features of Bridges himself. Maybe that just proves what a good job he did.

Justin Timberlake is OK, but he doesn't inject much life into his character. What the lovely Lucy (the totally gorgeous Kate Mara) sees in this sour, sulky, colourless character is beyond me. With her knowing grin, a flash of the eyes, a shake of the head, she makes it obvious that she understands this lot only too clearly. I felt like shouting "Run, Lucy, run! Don't get mixed up with these screw-ups! You can do better! Much better!" I could have added, but didn't, "Pick me!"

Basically, I found the film bland and un-involving. I gave it 5/10, and every one of the 5 points derives from the presence of Mara, who brings not just loveliness to the screen, but there's a fire in her eyes and a sense of personality that few others are capable of projecting.

Kate Mara was the best thing about this movie though her character smoked too much. As a healthcare professional myself gotta say the hospital would not have Mary Steenburgen's character taking up a room for that many days for something she could obviously be at home for especially that she would not do the procedure. And WHY? Were they driving the roads that they were. Should have been on main highway instead of back country roads. Cows, corn fields, trains, REALLY? The dialog between Timberlake and Bridges was weak and contrived. Generally, I could take or leave Kate Mara but she played a cute part here and didn't deserve the BS of the Timberlake character. Not a rewatchable movie.

I have not actually gotten to see this movie yet, but I was a camera operator on this film. I was very sorry to see that it didn't get a wider release. I thought that with a cast including Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges that it would have gotten more attention. It just goes to show how messed up the movie distribution business is. When we were shooting this film I thought that it was going to be good. It was a good story and had a great cast. They all were a dream to work with. Now that I know it is out on DVD, I am going to see about getting a copy as soon as I can.

One interesting little anecdote from my point of view: We shot the bulk of the film in the vicinity of Hammond, Louisiana which is where we all stayed. But one sequence required that the whole cast and crew go to another small town that was just a little too far to drive to and from for each day's work, so we all stayed in some tiny old "tourist courts". One night several of us on the crew got together in one of the camera assistant's rooms to play poker. I wound up sitting next to writer/director Michael Meredith. I mentioned that I lived in Dallas and Michael said that he lived in Dallas up until he was five, then moved around a lot. So I asked him what his dad did, half expecting him to say either military or oil business. No, he said his dad played football. I immediately put two and two together and asked him "Your dad is Don Meredith?" he said yes. Turns out the movie we were shooting was very loosely based on Michael's own story, only the sport was changed from football to baseball.

As I said, they were all great to work with, cast crew and production. I hope that this film eventually gets the attention it deserves. Definitely worth a look.

Good cast but why does Ted Danson have any billing for his bit part. Timberlake and Bridges were great 👍