Tail Lights Fade

I didn't expect much going in but was pleasantly surprised... A dialogue driven film with some pretty good performances.. one of the few roles I've liked both jake busey and denise richards in.. in the vein of the View Askew/Kevin Smith films.. great soundtrack that features.. Modest Mouse and Silver Jews among other indie greats.

Tail Lights Fade" presents itself as Canada's answer to the "Cannonball" films. With a little better pacing it could have been one. Unfortunately it is simply too slowly paced. After watching for awhile with nothing happening but talk, one tends to get bored. Many of the actors seemed bored as well. The only person who really shows some life is a very tattoo covered Elizabeth Berkley. She actually seems to be enjoying herself.

The film is not without merit however. There are enough interesting scenes to justify watching. The ending segment is particularly well presented. I'd say watch it but don't expect the moon.

I had been curious to see the "OTHER" films released under the View Askew banner.. this film while not under that banner was still directed by a friend of the View Askew crew, and.. included one little cameo (uncredited).

I will DISAGREE with the other poster.. I thought EVERYONE was exceptionally strong in their roles, aside from "Angie" and "Eve", c'mon face it .. "Showgirls" was a T&A movie, Berkley while cute can't act. The movie deals with Angie (sadly) who's brother gets busted for possession. So his sister decides to burn his stash, her boyfriend (Meyer) invites himself who in turn invites the other 2 yokels (Busey, Richards) and they turn it into a road rally as they are all racing nuts. There is some good dialogue, and Meyer gives his all in a rather thankless part.. as much as Richard (she's funny as hell as the white trash girlfriend) and Busey.. well he can't be his son, clone maybe.. All in all, its a funny movie.. and it has a rather downer kind of ending.. But, it is still very much worth the rental. Better than some other films out there, alot better than many. It won't knock your socks off, and.. you probably won't really remember much of it next week.. But it is a decent 90 minutes of viewing.. ONE note, the DVD BLOWS! There are, sadly, ZERO extra features and not even a trailer for the film.. But still, a decent enough movie at least worthy of one watch.

The film starts out with an interesting musical score complimenting the cinematography of two contrasting vibrant red and green sports cars travelling along the city of Toronto's Queensway Boulevard driven by Jake Busey and Breckin Meyer. The story evolves around the two pals Jake Busey and Breckin Meyer agreeing to travel from Toronto to Vancouver with their respective babes Denise Richards and Tanya Allen in their passenger seats in an effort to clean out a marijuana grow operation that belongs to Tanya Allen's imprisoned brother played by Jaimz Woolvett, before the police discover its whereabouts. Woolvett's girlfriend played by the less than stellar actress Elizabeth Berkley is also trying to find out where her imprisoned boyfriends grow op is located so that she can harvest the crop and sell it for her own financial gain.

So we experience a road trip of sorts with pit stops along the way that includes stops at strip bars, restaurants and the odd road kill. An endless stream of blathering arguments ensue amongst the four weary traveller's but little else of any substance.

I enjoy a good road trip themed film that has a purpose in mind, but Tail Lights Fade although a low budget film, was not very interesting, and I found the ending extremely weak and the way to leave an audience disappointed. One of my favourite road trip movies was the 2010 release of MY OWN LOVE SONG starring Forest Whitaker, Renee Zellweger and Nick Nolte. Hands down, if you wanted to make a choice of which film to see, my advice would be to see the latter and avoid Tail Lights Fade.

This movie was totally unwatchable, and I think I have discovered the pattern. If Meyer is in it, avoid it at all costs. It's hard to believe that people can actually make a living making such crap. Also, maybe his problem is movies about cars, since Rat Race and Road Trip were also garbage