Honky Tonk Freeway

I found this movie on Netflix and had to add it to my queue. I wasn't disappointed when I got it as it's just as funny now as when I saw it at a local drive-in theater back then.

It builds to a climax nicely with you getting glimpses of the various characters as they begin their trip across America on the "Honky Tonk Freeway, America on wheels." This was a strange comedic role for William DeVane as I remember him as Kennedy in the 1974 TV film "The Missiles of October" and felt no one could have pulled that dramatic character off as well as he did.

It reminds me a bit of Dick Van Dyke in "Cold Turkey' where Van Dyke played the local minister. DeVane's role as mayor, minister, and activist was typical for small towns so it makes his character seem amusing and real.

Howard Hessman and Teri Garr as the spoiled family in the RV was on target for the time as well. Anyone who has traveled across country with small children, (Are we there yet?) will appreciate those scenes.

The scenes of a small town struggling to survive reminded me a lot of the small town I grew up in but they handled it with the charm and humor that you often only saw in small towns. It's sad that many small towns disappeared because of the freeway system and it gives a realistic if humorous view of what they had to do to survive. (Used zoo animals anyone?)

All in all, it's a lightweight comedy with no particular message but a humorous glance at America during the early 80's. Well worth watching if you just need a bit of good cheer.

HONKY TONK FREEWAY involves a small Florida tourist town named Ticaw and the people who live there, led by William Devane playing the part of the Mayor/Preacher Kirby T. Calo who also operates a hotel and tiny wildlife safari park. The town's major draw is a water-skiing elephant named Bubbles. When the state highway commission builds a freeway adjacent to the town, Devane slips an official 10,000 dollars to assure an off ramp. The off ramp doesn't come so the townsfolk literally paint the town pink to attract visitors. Meanwhile, we are introduced to several characters from various parts of the United States all for one reason or another are heading to Florida. We know they will all end up in Ticaw but finding out why and how is half the fun. There are bank robbers from New York (George Dzundza, Joe Grifasi) who pick up a cocaine dealing hitchhiker (Daniel Stern), a Chicago copy machine repairman and wannabe children's author Duane Hansen (Beau Bridges) who picks up a waitress Carmen Odessa Shelby (Beverly D'Angelo) who is carrying her mother's ashes to Florida, a dentist and his family (Howard Hesseman, Teri Garr, Peter Billingsly) vacationing cross country in their RV, an elderly woman Carol (Jessica Tandy) with a drinking problem and her loving husband Sherm (Hume Cronyn, of course), two nuns (mother superior Geraldine Page, novice nun Deborah Rush), a wannabe country song writer hauling a playful rhino and other wild animals to Ticaw, and more. This is a very funny movie with quirky interesting characters, good actors, a great director (John Schlesinger who helmed Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man and The Falcon and the Snowman) and a mix of slapstick comedy in the tradition of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and biting satire of American small towns such as Cold Turkey. Think Mayberry meets Picket Fences, or Hal Needham meets Robert Altman. A fun film with where half the fun is to see who's going to show up in the film and what's going to happen next.

From writer Edward Clinton and director John Schlesinger ("Midnight Cowboy") comes this offbeat collection of character driven vignettes. It's overall quite engaging and it's too bad that the film was a major flop upon its initial release. The cast is excellent and the movie is generally amusing, the kind of thing that should generate some smiles if no outright belly laughs.

The main story thread is that of a tiny Florida town named Ticlaw, whose only real claim to fame that they can make is a safari park (including a water skiing elephant) operated by mayor / entrepreneur Kirby Calo (William Devane). When the government creates a brand spanking new freeway, but neglects to put in an exit leading to Ticlaw, Calo and the various citizens resort to some desperate measures to ensure tourist traffic - such as painting the town pink. As this goes on, we're introduced to an assortment of people who each have their own reasons for travelling to Florida. Among them are a pair of bank robbers (George Dzundza and Joe Grifasi), a waitress transporting her mothers' ashes (Beverly D'Angelo) and a copy machine repairman / wannabe children's' book author (Beau Bridges), a veteran nun and a novice one (Geraldine Page and Deborah Rush), a dentist and his family (Howard Hesseman, Teri Garr, Jenn Thompson and Peter Billingsley) in an RV, an old ad man and his alcoholic wife (Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy) and a truck driver & wannabe country & western songwriter (Paul Jabara, who does co-write some of the songs for the soundtrack).

One of the delights here is in checking out a cast just FULL of familiar faces - in addition to those mentioned, David Rasche, Daniel Stern, Celia Weston, Frances Lee McCain, Jerry Hardin, John Ashton, Frances Bay, Nancy Parsons, Leo Burmester, Jeffrey Combs, and an uncredited Anne Ramsey all turn up as well. There are enough lively and amusing moments to make for decent entertainment, as well as an ingratiating mixture of satire and slapstick. Schlesinger proves himself quite capable of handling comedy on a grand scale and keeps things interesting throughout, allowing the large cast time to create some memorable and endearing characters. While watching, the viewer will be intrigued to see how all of these people will meet, and what their fates will be. Plus, you just can't help but root for Calo and his crazy comrades, no matter what their methods might be.

Overall, "Honky Tonk Freeway" is good fun, is punctuated by some catchy songs, and has enough spirit to make it watchable for a decently paced 107 minutes. Another review here describes it as "Hal Needham meets Robert Altman", which is a very good way to put it indeed. Hopefully more comedy fans can discover it and lift it out of obscurity.

Seven out of 10.

A notorious big budget flop when released. This Robert Altman inspired comedy has some terrific moments and an occasionally inspired cast. Although it goes on to long an loses its focus completely, there are enough funny moments that will keep a curious viewer watching until the end. If you are a fan of character actors and actresses, this will be a treat for you; you will recognize so many terrific little known performers throughout this movie (you may not know their names, but you know their faces), heck even the kid from A Christmas Story turns up in a small part. Rent if from Netflix, if you read this, I bet you will enjoy it.

Back in August, '81 there was a country-ish buzz to movies, big hits like "Urban Cowboy", "Every Which Way But Loose", "Smokey and the Bandit" were all the rage. For that reason I suspect the producers of this movie chose "Honky Tonk Freeway" as the title hoping it would help the movie's box office receipts by drawing in that same "Urban Cowboy" crowd. Instead "Honky Tonk Freeway" bombed at the theaters and I suspect it do so in part by being burdened with a poorly chosen title. Thats same problem burdens it now on video and thats too bad because its a pretty good movie and in a comedy style ahead of it's time. No matter what, probably anybody who can remember 1981 will enjoy it.

Its too bad this movie bombed. But I think it would have anyway even if it hadn't been saddled with a poor title. Its a movie ahead of its time. One could look at this movie now and see that its clearly a father or *great-uncle anyway) to the kinds of comedy made today. For its day "Honky Tonk Freeway" was pretty full of innuendo and a kind of frankness about life that didn't get popular in comedy till much later on. While clearly its a child of "Airplane", its more mature, and while its certainly no "Knocked Up" it clearly points in that direction. The characters are more "comedy-mature" in that they are low-key and don't ever think anything they do is anything other than serious. The jokes are in the choices of what to emphasize and the camera views and the way the view themselves and their situations.

But, more than that, "Honky Tonk Freeway" is a real time capsule. A great look back at the exceedingly early 80's. The people in this movie are dressed and act as everyday people of 1981 did. It was clearly meant to reflect the times and be a sly comedic comment on everyday life around them.

I don't know if my review is helping you, but this is really a good, sometimes kind of excellent, movie thats worth renting if you want to see how a lot of faces that are familiar today looked when they were 30 years younger. Beverly D'Angelo is so young its hard to realize its her sometimes. So are Beau Bridges and Terri Garr. Terry Garr was just about to become the toast of Hollywood as her next movie after this one was "Tootsie" which finally made her a star. Howard Hessmann was arguably the biggest "current" star of the the day when this movie was made. Back in 1981 Howard Hessmann was the star of the big hit TV show "WKRP in Cinncinatti". He played its lead character, the rascally night DJ. Daniel Stern was just about to break out as a star as the grown-up narrator voice of the lead child character in the popular 80's sitcom "The Wonder Years" There are also several faces that are no longer with us these days, its nice to see Hume Crowyn and Jessica Tandy as a an old married couple on a journey. Jessica Tandy would finally pick up her Oscar ten years after this for "Driving Miss Daisy". There is also the great Geraldine Page in one of her final movie appearances. Though she'd had a brilliant career she didn't get her Oscar till four years after this in 1985's "Trip to Bountiful", for which she richly deserved it, and she died very soon after getting that award.

Plus, there are lots of other faces in this movie, actors who aren't big stars but who have done tons of supporting work. Many are familiar even if you can't think of their name.

This movie is a pleasant little diversion. A bunch of people with a variety of problems set out from various locations each for their own individual unrelated reasons who all, in a vaguely Altman-esk way, end up heading towards Florida and unbeknownst to them a rendevoux in the little town of Ticlaw, Florida, which happens to be reeling from the effects of being bypassed by the recently constructed interstate nearby which did not construct an exit to Ticlaw which effectively takes the town off the map.

And thats also what this movie is about, fascination with the whole idea of the interstate system, which had only recently been "completed". It had taken a generation to build, from when it was authorized by congress around 1960, through many years as different parts were built and then "went live" and by 1980 most of the system had finally been built and all connected together and first the first time the promise of what the interstate system would be had turned into what is. And people were enchanted by it. Everybody by 1980 was pretty much an "interstate freeway veteran" in the sense that by then everybody had used parts of it and knew how it worked and how it was different from other roads in that it had no red lights or stop signs, only on and off ramps, and that it went to places that were formerly less accessible. By 1980 anyone could drive anywhere in comfort and without having to stop for anything except to eat and sleep and a bathroom. And this was all new then.

The ending is anti-climatic and isn't that satisfying albeit its one spectacular moment. What makes it great is it's the journey not the destination that makes Honky Tonk Freeway timeless in spite of it being such a product of its day. Forget its title; instead let it take you down memory lane.