Highway 61

I saw this movie twice in the theatres in the early 90's. It was the first time I saw a movie and I thought to myself "That is the kind of movie I could make". Very inspirational, well-acted and directed for such a small budget indie movie. Very quirky characters. It has a tone similar to movies by Jim Jarmusch or Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge. The cameo by the dead kennedy's jello biafra is a real treat as well. Try to find this indie gem!

Surprisingly had only two written comments on this film, and then I can't help myself! This film has got some scenes which you'll simply never forget. A road movie with everything you want from one of it's kind.

It all starts off when a local Canadian barber one morning is asked by a strange woman if he can drive her and her dead brother, lying in a wooden casket, down from Canada into the U.S. - But is it really her dead brother??? On the way they meet all kinds of strange people.

This film contains so much - like the most fantastic bingo-scene in film ever, the devil's hijacking of a little girl's soul, and what about indoor chicken hunt with guns, or the dream of having U2 to play in your wedding!?

I can't wait to see this movie again, and I understand it's now on DVD. So go buy it, never mind the price! This is hilarious fun with death on the back wheels! Don't miss it! The best Canadian film I ever saw!

This is one of my favorite movies of all time (the other one is The Purple Rose of Cairo). If you haven't seen this movie yet then I envy you, because I can never watch it again for the first time like you can. It is the story of Pokey, the small-town barber who has never left his home of Pickerel Falls (well - he hasn't travelled further than Thunder Bay), and his awakening into adulthood one summer as he travels down highway 61 with a mysterious red-haired woman who asks him for a ride. Their adventures along the way as they race for New Orleans with Satan close behind, are often riotous (as in my favorite scene in the bingo hall), and always kooky.

I loved this movie from beginning to end. There have been way too many predictable road movies made since the 60s. It's difficult to find one that surprises and entertains without being contrived. Highway 61 does it, and I admire the hell out of it for doing so. Wonderful script, superior acting, nice use of music throughout, this is pure delight. Hats off to Bruce McDonald and Don McKellar!

And remember - you can't cheat at Bingo!

The goof is a barber and frustrated trumpet player with no life, no love and no prospects.

With the coffin strapped to the roof of his vintage car, manipulated by the wiles of the anti-heroine our anti-hero finds himself motoring from Thunder Bay to New Orleans along old Highway 61, the thoroughfare made famous in song.

Toronto filmmaker Bruce McDonald brings his gonzo rock 'n' rock style to what is obviously not your conventional love story.

But it is a hell of a wild ride that invokes motorcycle gangs, wacko farmers and Jello Biafra in a strange and wonderful cameo.

An off-beat delight.

Comment written by Liza Levchuk