Highway

Look, this is a good flick. It is not a mind bender, it is not going to leave you questioning your own immortality, nor is it ever going to be a classic. It's just a good movie to watch. Leto is really good as "The God of Fu*k," (so funny) and Gyllenhaal is a great sidekick. Totally watchable, more than one time. Good flick to just chill out with at 2am.

I've seen the DVD box for Highway sitting on the shelf at my local video store for ages and I've always passed, opting for something else. One day my best friend suggested hiring it, and I thought why not, I wasn't going to hire it any other time. At first glance it looks like your typical teen-targeted product-placement-riddled road movie. Upon watching it, there is much more to this film than its average cover art lets on.

Jared Leto is perfect as the hapless pill-popping "God Of F***" Jack Hayes, and Jake Gyllenhaal is equally suited to the role of Pilot, his stoner child-hood pal. Their performances are commendable, as they generate a feeling of genuine camaraderie between each other. John C. McGinley and Jeremy Piven both come out of nowhere with excellent performances as over-the-top drug dealers. And Selma Blair almost fades into the background; she's not a bad actress but doesn't really do anything to make her performances stand out. The story isn't five star material, but it doesn't have to be, and that's where the movie succeeds, it doesn't try to take itself too seriously.

Some of the previous reviews for Highway on this site have been particularly scathing, which is fair enough seeing as each person is entitled to their own opinion, but for people who have yet to see it I suggest giving it a chance before pre-forming an opinion. I personally thought it was a fun, fast paced and unpredictable road movie, much better than some other trash released in '02 (e.g. the laughably lame "The Tuxedo", the feeble Mummy series spin-off sword-in-sandal outing "The Scorpion King", and the pretentiously boring "The Hours" to name a few).

After reading the previous reviews, one thing is obvious, the reviewers couldn't connect with the film, and just didn't appreciate it for what it was...fun and entertaining, which is what a good film is supposed to be.

This is a well-acted and perfectly cast movie about a bunch of people on the outskirts of life whose mistakes carry them in the same direction: Seattle. You may not feel deeply enlightened when it's over, but you will have a bunch of laughs on the way. I don't know what happened to this film... it just slipped through the cracks and so everyone passes it off as uninteresting, but I rather thought it was one of those overlooked jewels you are glad to have discovered. The characters are eminently likable and have those appropriate, somewhat subdued emotional journeys that give the film it's real direction. Without a doubt worth the rent.

What's going on with the low ratings of this amazing film? A film filled with quirky scenes and outstanding character bits, this movie has plenty of stuff to keep any film buff intrigued and happy. The two leads do a great job of playing off one another in their madcap escape from inevitable danger, while meeting up with a very odd assortment of characters, such as Jeremy Piven as an off-the-wall drug dealer whose monologue is one of the more dynamic in recent film history; or John McGinley's off-beat role; or Selma Blair's warm and caring nature; or the strange alligator boy; or Seatle's grunge scene; or lots of clever lines of dialog handled quite well by Jared and Jake. This film deserves a round of second opinions, because it's a hell of a lot better than the reviews suggest.

i don't know what everyone's complaining about, a funny movie with pretty people...works for me. but i think i know a bit...lots of people who watched this have seen two movies they think are great;

it won't give you spiritual awakenings like donnie darko, it's not as dramatic as requeim for a dream.

thankfully. somebody's even complaining about 'happy ending'...pfft.

i give it a seven just to promote a rare modern movie that doesn't make me puke with music video cuts and dramatic substance for once.

plus i can't recollect seeing a movie that would (even slightly) use the times of grunge as it's background.