User reviews

This doesn't have too many votes yet, but it's a 5.7/10 on here so far. That's just crazy to me! Perhaps many of the people who've rated this film so far, have entirely forgotten, or perhaps never even realized, that they indeed are miracles.

This is a more thoughtful film than most, which in some regard revolves around fate and the human circumstance.

"It's like you wakeup one day, and you're just here. Like a stone, thrown into this world, but you don't know who threw it, or which direction it came from." - Maben

I would say it mostly revolves around two characters who have been through a lot of pain and struggle, and who are somewhat desperately trying to right their own paths.

"Maybe there will be a miracle, some way to begin again." - Maben

Not so sure why they're marketing this as an action genre film. Not a smart choice in my view. It's really not an action film overall. It's mostly a drama/thriller, and there are a few scenes with some action. In my view, marketing this as an action film will quite easily persuade some people to expect much more action than they should from it. And by doing this, the marketing team only sets some of these viewers up for at least some level of disappointment, because the expectation they set is not met. Some advice for the people behind this film, get a new marketing team for your next project. I'm certain there'd be less disappointed reactions if everyone just went into this film thinking that it was a drama/thriller, as it mostly is.

*** Partial Spoiler Below ***

This could be considered a film noir, however the end can't really be seen as dark in my view.

Garrett Hedlund (Russell) "I don't recall anything about no huntin' rifle in the New Testament."

Mel Gibson (Mitchell) "Well, you can only turn so many cheeks, and I only got four, so..."

7.5/10.

Based on Michael Farris Smith's celebrated novel, Some audience critics like me call it a "slow burn". That it is, however I think the story was directed as well as it could have been. It was not a disappointing movie though. The story and the acting kept my attention and it was splendid all the way through.

Garret Hedlund, reminds me of a young Sam Elliot and and Willa Fitzgerald are both seasoned actors and did a darn good job staying true to the characters as written. Mel Gibson was in a supporting role in this movie and didn't steal the limelight. He is such a good actor and consummate professional.

. It's not an action movie. It's a story of broken people trying to find their way in life. People that don't have a lot of material means. I highly recommend a viewing.

Sometimes when you've lost everything, you have nowhere to go but up. Other times when you've lost everything, you just want to get to the next day. This film is deep. Two people from different lives that end up intersecting in the depths of bad times. The story telling is natural, pulls you in. It's hard to find the bad guy because everyone is hurting. Regret, attempts toward redemption, the support of family because they truly love you. Lots of stages of life shown here. Lots of coping with poor choices and attempts to find a new way. Attempts to reconcile wherever you are right now. This film has some deep feelings and heartfelt dialog mixed in with some gritty action. Great acting, excellent directing, and just the right amount of musical score. A good film that should be given a chance.

Very good film. Primary themes include the challenges of redemption and forgiveness. Outstanding performances by Willa Fitzgerald, Garrett Hedlund, and Ryan Hurst. Some excellent lines and monologues, surely taken right from the book. Those who are saying it is too slow were not connecting with the emotional tension of the characters, because that tension is intense throughout. These are people who are now (or were previously) broken by mistakes (theirs and others) and by their own personal demons, but who are striving to redeem and overcome.

There are some minor plot issues along the lines of too much coincidence or convenience to bring characters together and push forward the plot. But believe me, most movies have much worse flaws. This one is worth watching.

Struggling single mom Maben (Willa Fitzgerald) and her young daughter Annalee return to their home town in the deep south. She tries prostitution at the nearby truck stop when she's picked up by a sheriff deputy. The deputy rapes her and calls for his friends. She manages to steal his gun and shoot him dead. Meanwhile, Russell (Garrett Hedlund) is released from prison and goes home to his father Mitchell (Mel Gibson).

I hate that one giant coincidence in the middle of this movie. It could be lessen if he's the one who spots her first. I do love the gritty southern noir style atmosphere. The actors do good work. I'm even fine with Mel in this one. Ryan Hurst is impressively unhinged. The movie is a bit too long at almost two hours and it's stretched too far after the climax. This is very good except for those two issues.

1 hour 50 which should have been cut to 1 hour 30. The weakness was not in the production, or acting, or even the script. It was let down by an at times, inconsistent, incoherent plot. Characters seemed to do a 180 degrees on their motivations and behaviours to each other, with no proper explanation. All got a bit messy, trying to tie plotlines together with coincidences and ambiguities.

Nevertheless, it passed the time, but may leave some viewers dissatisfied, whereas a quick rewrite and tidy up, could have resulted in a rock steady good old Southern drama. Mel G of course, just had to introduce elements of his religion, though they were not too intrusive, those not so inclined can easily dismiss them with a roll of the eyes.

Decent enough thriller, and much deserving of better current overall rating of 5.7

Garrett Hedland does a good job in the main male role, though the bigger name of Mel Gibson adds a bit of prestige to the film.

But the main acting honours goes to Willa Fitzgerald who reminds me a lot of Julia Garner which is no bad thing. Not for the first time Ryan Hurst is cast as the villain in the movie, which is getting a bit tiresome now

In summary though a good watch considering how quick the film was made (2 weeks) and probably on a cheap budget, and plenty of worse higher rated similar movies around so give it a shot.

This movie was nothing more. I would almost say that it seems like the film was made out of sheer desperation. As if someone realized that this story had to be made into a movie. The reason I started watching the movie was actually Mel Gibson's merit. A little surprising that he lends his name to these productions made by an independent Producers. Now, Mel Gibson's character was not the main actor, he was seen for maybe 5 minutes in the whole movie, but it was still fun to see him. The other roles were played by actors I do not know and have not seen in any other films. The character Larry I never really understood how they managed to squeeze him into the script. Unnecessary character and the one who played Larry didn't do a good job either. Overall, this was a movie I could have done without.

DESPERATION ROAD is one of those southern screen dramas that I end up hating due to the pacing and lack of originality. It's a small scale family thing in which a woman and her daughter struggle to nagivate the usual difficult path, with deadbeats, small time gangsters and dropouts at every turn. The film is adequately shot in the great outdoors for the most part, but the script is senseless and the action is oddly static; very little transpires from beginning to end. Mel Gibson figures predominantly on the advertising, but he has only a small supporting role in this one and doesn't stand out at all.

I was surprised, as this one flew under the radar (at least for me) but I really enjoyed this flick.

It's slow burn of a movie with a decent grounded story and good directing. Excellent acting performances all around,

The cast offers excellent performances all around.

Willa Ford was very good at portraying the "damaged" mother. I wasn't familiar with Garrett Hedlund but he was excellent as the quite and remorseful antagonist.

I love Ryan Hurst since Remember the titans and Sons of Anarchy and he doesn't disappoint here Mel Gibson is good as the father and even the little girl is excellent and doesn't take you out of the movie (like it happens a lot).

I really recommend it if you want to experience an unassuming movie that punches above it's weight.

The good: real fine quality actors who do carry this story about a young poor couple (she a prostitue, he an ex-prisoner) struggling to make their marriage work, with a young daughter caught in between all the upheaval that a life with a mother as a prostitute brings with it.

Kinda bleak and somewhat sad and depressing as well, but simultaneously a real gritty life portrait of two young lovers struggling to get by.

Any bad? Beware that Mel Gibson only has got a small supporting role as a father for a few minutes. So this is definitely NOT a Mel Gibson movie. The other actors are fine though, so no problem with that, but...

However good the actors are, this drama fails to become truly gripping. It's more of a bleak and slowburning portrait than a gripping drama. I was missing some spark and punch...

But that's about my only gripe I can think of, besides the soundtrack being a bit too obtrusive and present all the time as if we as viewers dont know WHEN a scene is dramatic without this bombastic soundscore droning on constantly in the background.

Not great, but certainly not bad at all either. A gritty and bleak portrait of a young couple struggling with life, probably best suited for the more patient art house movie fans.

Whoever directed this movie should never be trusted with making another film. EVER. It's so poorly directed you will want to pull your hair out.

It's slow as mollasses, with a horrible backing musical track that will drive you nuts., because it makes the movie seem even slower.

It's too bad Mel Gibsom continues to be forced to appear in these "C" pictures. He's got way more talent and it's wasted on garbage like this.

He seems to be making a ton of these low budget movies lately. Wish he would do a small, good, picture like "Dragged Across Concrete," which was so good I saw it three times!

It's really too bad he's teamed with really bad directors lately.

Garrett Hedlund- Russell - After being released from prison, Russel reconnects with his family and friend. He struggles making peace with his past and the loss of his mother while incarcerated. Garrett plays this character with a somber and brooding attitude, in a a low timbre. I think Garrett does a great job making Russel feel real relatable.

Willa Fitzgerald - Maben- Maben struggles to make a life for herself and her daughter Analee. Willa Fitzgerald is the stand out star of this film for me. From the moment she appears on screen, I was glued to her performance. Willa brought such realism to Maben. I could feel her pain, joy, and resilience. Definitely a diamond in the rough.

Mel Gibson- Mitchell- Russels father. Mel Gibson is very much a supporting character in this movie, despite being on the cover of the DVD. Mitchel is there to support his son, and help where he can. He feels like a plot device to help move things forward. Honestly, Mel could have been replaced by any older actor and the effect would have been the same.

Thought this was going to be more action-oriented, but its more of a noir character piece. The visuals were really well done, shots framed nicely. Shot in 16 days! Which is crazy.

Main characters don't meet until 52 mins in (out of 1hr52 min runtime), which is waaaay too late. It felt like two separate films at times. It took even longer to get background info on them.

Theres a lot of extra content in the movie that seems very out of place. Theres a scene of Russels past partner, who was not mentioned before and we don't see again.

Then we have the character of Larry, the main antagonist. Usually this kind of role is one-dimensional, a way to create conflict. But instead, a large chunk of this film is the Larry Show. We see his marital problems, drinking problems, fathering problems, etc. He even gets a big finale. I like that they were trying to make him more rounded, but it was all too much. Felt like we learned more about him than the two leads!

This all hurt the pacing of the film and left it feeling overly long. Without these, the viewer could focus more on the intertwining stories of Maben and Russel. It could have been more enjoyable to piece together their mysteries.

It feels like we are piecing together the mystery, a very Noir plot. Every action felt significant. There was a decent amount of tension. And the conclusion felt satisfying. You just have to fight through all the extra stuff to get there.

Desperation Road is a heavy tale of the human struggle and redemption. Russel and Maben feel as if they are connected by an invisible thread. I enjoyed seeing how the film laid out their journeys, with the exception of the odd side character tales. I give Desperation Road, a staunch 6.5/10.

-GremlinLord615 - Video version on YT.

Grim slow-burn Southern Noir is just too grim to enjoy or to enlighten. A down-on-her-luck single mom is hooking her way across the south going from truck stop to truck stop, daughter in tow, trying to get back home to Mississippi. When she's arrested and then assaulted by a dirty cop, she shoots him in self-defense and then goes on the run. As with most noir thrillers, things spiral downward from there. There are loads of secondary characters and subplots that probably worked for a novel but should have been eliminated or trimmed down for a film, which is probably a result of the novel's author adapting his work and not wanting to let anything go. However, in the film's favor, Willa Fitzgerald, who plays the hard-luck single mother, and who is a new actress to me is fantastic. Even though I felt somewhat distant from the material, she draws the audience into her character and is now an actress who I can't wait to see in more films. I also very much appreciated the look and style of the film and director Nadine Crocker's choice to focus on actors and atmosphere over showy camera stylistics, which is atypical of most neo-noirs. She too is someone who I want to see more of and plan to watch her one previous film. Mel Gibson is another standout, playing the religious father of a recently released ex-con. Overall, DESPERATION ROAD is well crafted and features some stellar dialogue by Michael Farris Smith, but is rather meandering, so unrelentingly grim it was hard to enjoy, and a slow-burn film that failed ever catch fire. Still, it's worth checking out.

The story could also be told in 30 minutes. But it is extended until it is no longer possible. Watching the seemingly endless scenes made me vacillate between aggression and laughter because it's just boring and you want to speed up the actors yourself. Was it written by a sloth?

I don't understand why Mel Gibson, who has made super exciting films like Apocalypto, Passion Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, ... as a producer, did not noticed this and helpded out. Is it only for the money???

Halfway through the movie it was already clear how everything is connected, you wait and wait until the protagonists realize it and finally act.

Unfortunately, the big old stars are no longer a guarantee of quality anywhere.

A simple, honest attempt to make a good movie.

I loved the overall idea and setup, sort of a countryside atmosphere, the views, the takes on questions of life and religion, the slow burn, thoughts on redemption - whole picture comes well together.

Characters felt natural and realistic, plenty likable ones to root for. The cast is perfect.

Story is probably the weakest aspect of the movie for me here. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't any clever or mysterios, or entangled (and I really feel like story is usually the most important part in a movie). Just simple straightforward plot with a cheesy twist. It could've been better if another path was chosen, a harder or more complicated one. But then, I guess, this wasn't the point of the movie. It seems that this movie aimed to be what it was.

I enjoyed it, I would describe it as simple and wholesome. Cruel, yet honest. Light, yet meaningful. It should leave a warm feeling after watching, if you let it sink in.

It might also be a good choice to fall asleep to.

The thing most distracting to me was the extremely poor camera work. Might as well have just listened to this as a book on tape because most of the time I couldn't See anything! It was either so dark I could barely figure out who was in the shot or the camera appeared to be focused on the ceiling because whole conversations took place without me seeing who was on screen. Its really exhausting to try to follow a movie this chopped up and badly presented. In fact I'm wondering why it was even introduced to the public like this. It was like watching a kid play with his camera while attempting to tell a story.

So be prepared to be pleasantly surprised... Garret Hedlund is maybe at his best in years as the ex-con Russel trying to make amends when he hurtled back into his past by the arrival of troubled young mother Maben (Fitzgerald) and her daughter.

Complicating things are run ins with Larry who is out for revenge (Hurst) as well as reconnecting with his ex wife Sarah ( Thomas) who is now re married ; which is actually really moving scene. Mel Gibson lends his star power to his brief yet effective screen time as Russels Dad. Complaints range mostly for the unnecessary heavy handed semotional score.

No pun intended - and no connection to the movie ... well other that the main actress of that other movie plays quite the big role here too. A really good actress and one that is quite in distress here (too). She finds herself at the wrong end of a police control ... and things only get ... well I would say worse, but definitely complicated with how that interaction ends.

You will find other well known actors - like Mel Gibson who seems to be on the rise up again ... if only he was able to stop rambling nonsense ... but that aside, it is the woman who plays the main role and the others are just supporting (characters) to her.

A decent thriller with a predictable story, but still enjoyable.

Clint Eastwood for me is the master of drama. But I have this feeling that Mel Gibson will soon be taking the baton from him. He has been delivering some really amazing pictures. This was so beautiful. The story was adorable. The acting was great. The cinematography was ok. I honestly don't have anything to complain about.

It sure baffles me that this movie has such a low rating. I don't know what else anyone would want to see in this, that would lead them to give it anything less than 6.

Alot of times I had to stop myself from shredding tears. That should tell you how invested I was with this one.

If you love drama, twisted love story, fate, then this movie is for you.