Open Road

Okay, first of all, it's not a bad little movie, very much like Francis Coppola's 2nd movie The Rain People, acting is fine, Juliette Lewis is as good as always, at least for what she's got to do with. Script is lean and it ponders along but with nice touches. It's very 60's in some way so I guess it brings back some memories being a boomer. Definitely not for everyone, much more for those who have a whimsical bent to their personalities, just a little drive in the country, so to speak. I don't know what the negative reviews go on about, it's clearly not for them so they should go watch Juno a few more times. Performances are fine for everyone here, not an earth-shaker but a nice bit of time spent. I give it a 7 not for my best-of films, but for this particular genre of what one might call drift movies.

This movie feels (at best) like a 1980's after-school special, with lower production values and dialog that would embarrass a 1940's comic book writer. When it feels like it breaks the after-school special mode, it is merely because it slips into feeling like an old VHS tape shared by all the local xian churches.

Juliette Lewis was the selling point for me and she failed to deliver, I can blame her on some levels but the writing was just so atrocious that I am shocked she took the part. Andy Garcia must have been bored, and the lead actress basically derps from scene to scene without actually acting.

simple story. very well acted. dialog i would guess is at least partly improvised, since it comes across very fresh and direct. very well acting in the smaller characters. male main actor totally convincing in his early going as the young gun, then later in his transformation as a ... man.

the camera finds a good blend of hand held realism without being trashy. i enjoyed it very much. i believe this is not as simply done as it looks like.

i understand why some might not like this movie. this is no cinema for everyone. but this is good, solid and modern film making in every bit of the piece. definitely a director who knows very well how to treat actors. i don't think i have seen many pictures where i had the feeling of such well done actor-directing. juliette lewis makes so much out of here scenes, it is unbelievable.

i must say i am usually not a huge fan of camilla belle, since i feel like she depends too much on her (admittedly stunning) looks, but in this picture it fit the role very well that she is always quite distant. yet in the scenes where she could not do it here, cause a scene depended on her opening up, she really closed this very distance and was convincing on all levels.

solid work in all departments. great work in actor directing. 9 out of 1o.

g

...could have been really good. The acting seemed a little stiff and almost like the actors were a bit bored. I have seen all the main actors in other movies and in those, they were great. This movie brought up some good ideas but they were either never developed further (so, why raise them in the first place) or they were not resolved. And, there were a few instances where I was a bit confused as to how that situation came about, although, I figured it out fairly quickly. There are much worse movies showing on "mainstream" circuit. It was also pleasant to watch a movie with no violence, gore, swearing etc. With a bit more story development and more convincing acting, wow, what a wonderful movie this could have been. So, overall, not bad.

This movie had some heart but was slow moving and frustrating throughout. Anyone that shut off would not attract friends as easily as Angie did. The ending, however, was mostly unexpected and very sweet.