Customer Reviews

Freeway [VHS]

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

A 15-year-old illiterate girl named Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon, about 19 at the time) lives in a crummy motel with her lunatic, methadone-addicted, prostitute mother (Amanda Plummer in an incredible performance) and crack-smoking, child-molesting step father (Michael T. Weiss, of The Pretender, as you have never seen him....before or since). When mom and dad get arrested for about the 100th time, poor young Vanessa evades Child Protective Services custody, gets a gun from her black, gangster fiance (Bokeem Woodbine) who can't join her because of a parole hearing in the morning and who is immediately murdered in a drive-by shooting, and, wearing a red jacket and carrying a basket, she heads for Grandma's house (ala Little Red Riding Hood), only to have car trouble and be picked up by the dreaded I-5 rapist, pederast, and serial murderer (Keiffer Sutherland)....now here is the best part: this is a COMEDY !!!

Granted, it is the blackest of dark comedies, but make no mistake, this gem offers some of the most hilarious dialog and situations you will even see on film. Brilliantly written and directed by newcomer Matthew Bright, it features superb performances by a remarkable cast, including an almost unrecognizable Brittany Murphy as a deranged, paint-sniffing lesbian with a face that is hacked up like a post-Christmas ham.

Possibly due to its unorthodox tone and content, this 1996 masterpiece never received the marketing and public release it deserved, but was still selected by critics (including Roger Ebert) as one of the finest films of the year.

If you want to see a performance by Reese Witherspoon that makes all her subsequent roles, including Ring of Fire, look like high school plays, then please give this DVD a try. It isn't the cute, cuddly, predictable Reese of recent times, but an infinitely more entertaining, gun-toting, butt-kicking, foul-mouthed wild woman who doesn't take kindly to those who dare to treat her with disrespect. Like Kill Bill and True Romance, this movie features strong women in situations where attempted victimization by men inevitably leads to mayhem....and a lot of dead, disfigured men.

This is a very special movie that will appeal to those who enjoy the gritty action and dark comedic aspects of movies like Pulp Fiction, True Romance, and Kill Bill. Matthew Bright hit a major home run on his first time up to bat and has, unfortunately, struck out since. His DVD commentary track will help you understand and appreciate the intricacies of this truly great movie and the personal, somewhat bizarre eccentricities of the director who made it all happen.

Better than both "Seven" and "Natural Born Killers", director Matthew Bright's "Freeway" is a looseleaf modern view of Red Riding Hood where Reese Witherspoon plays Red traveling to Grandma's house.

Only she takes this trip after her prostitute mother and junkie stepdad are arrested, she escapes the cluthces of foster care, she says goodbye to her fiancee who is then murdered in a driveby shooting, she hitches a ride with a psycho who turns out to be a mass murderer, she kills a few people, ends up in lockup, escapes, finally makes it to Gradma's house, where some more bloody action takes place.

Oh yes, she has homosexual and heterosexual sex, spends a lot of time saying the "F" word, brutalizes most anyone that gets in her way, and otherwise creates mayhem for everybody. Sounds like your typical Reese Witherspoon role, eh? No, not by a long shot.

But one thing about her role -- she is fantastic, out of this world great. She is twice the actress in this role she was playing June Carter Cash, for which she won an Oscar as best actress. On the basis of these roles, Witherspoon must be considered one of the best actresses extant right now.

As the description here and on Amazon indicates, this movie presses the envelope of the "R" rating as far as possible without slipping over into NC-17. There is gory, bloody violence throughout this film, nudity and more "F" and "F"ing talk than you heard by Matt Damon when he played that low-class genius at Harvard. Someone told me they said "F" 147 times in that movie. Witherspoon herself must say it that many times here.

But none of this diminishes the astonishing electricity and action that swallows the viewer right from the opening scene, where junkie-hooker mom gets arrested and weirdo-junkie stepdad forces Reese to do the nasty while mom's out earning a living. There is an uncompromising level of reality in these characterization, too, although it's clearly an over the top psycho young Sutherland plays.

In an astonishing bit of casting, squeeky clean prom queen type Brooke Shields is cast as the uptight, upscale wife to lurid pervent and child molester Sutherland, whose character is even more disgusting than Witherspoon's. While everyone wants Sutherland rubbed out, Witherspoon manages to keep viewer sympathy because of for her terrible place in life even throughout her ongoing antisocial activities. Other players, incluidng Dan Hedaya as a cop with sympathies all over the place, contribute a lot to this film.

This is recommended for viewers unafraid to look inside the dark side of our culture where youngsters like the one Witherspoon plays actually exist. There is nothing pretty or orderly about this movie; much of it seems upside down. But it is unrelentingly exciting and is full of action in almost every scene, action you may never have seen in a film before.

Well, if you were ever curious about what a psychotic retelling of the LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD fairy tale would look like, here's your chance to quench your imaginative appetite. I was not exactly sure what I was getting into when I bought this flick but don't worry: you won't know what you're in for, either.

In this case Little Red Riding Hood is played by Reese Witherspoon. Unfortunately, she comes from a Dysfunctional family (with a capital "D"). With no place to go except foster care (gasp!) she decides to go visit grandma.

Along her way she's picked up by the big bad wolf (portrayed by Keifer Sutherland). They have a rather bizarre ride and then things really get interesting. What does all this have to do with the children's story? You'll have to watch to find out!

There is a Brooke Shields sighting as she plays Mrs. Big Bad Wolf. All of the actors in the film seem to have fun with the movie; you could tell in their acting that they had a good time making this macabre, twisted adult fairy tale.

If you're in the mood for something "different" this movie might be for you. A word of caution, however: FREEWAY is not for the squeamish. It does not score very high on the scale of good taste, and it's obvious they meant it to be that way. If, however, you choose to take the next exit and get on the FREEWAY, hang on for the ride of your life!

Freeway is a dark comedy about a girl from a poor white trash family. Her mother is hooker who walks the neighborhood streets while her horny step-father stalks Vanessa. She gets fed up and decides to run away and meet her grandmother. On the way, she gets picked up by Bob the guidance councelor. She discovers that Bob is not such a wonderful guy and she punishes him severely. Vanessa's court room scene is hysterical and I almost felt sorry for Bob while laughing the entire time.

This is the best modern interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood to date. What if Red Riding Hood were trailer trash taking the family jalopy to Grandma's house in order to avoid getting put in foster care? What if the wolf were a serial killer that picked up girls along the particular freeway which lead to Grandma's house?

Reese Witherspoon is Red Riding Hood, or Vanessa Lutz, as she is named in this incarnation of the Grimm girl. Her momma (Amanda Plummer) turns tricks for drug money, while her stepdaddy (Michael T. Weiss) is a child molesting addict sitting around the motel in which they live, watching TV and getting trashed. When both of her parents are arrested, quick thinking Vanessa informs the police that she has a grandmother in Stockton that will take her in so that she can avoid getting shuffled into the system. Mind you, she isn't lying, but she has no idea how grandma will feel about her arrival. So, she basically escapes the P.O. and leaves it all behind, including her boyfriend, a hood rat that happens to be black. This fine point becomes important later on, so pay attention.

Unfortunately, the road to grandma's is fraught with danger due to the "I-5 Killer", and our Red Riding outta da 'hood breaks down on the way there. She accepts the ride from the cleverly named Mr. Wolverton (Keifer Sutherland), and all hell breaks loose.

Witherspoon is convincing, hilarious, tough, and intelligent despite gross ignorance of a lot of things, including the concept of literacy. Sutherland is a very scary man, and I could never have imagined anyone else in this role. Brooke Shields plays Mrs. Wolverton, a wife in denial of her serial killer husband's double life, and she is perfectly (and surprisingly) neurotic, and memorable in her relatively small role. Look for Brittany Murphy in the girls' facility as a lesbian nympho who's done way too many drugs. There's a classic fight scene in the prison there too that left me slackjawed the first time I saw it. Heh. It was great.

A darkly hysterical take on the old fairy tale, this is not for the feint of heart or easily offended. For those who can hack it, this is probably one of the most underrated comedy-thrillers of all time. And keep in mind, that it is a /fairy tale/ should be enough to forgive a few of the plot flaws, which are not distracting enough to even get into in this review.

You will enjoy every twisted moment of this interpretation of Grimm.

It's not a comedy. It is an emotionally charged story of survival and the ability of a 15 year old girl, from a boken home, to fight being handled and stereotyped by the system.
Reese Witherspoon plays the teen {she was 20 at the time} with such amazing fortitude that you really would'nt want to tangle with her. Mr. Sutherland arrives quietly and subdued with a slick performance that sometimes reminded me of his father.
Again it's not a comedy. But these 2 characters will give you some hysterical and funny vignettes to send you howling. Reese kicks it up and Kiefer has a well deserved epiphany.
Be patient. It's a slow start but stick with it. A truly fine film.

"Freeway" has basically the same premise as "Little Red Riding Hood." Except, well, add some drugs, prostitution, psychopathic serial killers, rape, and dead bodies and you've got FREEWAY's premise down perfectly.

Reese Witherspoon, who is wonderful in the role, is a prime example of white trash. He mother is a crack addict and a prostitute, who solicits right outside of the motel they live in. Her evil stepfather, also a drug addict, sexually abuses her. 15-year-old Vannessa Lutz has been in countless foster homes, and in almost every one the treatment was no better. All the trauma in her life has made her a very angry person....and anyone who stands in her way will pay for it.

One fine day -- while the whole city seems to be worried about the brutal "I-5 Killer" in the Los Angeles area -- her mother tries to sell herself to the wrong person -- a police officer. As if that wasn't bad enough, she gets caught with drugs and paraphenalia. The same happens to the abusive stepfather, and both deadbeat parents are hauled off to jail. Vannessa escapes her Social Worker, and steals her car and starts heading up to Northern California, where she plans to live with her estranged grandmother.

The fun really begins here. The old clunker of a car Vanessa stole breaks down, and a friendly psychologist, Bob Wolverton (played wonderfully by the great Keifer Sutherland) stops to help her. It appears her car is down for the count, so he offers to take her up to Stockton (where her grandmother is), because he was heading up that direction anyway. From there, Vanessa embarks on a crazy, dimented and warped adventure, that will make us laugh and cringe at the same time.

This film has a certain "Natural Born Killers" taset to it, but pulls off what NBL failed to do (I don't know about you, but I despised NBL). Perhaps this movie may be considered as an "exploitation" film, but in any case, FREEWAY works in every way possible.

The directing is superb, and Danny Elfman's score is highly entertaining, and one of the best (arguably) original scores I've heard in the 90s.

The dialogue is also beyond belief. Amazing, and even entertaining lines in this movie. And, ahem, Keifer Sutherland has a cute little line in this movie that will have you rolling on the floor, and rewinding fifty billion times.

I highly reccomend FREEWAY. Weather you're bored or not, you will LOVE this movie, which makes my top ten list.

I didn't expect anything from this movie.
For one thing, I had never heard of it, and secondly it starred a young Reese Witherspoon, an actress I don't particularly care for.
What a shock it was, however, to find this movie both original and hilariously funny! In parts disturbing and morbid, it never took itself too seriously and managed to pull off an all-together entertaining movie. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys over-the-top films with Tarantino-style writing and great one-liners - you'll be quoting this movie for weeks.

I never tire of watching this movie but it's not because I can relate to the characters. There's
something sick and twisted about all of them, as well as the odd fascination for a film that was
marketed as Little Red Riding Hood for the 90's.

Our newly crowned Queen of the Oscars, Reese Witherspoon, leans heavily on her Nashville roots to
perfect Vanessa Lutz, a 15 year old gun toting, ass whipping tornado of bravado and charm hell bent
on retribution because..."I'm pissed off and the world owes me." You see, Vanessa was raised the
illiterate daughter of a street corner hooker with a methadone habit and ex-con step-father who likes
hitting the crack pipe before hitting on Vanessa. Our heroine decides to punch out in the family wagon
after mom and dad are hauled off to jail, to go visit her estranged Grandma. Things soon get interesting
when her car breaks down, and she is offered assistance by the ultra-slimey Keifer Sutherland as the
"I-5 Killer" Bob Wolverton.

Enter gunshots, cops, juvie detention, catfights, jailbreaks, and side splitting courtroom hilarity. Reese
deserved some recognition for this role, she's awesome, and she actually won a few obscure Best Actress
awards in Europe. I'm sure there's some deep message about today's dysfunctional society and it's overlords,
but damned if I care. Check your brain at the door and relax, Vanessa will handle the situation.

The DVD is actually not bad with an above average transfer and very good 5.1 audio. Also an interesting
commentary by writer/director Matthew Bright, who also scored with Modern Vampires, but bombed with Freeway II.
5 Trailers

This movie is one of the funniest films ever made. True its a dark comedy and sometimes your unsure of whether to laugh or cringe but the movie is without a doubt unforgettable. Trust me, even the prudest of you out there will have to at least crack a smile at the outrageous lines this movie delivers!