Customer Reviews

The Open Road [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a big Jeff Bridges fan and appreciate everything he has done and such, but I didn't feel grabbed by this one at all. Not that there were horrible performances or bad film making, it just had a slew of little things peppered throughout that made me not give this the above average recommendation.

The story follows a minor league ball player (Timberlake) suffering a slump, who has to get his famous big league dad (Bridges) to make a final visit to his estranged and dying ex-wife. Through some poorly staged events, they have to make it a road trip together across several states (instead of flying) to make this union happen. The scenery is quite beautiful in some of the sequences, and it even upstages some of the sparse dialogue as the long-parted kin find a way to re-connect. Kate Mara is the tag-along friend who offers the love interest of Timberlake, but the chemistry never materializes in ways it should have.

The Blu quality is average to below average, with the strong showing being the opening aerial shot of the baseball game (must have used a different camera - they usually seem to in those kinds of scenes). Some of the color/contrasts in the open road shots shine nicely, but the amount of indoor and dark sequences show several weaknesses. The 5.1 is uneventful, and the only supplement offers little insight other than some typical fluff. Did not get to the commentary as I could not venture sitting through this twice. Three for the film content and Mr. Bridges (the supporting cast of Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton are not present enough to warrant dissecting their screen time). I love road films so maybe this will give you some light entertainment on a slow night.

As Jeff Bridges, to me, has always been one of the most underrated actors of his period--I'm glad to see him finally getting the recognition he deserves. His recent Oscar win for "Crazy Heart" is just a capper on his previous four nominations (The Last Picture Show, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Starman, and The Contender) which spanned nearly 40 years. Aside from "Picture Show," these films only hint at Bridges' range and I've always maintained that his best work often flew under the radar (Tucker: The Man And His Dream, The Fisher King, the incredible Oscar worthy Fearless, and dare I mention The Dude from The Big Lebowski) and were the true heights of his acting genius. It's only natural that Bridges has settled into somewhat of a comfort zone and "The Open Road" is a film he could do in his sleep. Playing a disheveled and obstinate man in a mid-life crisis has been Bridges' go-to role for several years now and it's on display again in this dysfunctional road trip dramedy.

Justin Timberlake plays a struggling minor league ball player who is distressed to learn that his mother (Mary Steenburgen) is in need of a heart operation. She refuses the procedure unless her ex-husband (Timberlake's father Bridges) comes to see her. Bridges plays a former baseball champion now boozing through his glory years signing autographs and reliving past successes. Needless to say, his relationship with his son is fairly non-existent and suitably strained. Timberlake and faithful gal pal (and former girlfriend) Kate Mara fly out to retrieve Bridges at a baseball convention. Of course, if this were the real world--there wouldn't be much drama to this scenario. But through movie magic and contrived situations, the three are forced into a road trip across country. It's not the least bit believable, but are these things ever? What do you suspect might happen? If I have to tell you, you don't see many movies! There are plenty of confrontations between Bridges and Timberlake, unexpected bonding, mild humor and anything else that might provoke a new understanding between the central characters.

Many people I know have attacked this movie due to Timberlake (this was prior to him appearing in higher profile roles). In truth, he's fine. I appreciated that he actually wanted to do something more low key and small to develop his talent. Bridges is, of course, a reliable trooper. But the movie's secret weapon, to my mind, is the thoroughly charming Mara. I've liked her for years (check out Transsiberian if you haven't seen it), but here she really gets a chance to hold her own. Look, nothing in "The Open Road" will surprise you from a plotting standpoint--but it is an agreeable and amiable diversion. I certainly liked it, but its lack of surprises or originality keep it firmly grounded as a pleasant, but not great, experience. If you are a fan of any of the principles, check this out. Slight and predictable, but fairly engaging nevertheless. KGHarris, 10/11.

Oscar winner Jeff Bridges try to be the glue in this piece, he tries too hard. His role as a self centered, washed up Veteran Ball player who really does not want to be the responsible one in life. He also is estranged from his son, who he has not kept in touch with for years.

Justin Timberlake shows his acting chops here. in this reviewer's opinion, He needs a few more classes, but he tries hard here. His role as a Baseball player who is in a bad playing slump. His mother (Mary Steenburgen) is refusing a heart operation unless she sees her estranged husband (Bridges). He bring his former girlfriend (Kate Mara) for support.

Bridges states he forgot his wallet, so they drive. The father and son try to reconnect, but each are too hard headed foreach other to let their guards down.

The film is disjointed tale of fathers and sons. There are times it clicked together on so many levels.Then other times, the tempo and the dialog makes this film fall apart. Making this film more of a chores to view

This is the kind of film you want to rent after all your main selections have gone.

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

The Open Road is definitely a disappointment for a couple different reasons. For one thing, Jeff Bridges plays a fairly annoying father character more often than not.

Alright *sometimes* he's not so bad, such as -to mention the storyline in small detail- whenever Bridges son tries forcing his father to come back home and visit his ex-wife (the sons mother) in the hospital, and the character of Jeff Bridges constantly finds sneaky ways to get out of it such as sneaking off to a bar, sneaking into a bathroom, or just putting on an unexpected disappearing act. Or was that woman supposed to be his *current* wife? Who knows. The storyline was hardly ever specific enough because it never developed to its full potential.

The film is supposed to be a light comedy with a sprinkle of drama elements to make you feel satisfied by the end of the movie, but well... the "feel good" moments are more like "feel like total crap" because they aren't actually any good either. These particular segments focus on the teenage boy bringing his girlfriend to the location of Jeff Bridges, everyone getting into needless fights with each other in the middle of nowhere, and bringing the father back to the boys mother.

In addition to that, the storyline focuses on the confusing relationship troubles between both the son and his girlfriend. So if anything, the film is supposed to show viewers what it's like for two adults to have relationship difficulties as well as two teens.

Yes that's right- I mention a trip. Jeff Bridges, his teenage son and the girlfriend all travel across country on a road trip (and mostly find themselves in the small towns and fields of Kentucky). Now I've seen my share of "country road trip" type films over the last 10 years, and this one is CLEARLY inferior to most. It's one boring trip, that's for sure!

Jeff Bridges just never came across as an interesting enough main character to keep my attention very long. Throughout the entire film, the only time I laughed was the moment where he got into a fight with his son, stormed out of the car, and fell over on the ground. That was the ultimate moment of humor there... and it stunk.

I don't even recall any mention of why the mother was in the hospital to begin with. Just that she insisted her son bring Jeff Bridges to her NOW. I won't spoil what happens at the end, but let's just say, it was extremely melodramatic, making the build-up and the whole road trip very unsatisfying and pointless. All the frequent baseball talk was pointless too.

The film is extremely brief at just over 80 minutes, and feels undeveloped and lacks focus most of the time. A pretty big letdown.

I am a big fan of Justin Timberlake so I always like to go out and see his movies. He is not one of my favorite actors. He is my favorite music artist. Anyway, I thought the movie was pretty good. It was funny at times. I thought Justin did pretty good. I have seen all his movies and I can see every time he is getting better. I thought he did pretty good in this movie. Jeff Bridge character was just annoying. Maybe because he reminded me of my dead beat dad. I did rent it from the library but I would actually like to buy this one.

I was disappointed --Timberlake was not all that convincing but watching Jeff Bridges nail his role made this a worthwhile movie.

You'd figure a road trip with Jeff Bridges riding shotgun is automatically an adventurous sojourn?..However, this stretch of highway hokem is bumpy and worse, boring..The soggy plot is pure country corn, so shamelessly soaked in sorghum, you get cavities simply staring at it..I took a seat, confident any comedic vehicle starring Jeff Bridges packed multiple laugh-out-loud moments, and worth the travel time..After 20 minutes of incoherence and tedium, I was car sick, ready to bail out, and thumb it, rather than endure more unctious belly-aching by Justin Timberlake..Whoever greenlighted this clunker needs their driver's license revoked?..Sorry movie lovers, as much as I admire all things Jeff Bridges, this is Texas roadkill..By all means, do see "Crazy Heart" soon, a more apt and thought provoking performance by Jeff Bridges exuding inimitable country boy charm as Bad Blake, a washed up hat act ala Willie or Waylon..That's the ticket worth the tab!..On this sidewinding excursion, save some time, call a cab!..

Good actors, bad movie. Sad, boring and somewhat mean-spirited. The plot and the movie will cure insomnia. I kept falling asleep watching this, but like a fool, would go back to try to finish it the next night, hoping that SOMETHING would be funny or interesting. Well, it never did get interesting, it wasn't funny, and the story wasn't much of a story. Maybe the editor and director fell asleep while making it, or someone lost half the script and made the movie anyhow.

If this goes on sale for a penny, you might get your money's worth.

Written by Dear Miss Mermaid, Author of "Hurricanes and Hangovers".

Nearly everyone loves Jeff Bridges & Mary Steenburgen - of course - always - they are simply wonderful. Justin Timberlake, however, is sneaking up on super stardom a subtle way. If you'll really watch him in this movie, and in Black Snake Moan, you'll get it. He's chosen parts (or someone has brilliantly cast him and he accepted the parts) opposite Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen in this movie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan...to really show his stuff - just, wow. I was never a big fan of his music (too old), but he is just wonderful as an actor. And Kate Mara - the perfect compliment here. Thank goodness for Netflix for recommending movies for me to watch....otherwise I would've missed this one...so glad I didn't. It's listed as a comedy on Netflix, but really isn't - it's a touching story, romantic drama I guess, humor interjected along the way...surprising. I'm buying my own DVD now. Enjoy.

I really enjoyed this movie. It had a very good story line. I had never seen Timberlake act before and he's not bad at acting. I've always like Jeff Bridges. This is mainly about a father (who is a has been country song writer and singer)and a son who is not very happy with his dad. They are stick together on a road trip to go see Jeff's wife and the kid's mother who may be dying. They have not been close and this trip does not help them but it is a good story. One good thing that the movie produced was Jeff falling for a much younger woman who has a very young son that Jeff falls for. The mother breaks up with Jeff but because of his love for her and the child he cleans up his act. He quits drinking. Starts writting songs again and wins a large prize (I think $100,000). He runs into this young woman on a trip and gives her all his money for the kid when he grows up and for his education. Purchased from Amazon.