Reviewed by Louise Bolotin
Stars John C McGinley, DB Sweeney, Paul Hipp,
Moira Kelly, Ed Harris | Written by DB Sweeney & Brian Currie
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 91 minutes | Directed by DB Sweeney
What happens when you hit 40 and realise life has passed you by? Why, you take a road trip, of course! Mark, Billy and Jason are trapped by their pasts – all the most exciting things they did happened in their teens, then they got married, took dead-end jobs and ended up with spiralling debts, cheating spouses and addictions. The days when they were heading for footballing fame or rock n roll stardom are long gone but the road trip is about having one last big adventure and bonding afresh.
One of our anti-heroes wins tickets for the Superbowl in a raffle, triggering the opportunity to hit the road together. Naturally, this Thelma and Louise for the mid-life male crisis is fraught with unexpected twists, and involves drug-taking, illicit sex, loan-sharking, a hungry alligator and various other disasters.
This is a surprisingly good film – ignore the misleading packaging which makes you think it’ll be yet another cliché-ridden B-movie because it’s so much better. The writing is tight and very funny, with cracking one-liners scattered liberally throughout, the characters are well drawn and the acting is extremely good. Sweeney’s direction is lean and tidy. It’s much more than a male bonding movie – there’s a charming and poignant honesty to the observations about life that apply equally to women, with the (not always so) obvious message that life really is what you make it.
The rock soundtrack is pulsing with great numbers by Springsteen, Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Dire Straits, U2 and Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others. This is a perfect mates-flick for a night in with friends.
EXTRAS None