Truly Dreadful Film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Matthew Bright's Freeway is the most effed up, disturbing take on the Little Red Riding Hood tale you'll find, and the only time Reese Witherspoon totally cut loose, got down n' dirty to truly give a performance straight from the gutter. You can't spell gutter without gut, which is the primary place this film operates from, gag reflex and all, and the same goes for her wickedly funny firebrand of a performance. The filmmakers have taken every minuscule plot point from Riding Hood and deliberately thought up the most disgusting and deplorable ways to drag them through the mud, churning forth a film that is so sickeningly perverted that you can't take your eyes or ears off it once, kind of like a fresh, glistening pile of roadkill on the interstate that induces retching, yet is compelling in a sense, even attractive in its ability to morbidly hold your attention by being something that's outside the norm. Witherspoon is Vanessa Lutz, a trailer park baby who's been dealt a rough hand in life on all fronts. Her kindly boyfriend (Bokeem Woodbine) is tied up in dat gang life, her mom (Amanda Plummer) is an unstable slut-bag and her stepdad (Michael T. Weiss) has a case of… wandering hands, shall we say. Vanessa picks up and leaves town to go visit her grandmother, but no sooner does she hit the road, she's tossed from the frying pan right into the fire when she's picked up by psychiatric counsellor Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). Bob is your classic clean cut, mild mannered yuppie, save for the fact that he also happens to be a dangerous pedophiliac serial killer, and she's now in his car. Vanessa is a force to be reckoned with though, as Bob soon finds out, and the two of them wage sleazy war all over the state, until one or both are either dead or incarcerated. It's so much heinous mayhem and depravity that one reaches saturation point and just had to go with the grimy flow, either that or walk out of the theatre, but that'd make you a bitch. Witherspoon and Sutherland are having a howling good time, each sending up their Hollywood image in the type of roles that John Waters or Wayne Kramer would think up some lonely night. Bob is the worst type of offender, and one has to laugh when he's wheeled into court, facially deformed at the hands of Vanessa, and she proceeds to savagely berate him on his looks, dropping insults that you can hear whistling through the air, delivered like gunshots by Witherspoon, then only barely twenty years old, who has never been this good in any film since. Funnier still is Wolverton's naive wife looking on in aghast horror as only Brooke Shields can do with that soap opera stare. Other talents include Dan Hedaya as a stoic Detective, Conchata Farrell, Tara Subkoff and Brittany Murphy as a creepy cell mate Vanessa meets while in holding. Anyone claiming to be a fan of Witherspoon who hasn't seen this just needs to take the time and do so, she's just the most foul mouthed, violent, adorably profane trashbag pixie you could ever imagine, especially when on screen with Sutherland, who has never been more evil or intimidating. This is one fairy tale you wouldn't show the kids, but it still stands as my favourite cinematic version of Riding Hood to this day. There's a sequel out there somewhere too, but I can't weigh in on it as I haven't had the time so far to check it out. I doubt it reaches the heights of sordid delight achieved here though.

FREEWAY is a modern-day reworking of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, with the characters and their situation transposed to the present day. This is a rather obvious reworking of the theme; for a writing assignment I myself had to do exactly the same kind of story. Unfortunately the makers of this film decide to go for a scuzzy, predictable vibe that's heavily indebted to NATURAL BORN KILLERS, which it copies the look and feel of somewhat extensively. Reese Witherspoon tries very hard as the lead character but she's so repulsive that it's never possible to warm to her or sympathise with her plight. Kiefer Sutherland is better as the villain of the piece, but his character is more of a caricature and thus not very imposing.FREEWAY's structure is episodic in nature and seems to go along from one extreme situation to the next. The violent prison interlude is probably the best part of the film, but instead of making something suitably dramatic or exciting, Matthew Bright's script is simply full of endless profanity and extreme violence designed to shock and offend the audience. It doesn't; instead, it all feels rather juvenile and unsatisfying.

An early sign that Reese Witherspoon had a career worth watching. She is quite a revelation in this. Playing Vanessa Lutz, who is semi-literate and from a spectacularly bad background (her mother is arrested while soliciting at the start of the film) she looks like she might be easy prey for a serial killer, Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). But she has street smarts and plenty of guts and succeeds in turning the tables, leaving Wolverton "beat with the ugly stick" and only capable of ingesting food in liquid form. At first however, Wolverton's true nature is not realised and Vanessa spends time in juvenile detention before Wolverton's true nature is belatedly unmasked as the big bad wolf he is. Watch out for a star cameo from the late Brittany Murphy. Key concepts: chicken soup, and accepting Jesus Christ as your personal saviour.

Kiefer Sutherland makes a great performance in this movie. The big surprise is that Reese Witherspoon does the best part I've seen her in. A troubled teenager with tons of attitude. Who'd have known? A hidden treasure! Some good other characters, for example the woman who tries to rob a restaurant in Pulp Fiction with her husband, plays the role as Witherspoon's mother. I'd definitely recommend everyone to buy this movie if you can find it. I could watch more than once, no doubt! You never really know which turn is coming next and I'd say it's a pretty unique story told her. Well, sorry if the review is not so well written but I just wanted to share the experience with someone else.