Let's be realistic.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

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

I thought this was an excellent movie with a great cast and good script. I only saw the preview on another movie I rented and had not heard of it before then. After watching it I'm surprised it didn't do better.Justin Timberlake is a baseball player thats lost his passion and isn't playing so well. His mother is in the hospital needing heart surgery but refuses to sign a waiver for surgery without first having his estranged father there. This is where the fun starts. He flies to Ohio with his friend played by Kate Mara to meet up with and talk his father into coming down to Houston for the surgery. And the real laughs begin from there...Jeff Bridges did an amazing job with his character and it just sent this movie a top spot on my movie list. Very good film, very funny but still carried a heartwarming story well. A definite must-see and should really be given more attention.

I know that this film didn't go to theaters. It's probably a good thing too. Because I thought it was very bad. It's slow, boring, and it's billed as a comedy. There is nothing funny about it. Now I rented this crap cause my sister thought it looked good. I didn't though. I knew she was going to be disappointed. I'll be damned I was right. You expect a lot more from Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen. I expected this from Justin Timberlake. He was awful in that movie. Who am I kidding, everyone was. The whole movie was. Did I expect much from this film? No. That is probably a good thing. Because I thought it sucked.I love Jeff Bridges. And I love Mary Steenburgen. You can go tit for tat on Justin Timberlake. You can't go tit for tat on this film. You'll be bored while watching this. This film is not funny, it's rarely ever interesting, it's slow, and it's a mess. Please stay away from this film. It's awful.The Open road:*1/2 put of ****

This movie didn't do much for me. It's the story of another dysfunctional family, without much happening to make the family very interesting. I guess the theme is that no matter how rotten your Dad is, he's still your Dad, and can be loved and forgiven. I suppose that's true enough, as long as there are some good memories to outweigh the bad. But the Dad in this movie doesn't seem to have left too many good memories behind.I like Jeff Bridges on screen. He's made some very good movies ("Fearless" for instance), and some that didn't impress me much ("The Contender", "Sea Biscuit", "The Fisher King"), but no matter the quality of the film, he always seems to rise above the material. In this movie, he plays such a rotten piece of work - a self-centred, boozy, sleazy, loud-mouthed jock living in the past - that I started to see the less redeeming features of Bridges himself. Maybe that just proves what a good job he did.Justin Timberlake is OK, but he doesn't inject much life into his character. What the lovely Lucy (the totally gorgeous Kate Mara) sees in this sour, sulky, colourless character is beyond me. With her knowing grin, a flash of the eyes, a shake of the head, she makes it obvious that she understands this lot only too clearly. I felt like shouting "Run, Lucy, run! Don't get mixed up with these screw-ups! You can do better! Much better!" I could have added, but didn't, "Pick me!"Basically, I found the film bland and un-involving. I gave it 5/10, and every one of the 5 points derives from the presence of Mara, who brings not just loveliness to the screen, but there's a fire in her eyes and a sense of personality that few others are capable of projecting.

I thought Timberlake and Bridges were a good match as dysfunctional father and son. Good story line and nice set of subtle twists and turns. Timberlake was impressive as an actor, quite believable really . Kate Mara , soft spoken yet sweet girl next door kind of looks ... A believable , down home story that I thought was well executed. I especially liked that there were no Chase Scenes, Gunshots, , Violence, not much foul language. Good Music too by the way ... Lots of Bluezy ,Jazzy, Piano and Organ Background music, well suited for this flick. Id like to see more films with this kind of score.I especially liked the piano piece in the Lyle Lovette section of the movie! Im not sure if The Open Road will be a blockbuster, especially with whats out there these days , But i guarantee it will please young and Old alike in that it is a somewhat heartwarming, real laid back, enjoyable movie for all to see. I can imagine after a nice run in theaters, it will do very well on DVD and on the HBO and SHOWTIME kinds of movie networks !I have two concerns though... first, It was a very limited opening in very few theaters in very few Cities ,and second ,not enough advertising,There wasn't even a Poster up in the 20 theater cinaplex I saw it in !Not even the people who worked in the theater knew ANYTHING about this film ... Lets give "The Open Road" a fighting chance !