source: Highway 61

Trailer—Highway 61

Highway 61

Good lord, i saw this film a couple days ago, and i went in with low expectations, and came out with a headache, and one the worst movie experience of my entire life. We saw it for some Canadian school movie festival, and i really went into it not knowing a damn thing about the film, and came out knowing a little less about life in general. The opening was weak, kind of seemed rushed (at best). There were parts that were funny, made me laugh, but there were other parts that actually made my friend yell out "WHAT THE F***?!". Personally, i think if a lot more time and effort was put into it, some better actors and some cleaner editing. This is a train wreck with out the Hollywood effects, just horrible.

This movie is slow, totally unfunny, and unbelievable, even given some suspension of disbelief. Over-dramatic, overacted, poor character development, awkward plot. None of the characters are identifiable. Main characters undergo sudden inexplicable behavioral and moral changes; the "bad guy" is sleazy at best, pathetic at his worst. The only humorous touch was that "Satan"s address is 668, indicating that he is a bit off - ha ha. That the dead body is unravaged after days' incarceration in a coffin riding atop a car in the southern sun doesn't seem to be a problem for the directors. It was for me. 2/10 seemed generous.

As I suspected, a re-watch of "Highway 61" starring Don McKellar, directed by Bruce McDonald, and penned by McKellar, McDonald, and Alan Magee proved a (slight) disappointment. I had previously only seen it once, unlike "Roadkill", also written by McKellar and McDonald, and one of the finest pieces of low-budget gonzo film-making around. "Highway 61" has a fun script, with some terrific lines, a fantastic first few scenes, and some delightfully surreal, deliberately campy moments. Still, the film feels like "Roadkill" on a bigger budget with a quarter of the charm. McKellar is great and the movie is a nice alternative to most of the road movies out there, it doesn't match the other two parts of McDonald's 'road trilogy', but since I believe those two to be two of the best films ever made, that is hardly a major point of criticism.

1st watched 8/8/1999 - 5 out of 10 (Dir-Bruce Mcdonald): Despite somewhat likeable relationship between the lead characters this movie tries to retread too many screwball road-type pictures.The Satan character is worthless and really messes up the movie. Could have been a good light comedic character piece.

I actually know the township where this movie was filmed the first 15 minutes or so. The place is called Virginiatown and it is in Ontario, they also filmed in Larder Lake, Ontario. I decided to watch the movie(we have it on display where I work) and it is surprising how the place has changed. We also even have the barber chair and all his equipment that was owned by the actual owner of the barber shop, who appeared as a customer in the movie. Even though this movie fits the typical "weird" movie, I actually liked it, but then again, I am a fan of those old 80's style movies. The only thing I have to say negative about it is that I don't recommend it to kids, this movie still contains things that should not be seen at a younger age.

A very quirky road movie that treads the edge of self-conscious weirdness. Fortunately, it treads the right side of that edge, particularly due to the performances of McKellar and Buhagiar, who succeed beautifully in the tricky task of making their eccentric characters human and likeable. A funny and fun movie. And as a bonus, in my eyes Jackie Bangs (Valerie Buhagiar) is one of the most appealing women I've ever had the pleasure of encountering in a film...not classically beautiful, but rather a feisty and uniquely attractive woman I'd really enjoy hangin' with.

I realize that my tastes are different than those of the average viewer . But one thing I have never wanted is to be average . This is my favorite movie of all time . The black humor of Bruce McDonald , and the straight faced delivery of Don McKellar add up to the perfect combination to tickle my twisted funny bone . I'm not going to give anything away , but watch for the scene of Satan talking to the little girl . That kills me every time I watch this movie .