Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

 
Home | Archive | About | Cinematical.com | Lists | News | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter!  
 



2009 Oscars
District 13: Ultimatum **1/2
From Paris with Love **1/2
Edge of Darkness **
Fish Tank ***1/2
Legion **
When in Rome *
More
 




Adam
The Bourne Identity [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Supremacy [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Ultimatum [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The House of the Devil
Import Export
More Than a Game
Ong-Bak 2
Zombieland
The 25 Best DVDs of 2009
More
 

Film Features

2009: The Year's Ten Best Films
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My 2003 Interview with Brittany Murphy
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
Richard Linklater
John Woo
Jared and Jerusha Hess
Essential Halloween Movies
Michael Stuhlbarg
Jane Campion
Bobcat Goldthwait
Hugh Dancy
Kathryn Bigelow
Willem Dafoe: The 2009 CineVegas Interview
David Carradine
A 2002 Interview with Edward Asner
Vinessa Shaw
Henry Selick
2008: The Year's Ten Best Films
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
The 25 Best DVDs of 2008
Bruce Campbell
Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei
Josh Brolin
A Tribute to Paul Newman
Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
Manny Farber (1917-2008)
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Emily Mortimer
Brad Anderson
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
© 1997-2009 Combustible Celluloid



Freeway (1996)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

Wolves N the Hood

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Freeway on DVD

I'd like to take a moment to congratulate 1996 for having so many great roles for actresses; and I'm not just talking weepie, "oh I have to make a decision between my childhood and adulthood" kind of roles that put people to sleep. I'm talking the good kind of juicy, kick-ass roles that men mostly get. The kind of roles that haven't been around in Hollywood since before the code that Barbara Stanwyck used to get. Here are a few: Frances McDormand in Fargo, Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon in Bound, and even Pamela Anderson Lee in Barb Wire.

Reese Witherspoon's 16 year old white trash character in Freeway, Vanessa, is probably the most unlikely of all these heroines and villainesses. It's a fierce and energetic performance, and develops into a full, three-dimensional character. She has a big heart that wants to believe the best of everything, but if it's betrayed, even once, watch out. We're talking explosions of fury that would make Al Pacino feel meek.

Freeway was a big hit at the Roxie theatre for a long time, but I missed it there. With Oliver Stone listed as a producer, I was expecting a shallow, mean-spirited movie and I wasn't ever in the mood for it. I rented the laserdisc months later and was pleasantly surprised.

Freeway tells a new, twisted version of the Little Red Riding Hood story. Vanessa's parents are arrested for drugs and prostitution (the mother played wonderfully by Amanda Plummer), and her boyfriend, Chopper, (she calls him her fiancee) is shot. She begins to drive to the home (actually, the trailer) of her grandmother, whom she's never met. Her car dies almost immediately and she is picked up by the Big Bad Wolf, in the form of "Bob Wolverton" (Kiefer Sutherland, in the best role of his entire career). The plot is very delicious, and although I'm tempted, I don't want to give away any more.

Writer and director Matthew Bright makes an incredible debut, slipping close to the Tarantino-ripoff genre, but rising above it. His characters are crisp and fascinating, and the movie has a great anything-can-happen B-movie excitement feel to it. Unfortunately, his commentary on the laserdisc's second track is less than inspired. ("This is a movie about women's panties" he says. What?)

Brooke Shields also has the best role of her career as Bob's wife, Mimi. The excellent score is by Danny Elfman, who is getting better and better as a composer, and Tito Larriva.

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Wolfgang Bodison, Dan Hedaya, Amanda Plummer, Brooke Shields, Michael T. Weiss, Bokeem Woodbine, Guillermo Diaz, Brittany Murphy, Alanna Ubach, Susan Barnes, Conchata Ferrell, Tara Subkoff
Written by: Matthew Bright
Directed by: Matthew Bright
MPAA Rating: R for strong lurid violence and sexual dialogue, some sexual situations, drug content and language
Running Time: 102 minutes
Date: January 1, 1997

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2010 Combustible Celluloid