Leofwine_draca
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.
stevekaczynski
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.
zardoz-13
Reese Witherspoon made this riveting thriller before she became everybody's favorite sweetheart. The "Legally Blond" star plays a foul-mouthed, illiterate teenager named Vanessa Lutz who hitches a ride with an older man after her car breaks down on the freeway. He offers her a lift as far as Los Angeles and even takes her out to dinner. Later, he turns out to be a notorious California highway serial killer who has been making headlines. Kiefer Sutherland is thoroughly obnoxious as Bob Wolverton, a bespectacled boys counselor who gets more than he bargained for after he picks up Vanessa, cuts off her ponytail, and threatens to rape her corpse. She whips out a small, Spanish-made automatic pistol that her boyfriend, Chopper (Bokeem Woodbine) gave her moments before he died in a drive-by shooting. Vanessa lands in jail but she does not stick long before she breaks out and joins a group of Hispanic girls who pull tricks on the side. All Vanessa wants to do is go to Stockton, California, so she can live with her grandmother rather than wind up in another horrible foster home.The dialogue brims with profanity and the subject matter is very unsavory. Witherspoon gives a dynamic performance. If you think that Witherspoon is cast against the grain, wait until you see a grown-up Brooke Shields who plays the wife of the serial killer."Freeway" is an unforgettable dark comedy that doesn't pull any of its punches!
Spikeopath
Freeway is written and directed by Matthew Bright. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Dan Hedaya, Wolfgang Bodison, Brooke Shields & Brittany Murphy. Plot is darkly based around the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale and sees young runaway Vanessa Lutz (Witherspoon) hit the road after her parents are arrested. Setting off to visit her grandmother she agrees to a lift from the kind and well spoken Bob Wolverton (Sutherland), only to find that he's not as nice as she first thought. He in turn is in for a big surprise himself since Vanessa is more than capable of looking after herself.Twisted and richly humorous, Matthew Bright's movie oozes originality and quite frankly deserves to be better appreciated: never mind better known! Going into it for a first time completely oblivious to its structure will arguably aid the experience. Suffice to say that the less known about it prior to viewing it the better. All I have to say is that it's violent, sweary and contains very sexually explicit dialogue, so if those things are likely to offend then perhaps stay away from it. But what if I offer up that those things are dealt with a satirical bent? That the tough scenes, and some of them are very tough, are basis to a caustic narrative about social hypocrisy and the often stupidity of the law? Interested? You should be, because once viewed you're unlikely to forget it. It's no surprise to see Oliver Stone's name etched onto the production credits, since this very much feels like a dirty second cousin to his Natural Born Killers. I'd argue that here we have the better acted film with Witherspoon and Sutherland giving virtuoso performances: with admirable support coming from the likes of Bodison, Shields and Murphy.One of the most undervalued film's of the 90s? You bet it is! 8.5/10
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