Freeway (1996 film)

Last updated

Freeway
Freeway1996poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Matthew Bright
Written byMatthew Bright
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Thomas
Edited by Maysie Hoy
Music by Danny Elfman
Production
companies
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates
  • June 8, 1996 (1996-06-08)(HBO)
  • August 23, 1996 (1996-08-23)(United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million [1]
Box office$295,493 [1]

Freeway is a 1996 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Matthew Bright and produced by Oliver Stone. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon and Brooke Shields. The film's plot is a dark take on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood". [2]

Contents

The film premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival where it competed for the Grand Jury Prize. It was later screened on HBO on June 8, 1996, and due to favorable reviews, it was given a brief theatrical release. The film has gone on to achieve cult status.

Plot

Vanessa Lutz is an illiterate teenager living south of Los Angeles. Her mother, Ramona, is arrested in a prostitution sting, and her stepfather, Larry, is taken in on drug and child abuse charges. Social worker Mrs. Sheets comes to take Vanessa away, but she handcuffs the social worker to a bed and runs away.

Taking the social worker‘s run-down car, Vanessa plans to go live with her grandmother in Stockton. Along the way, she stops to see her boyfriend Chopper Wood, a local gang member, to tell him about her trip. He gives her a gun to sell upon arriving at her destination. Minutes after Vanessa leaves, he is killed in a drive-by shooting. The car breaks down, leaving her on the side of the highway where she is picked up by Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for boys with emotional problems. He offers to take her as far as L.A.

Over the long drive, Vanessa comes to trust Bob, and confesses to him the details of her painfully dysfunctional life, including sexual abuse by her stepfather and foster parents. At one point, Vanessa shows Bob a photo she keeps in her wallet of her biological father (she doesn't know the picture is of mass murderer Richard Speck).

That evening, Bob reveals he is a serial killer dubbed the "I-5 Killer", and attacks Vanessa. She turns the tables on him, however, and shoots him several times before escaping. She flees to a local restaurant where her blood-stained appearance prompts the owners to call 9-1-1. As she leaves the restaurant, Vanessa is arrested and questioned by police detectives Mike Breer and Garnet Wallace, who write her off as a carjacker, even though she insists Bob had tried to kill her and had told her about his crimes.

Bob survives, but the bullet wounds have left him severely handicapped and facially disfigured. Vanessa is put on trial; Bob is portrayed as an innocent victim with no criminal record, whereas Vanessa has a long string of prior offenses. Vanessa goes to prison, while Bob and his socialite wife Mimi, who knows nothing of his crimes, are treated like heroes.

Initially scared, Vanessa makes friends in prison that include heroin-addicted lesbian Rhonda, and a brutal Hispanic gang leader named Mesquita. Vanessa plots to escape to her grandmother's house and fashions a shiv from a toothbrush, a skill she had learned from her stepfather. During their transport to a new maximum security prison, Vanessa and Mesquita escape after killing a security guard, and they go their separate ways.

Re-examining evidence, the detectives realize Vanessa was telling the truth. They search Bob's home and find violent child pornography and human remains in a storage shed. Horrified, Mimi commits suicide. Evading the police at his home, Bob travels to Vanessa's grandmother's trailer, using the address written on a picture Vanessa had shown him.

Posing as a prostitute, Vanessa steals a car from a prospective john, driving to the trailer. She finds Bob in bed wearing her grandmother's nightgown and nightcap with the covers pulled up to his nose. He reveals himself and Vanessa sees her grandmother's dead body naked in a chair. A struggle ensues, culminating in her strangling him. Breer and Wallace arrive, finding the bodies of Bob and Vanessa's grandmother. Outside, Vanessa sits in a chair in a daze, then asks the detectives if they have a cigarette. They all smile and laugh.

Cast

Production

Oliver Stone served as one of the film's executive producers. [3] Writer and director Matthew Bright said the film underwent multiple edits during post-production and he was not able to preserve his original version for the film, as Stone was away in Nepal at the time. [3]

Release

Freeway premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 1996 [4] where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. [5]

Censorship

In Australia, when Columbia TriStar Home Video submitted a VHS of the original 104-minute print of the film to the Australian Classification Board (then known as the Office of Film and Literature Classification), it was refused classification. The ACB had already approved of a censored version, running 102 minutes, that removed two scenes: one in which Sutherland asks Witherspoon for anal sex on top of his excessive use of obscenities, and another in which a deceased 91-year-old grandmother is shown with a vase covering her private parts and her legs spread apart; the cut version remains available on video in that country, where it is rated R18+. [6]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 76% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10.The website's consensus reads: "A modern update on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, Freeway is an audacious black comedy with a star-making performance from the young Reese Witherspoon." [7] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [8]

Critics lauded the film's hard-edged satire and performances. Film critic Roger Ebert gave Freeway three and a half stars out of four and stated, "like it or hate it (or both), you have to admire its skill, and the over-the-top virtuosity of Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland." [9] It received "Two Thumbs Up" on Siskel and Ebert At the Movies . [10] Joe Baltake of The Sacramento Bee gave Freeway four stars out of four and called it "a wild, audacious drive-in attraction that takes the 'high' from 'highbrow' and the 'low' from 'lowdown' and shakes them up". [11] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave Freeway four stars out of four and said that it was "rude in the way the truth is rude—only funnier". [12] Margaret A. McGurk wrote for The Cincinnati Enquirer that "I didn't particularly want to like Freeway, but I couldn't help myself. Reese Witherspoon made me." [13]

The film was not a success at the box office, [1] but has achieved a cult following over the years through home video and HBO airings from fans who praise its satire, camp style, and Witherspoon's performance. [14] [3] [15]

Home media

Freeway was released on DVD by Republic Pictures on August 20, 1997. [16] The film was released as a 4K Blu-ray Limited Edition by Vinegar Syndrome on November 25, 2022. [15]

Sequel

A sequel titled Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby , also directed by Matthew Bright, was released in 1999. [17] The original actors or characters did not appear in the sequel.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reese Witherspoon</span> American actress (born 1976)

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, Forbes named her the world's highest earning actress, and in 2023, she was named one of the richest women in America with an estimated net worth of $440 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Red Riding Hood</span> European fairy tale

Little Red Riding Hood is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiefer Sutherland</span> Canadian actor (born 1966)

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards.

<i>Legally Blonde</i> 2001 film by Robert Luketic

Legally Blonde is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, and Jennifer Coolidge. The story follows Elle Woods (Witherspoon), a sorority girl who attempts to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Davis) by getting a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School, and in the process, overcomes stereotypes against blondes and triumphs as a successful lawyer.

<i>Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde</i> 2003 film by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and written by Kate Kondell. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Legally Blonde and the second film in the Legally Blonde series. It stars Reese Witherspoon alongside an ensemble cast featuring Sally Field, Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Bruce McGill, Dana Ivey, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Bob Newhart, Luke Wilson, and Bruce Thomas, with Coolidge, Wilson, and Thomas reprising their roles from the first film.

<i>Fear</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Fear is a 1996 American psychological thriller film directed by James Foley and written by Christopher Crowe. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Alyssa Milano and Amy Brenneman. It revolves around a wealthy family whose seemingly perfect life is threatened when their teenage daughter begins dating an attractive and mysterious young man who turns out to be a violent sociopath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red (animated character)</span> American animated character (1943-)

Red Hot Riding Hood, also known as Red and Miss Vavoom in the 1990s, is an American animated character, created by Tex Avery, who appears in several MGM short films and Tom and Jerry films. She is a fictional nightclub singer and dancer who is usually making all men in the room crazy, especially a Wolf character who—in vain—tries to seduce and chase her. Red debuted in MGM's Red Hot Riding Hood, a modern-day variant of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".

<i>Eye for an Eye</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Eye for an Eye is a 1996 American psychological thriller film, directed by John Schlesinger and written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It stars Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris, Beverly D'Angelo, Joe Mantegna and Cynthia Rothrock. The story was adapted from Erika Holzer's novel of the same name. The film opened on January 12, 1996.

A freeway is a common name for different types of limited-access highways.

<i>Rendition</i> (film) 2007 American film

Rendition is a 2007 American political thriller film directed by Gavin Hood, and starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri, who was mistaken for Khalid al-Masri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood</span>

The Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale has often been adapted, and into a wide variety of media.

<i>Monsters vs. Aliens</i> 2009 film by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman

Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American animated science fiction action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman from a screenplay written by Letterman, Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, and the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. Featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Stephen Colbert, the film involves a group of misfit monsters hired by the United States Armed Forces to stop the invasion of an extraterrestrial villain and save the world in exchange for freedom.

<i>Wicked</i> (1998 film) 1998 American film

Wicked is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Michael Steinberg and starring Julia Stiles as a disturbed teenage girl. The film also stars Michael Parks and William R. Moses. The film debuted at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival but had a delayed release due to a financial dispute between a producer and the studio. The film was released on DVD in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alanna Ubach</span> American actress

Alanna Ubach is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Serena McGuire in Legally Blonde (2001) & Legally Blonde 2 (2003), Isabel Villalobos in Meet the Fockers (2004), Maria in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Noreen in The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Jane in Clockwatchers (1997), Naomi in Waiting... (2005) and Still Waiting... (2009), Margarete in Being Us (2011), Jeanine Pirro in Bombshell (2019), and the voice of Mamá Imelda in Coco (2017), as well as Jo Hernandez-Frumpkis on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, Suze Howard on Euphoria, Amy Hobbs on See Dad Run, Tessa Flores on Guilty Party, Carol Atkinson on The Flight Attendant, and Susan Bennett on Ted.

<i>Crazy Moon</i> (film) 1987 Canadian film

Crazy Moon is a 1987 romantic comedy film directed by Allan Eastman and written by Tom Berry and Stefan Wodoslawsky. Starring Kiefer Sutherland and Vanessa Vaughan, it follows the relationship between a deaf woman and an offbeat hearing man.

<i>Red Riding Hood</i> (2011 film) 2011 film by Catherine Hardwicke

Red Riding Hood is a 2011 American romantic horror film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, from a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson. The film is very loosely based on the folk tale "Little Red Riding Hood" collected by both Charles Perrault under the name Le Petit Chaperon Rouge and several decades later by the Brothers Grimm as Rotkäppchen. It stars Amanda Seyfried as the title role, with Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas and Julie Christie in supporting roles.

<i>Devils Knot</i> (film) 2013 film

Devil's Knot is a 2013 American biographical crime drama film directed by Atom Egoyan and adapted from Mara Leveritt's 2002 book of the same name. The film is about the true story of three murdered children and three teenagers, known as the West Memphis Three, who were convicted of killing the three children during the Satanic ritual abuse panic. The teenagers were subsequently sentenced to death (Echols) and life imprisonment, before all were released after eighteen years.

<i>Wild</i> (2014 film) 2014 film by Jean-Marc Vallée

Wild is a 2014 American biographical adventure drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Nick Hornby, based on the 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, Kevin Rankin, and W. Earl Brown, the film follows Strayed as she embarks on a solo hiking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995 after numerous personal problems had left her life in shambles.

<i>Hot Pursuit</i> (2015 film) 2015 American film

Hot Pursuit is a 2015 American action comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was written by David Feeney and John Quaintance. Its story follows a police officer assigned to protect the widow of a drug boss from corrupt cops and criminals who want her dead as they race through Texas to avoid detection. It stars Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reese Witherspoon filmography</span>

Reese Witherspoon is an American actress. She made her acting debut in The Man in the Moon (1991). Her second box office performance was with Kiefer Sutherland in Freeway (1996) in which Witherspoon played a youth troubled by victimization and neglect who has a violent murderous streak, but in the name of protecting vulnerable youth from sexual predation by seemingly perverted men. She then rose to prominence in 1999 with Cruel Intentions and for her portrayal of Tracy Flick in the black comedy Election, which earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical nomination. She achieved fame for her work on romantic comedies with her role as Elle Woods in the comedy Legally Blonde (2001) and its 2003 sequel, as well as her starring role in Sweet Home Alabama (2002). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in the 2005 biographical musical film Walk the Line. She also received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2014 drama Wild.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Freeway (1996)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  2. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (January 24, 2013). "Reese Witherspoon is a badass Little Red Riding Hood in the sordid, sleazy Freeway". The A.V. Club . Chicago, Illinois: Onion, Inc. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Aurthur, Kate (April 22, 2013). "Reese Witherspoon's Arrest And The Cult Of "Freeway"". BuzzFeed . Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ Leydon, Joe (January 28, 1996). "Freeway". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hicks, Chris (January 26, 1996). "Avalanche of Stars at Sundance Film Festival". Deseret News. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Freeway (1996) | Censor". Refused-Classification.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Freeway (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Freeway". Metacritic . Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  9. ↑ Ebert, Roger (January 24, 1997). "Freeway movie review & film summary (1997)". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Freeway". Siskel & Ebert . Season 11. Episode 6. October 12, 1996. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  11. ↑ Baltake, Joe (October 16, 1996). "It's Little Wild Riding Hood". The Sacramento Bee . Archived from the original on February 9, 2002. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  12. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (August 23, 1996). "FILM REVIEW -- 'Freeway's' Wild, Funny Ride". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  13. ↑ McGurk, Margaret A. (October 25, 1996). "'Freeway' an old but alluring ride". The Cincinnati Enquirer . Cincinnati, Ohio: Gannett Company.
  14. ↑ "9 Reasons Why Freeway (1996) Is One Of The Best Movies Of All Time, According To Reddit". Screen Rant . March 14, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Corey, Joe (January 4, 2023). "4K UHD Review: Freeway". Inside Pulse. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  16. ↑ Freeway (DVD). ASIN   6304517661.
  17. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (October 11, 1999). "Freeway II: Confessions of a Trick Baby". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.