Freeway

1996 "Her life is no fairy tale."
6.8| 1h45m| R| en| More Info
Released: 23 August 1996 Released
Producted By: The Kushner-Locke Company
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.multicom.tv/library/Freeway
Info

Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

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Director

Matthew Bright

Production Companies

The Kushner-Locke Company

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Freeway Audience Reviews

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
gavin6942 A twisted take on 'Little Red Riding Hood' with a teenage juvenile delinquent (Reese Witherspoon) on the run from a social worker traveling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer / pedophile (Kiefer Sutherland).I really thought this would be good, as it stars one of my favorite Sutherlands. And, you know, he is really good in it, but that did not save the film. Actually, most of those involved were really good. It was more the plot and script that seemed messy and convoluted. The "Red Riding Hood" aspect is very small, and this seems to be more in the vein of "Natural Born Killers", though not nearly as good.I suppose it is worth a watch, especially now that Witherspoon is huge star. But it is far from the best film she has done.
Blake Peterson Imagine Little Red Riding Hood, except the story is set in the ghettos of 1996, Little Red Riding Hood is a dirty blonde teenage punk with anger issues, the mother is a crack-headed prostitute, the grandma is a trailer park low-life, and, oh yeah, the Big Bad Wolf isn't a wolf at all: he's a serial murderer, or, as the news so fondly labels him, the I-5 killer. If you live in 1996, are a prostitute, and are hitchhiking, scurry away, because your life may be in danger. But if none of these characteristics fit your billing, then there is nothing that should be stopping you from watching Freeway, unless you are a prude to the tenth power.When it comes to movies as unhinged as Freeway, my love for all things absurd and trashy rises to unseemly biased levels. There is something about low-budgets and Tarantino-esque exchanges that touch me in the way that most films can hardly muster. Few can brag about having an ever- present crisis of tawdry characters getting into some seriously bad situations, and even fewer can say that they've devised a film so dauntless in its over-the-top personality that it nearly laughs itself to death.Witherspoon, who is best when playing against type, portrays Vanessa, a 16-year old delinquent who is anchored to the ground by her prostitute mother (Amanda Plummer) and drugged-out stepfather. In school, reading a sentence like "The cat drinks milk" is a feat of Shakespearian hardship, as Vanessa, more enticed to be called a badass in the slums of Los Angeles, is devastatingly illiterate. But anyone who lacks school smarts and lives on the bad streets of town is bound to be a little more unhinged in their fight in the rat race, after all.After her parents are arrested, Vanessa decides that she's done with the government, skips foster care, and heads towards the home of her grandmother, who she never has actually met. Only a few miles into the journey does her car breakdown — lucky for her, a clean-cut stranger (Kiefer Sutherland) comes to the rescue, introducing himself as Bob Wolverton, a high school counselor. Vanessa immediately confides in her makeshift chauffeur about all her weighty problems; but after traveling for a few hours, Wolverton's true nature is bitterly revealed. He turns out to be one of those sadistic creeps you read about in the paper — some may know him as the I-5 Killer. Vanessa isn't about to become some helpless next victim, however: she is, fortunately, packing a pistol. She shoots her would-be murderer several times, takes all his money, and leaves him for dead. But chances are, when you leave someone for dead, they tend to not actually die, and, as the film would like to remind us over and over, Vanessa should have shot Wolverton just one more time.The saga of Freeway is as combative and unpredictable as the tabloid coverage of a true-crime cat-and-mouse game, its participants so grandiosely sinful in their shabby hysteria that, by the end, when Vanessa is completely exhausted, mascara streaming down her face like a jilted prom queen, her asking for a cigarette is as riotous as Lucy and Ethel trying as hard as they can to get the chocolates from overloading on the conveyor belt.Freeway is a comedy, but it's not a comedy for the Anchorman generation and maybe not even for the ones who thought The Carol Burnett Show was a shining jewel in television. It's mean-spirited enough to drive Regina George away, but even the meanest of people can be hilariously mean. The film is a melodramatically contorted white-trash vision; not laughing would almost be rude. Matthew Bright, as cynical and clever as he is, has accomplished the rare act of making a B-movie thriller brilliant in its tackiness. Witherspoon and Sutherland have never been so enthralling. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com
Joe Bridge I just saw this movie, and as soon as it started with the bizarre, embarrassingly bad "Red Riding Hood" opening credits and horrid cheap-sounding soundtrack, I was certain it was some sort of fake "knock-off" video, especially as someone gave me this copy as sold in Indonesia. The ending credits were really bad and fake-looking as well, so maybe both were replaced in the Indonesian version, not sure, but it also is so bad throughout, perhaps the entire movie was replaced? While watching this, my friends and I were almost certain the actor credits were fake and that it was filmed by a group of amateur film-makers (as it was so utterly badly made - I was certain it was made in Indonesia or other Foreign country and was meant to make fun of the West), until Keifer Sutherland showed up and we were fairly certain it was him. Was this a straight-to-video movie? It was just so badly made and badly acted even for a dark comedy. Just because it is a comedy doesn't mean you have to act as if you are playing around with the script and not saying the lines in any way that makes sense.The acting was so disturbingly over-the-top bad, the accents annoying and ridiculous throughout (sounded mostly like hillbillies from the more isolated areas of Kentucky - yet supposedly was taking place in California), and the actors themselves looking so awful in every way possible (even Brooke Shields looked as if they used CGI to warp her body into something not quite human in that weird sailor outfit - again unless our copy was tampered with), I'm certain this was MEANT to be a farce/comedy, especially with the ludicrous climax regarding the actual Little Red Riding Hood story - which kind of added insult to injury - how could any writer be THAT ridiculous? Obviously it wasn't meant to be crime drama or anything like that, even though the premise suggested it was drama. It does have an overwhelming "quickly made television movie" and "print every first take" feel.So it appears that this movie (or a version of it) WAS released in the USA (not sure about here in Australia) after all? I'm still fairly certain our copy was tampered with (especially the ridiculous looking and sounding opening and ending credits - that were in static-ridden Foreign-sounding music and in mono - which wouldn't meet even the lowest standards these days), as nothing could be that badly made and be released. Most of us thought that it was one of those "experimental" films that was made especially for places like Indonesia and never placed directly in the actors' credits, and which wasn't released elsewhere, but seeing the information on IMDb is quite stunning in its implications about the general populace... Unbelievable.
captaintrps This movie is horrible. I spent the majority of the time holding down the fast forward button on my remote.Reese W. does well despite the horrible film that this is. Keifer S. should just stay retired or go in hiding or wherever he was before this came out.Reese has to regret doing this film.Very predictable, with no plot or storyline that you're average movie buff couldn't come up with. I don't see where this has anything to do with the little red riding hood story. They forced that association onto this film.This is not worth watching at all. The weekend opening gross tells the story. Don't waste your time, or spoil your thoughts that Reese W. is fun to watch on film.