This is one of those cases where I honestly wonder if I and all the positive reviewers saw the same movie. This is no hidden gem, more like the rightfully buried turd that it is. It's a coming of age road story that can't decide whether to be edgy in order to appeal to its college-aged targets, or a juvenile fairy tale to bank on the childhood nostalgia of same. It fails in both regards. On top of that, any sort of "life lessons" and moralizing it offers are so cliche'd, trite and shambling that it borders on insulting the viewer. This is a DVD that will end up under the Christmas tree of college-aged kids whose parents are extremely out of touch. Look for it a thrift store or Walmart clearance bin near you.

Interstate 60 is the best quirky, philosophical road movie you've never heard of. It beats me how a script this tantalizingly good, with a cast so prolific, went so far under everyone's radar. It's made with a karmic, phantom tollbooth-esque sensibility, like if Alice In Wonderland and The Big Empty had a baby, and it was made by the same guys who did Back To The Future. The script is simply a wonder to behold, and I was amazed to find it wasn't based on some best selling book by Richard Linklater or someone. James Marsden plays a guy on the seemingly perfect track. With career lined, a nice girl and everything. Until fate deals him a mysterious hand, and he's prompted to take a trip down 'Interstate 60', a road which doesn't appear on any maps, and seems to not exist at all. He's puzzled to find himself on it anyway though, in a trippy dream of a voyage which puts him face to face with all sorts of outlandish characters, including genie like gentleman O.W. Grant (Gary Oldman having oodles of fun), a serial killer, a police captain of a town addicted to a really strange drug (Kurt Russell), a clairvoyant doctor (Christopher Lloyd), and eventually the elusive girl of his dreams (Amy Smart, unbelievably cute). The trip is meant to teach him something about himself, and through journeying a road that isn't really there, find one that right for him, and will give him the benefits of life in their fullest. For all the colourful, kooky trappings the film is dressed in, and even though the intelligent banter is delivered light heartedly, its actually serious minded stuff that begs attentiveness and contemplation from its audience. There's a surreality to it of course, a certain detachment, but the exchanges of characters couldn't be more grounded in our reality, and more human. There's a cameo from Michael J. Fox, and career best from Chris Cooper as well in a one of the many spot on sequences that show off the film's writing. This ones the definition of a hidden gem, just this side of normal, with a delicious cast that delves into the various concepts they chat about with willing interest, comic deft and an infectiously fun sense of the absurd.

This is a movie about attempting to understand what you want to do in Life. A young man, Neal, is pressured by his dad to go to Law School, so he can become an attorney, like his dad (even though Neal wants to be an artist). Step one is going to a pre-law course of study. Dear-old-dad pushes his wants and desires onto others (like giving a red convertible to his son, who dislikes red), because he thinks that what he wants is what others want (or, should want).After Neal learns a lesson about Neal's not seeing the reality of things (in a card trick), he takes on a contract to deliver a package to a distant place. On the road, he encounters a person in several different places who "gets" what they have wished for (some happily, some not).This movie is filled with philosophy and lessons (and choices to make). Faith is a ongoing theme, faith in your own life. Faith is a fragile thing. You will see it wax and wane, and (probably) feel the same as Neal from time to time.

I watched this the other night on my Roku box and found myself thoroughly entertained. Sure, it's not perfect. James Marsden, playing the main character, seems to be channeling a young Tom Cruise a lot of the time. And some of the situations or adventures he finds himself in come across as a little forced, as if there's a point to be made and damned if the writer/director, Bob Gale, is going to let anyone stop him from making it. But don't let these things interfere with your viewing enjoyment. The story, the cameos, the subtext and the movie's rhythm work like a charm. Oh, yeah, by the way, charm is the operative word.This movie comes to you with some serious pedigree. Bob Gale, the writer/director, wrote Back to the Future, one of the cleanest, sharpest movies ever made. Whether you like this type of film (mystical, fantasy) or not, you have to agree Back to the Future is flawless from a purely technical, three-act point of view. Interstate 60 has this same kind of flawless energy. So often today movies get re-written and massaged to the point where structure falls by the wayside to make room for more effects and whammies. Other movies seem so formulaic it's as if they were written by a computer.Basically, Interstate 60 is a fantasy road movie. It's Homer on acid. Or Ken Keasey on a magical mystery tour. Actually, it's more like Gulliver's Travels. If you like Gulliver's Travels, you'll like this.