This movie has a lot to say in it. The open road, the classic cars, the good times, that sort of good things. Well, until a group of hoods run by Hoot (Alan Autry, Bubba on "In The Heat of The Night") shoot a hole in a 1955 Ford Thunderbird driven by a New York college graduate(Judge Reinhold). Judge Reinhold plays Beckman Hallsgood, Jr., the son of a fast food restaurant magnate traveling on Route 66 going from New York to California to attend a meeting. Along the way, he comes across some hoods in a Chevy Bel Aire accosted him, then they shoot a hole in the radiator of his beloved '55 T-Bird. Along the way, Beckham meet a drifter named Johnny Harte (Willem Dafoe), a musician living in obscurity. He knows cars, and he's good with a guitar. Both men head to Kingman, Arizona where Hoot and his crew hang out. There in Kingman, they meet a local mechanic name Jesse (Kaaren Lee) who is a beautiful blonde who is good with a wrench. After finding a radiator, they would be able to move forward. However, with Hoot and his crew around, Beckman decided to enter the car race. After a night of passion for both parties, tragedy strikes. Sam(Stephen Elliott), the junkyard owner who helped Johnny and Beckman dies in a fire that also claims the repaired T-Bird. So Beckman entered the race, driving the Mustang. The race is on, and Johnny enters as well. One member of Hoot's crew turned on him. Just say that it's all good. The most important things I liked about the movie were the cars, and the trains that rolled on by. And the roadhouse they went to: PRICELESS. Get your kicks on Route 66! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The box copy hints that this is an action-comedy adventure, but don't be fooled. There really isn't much comedy and the action is pretty intermittent for an adventure movie, but the two lead performances make the exercise watchable. Spoiled preppie Judge Reinhold and cool drifter Willem Dafoe make a likable mismatched pair of traveling buddies, and once you get past the odd logic that Dafoe as Johnny would bother taking his social opposite under his wing to show him the rules of survival on the road, the movie passes pleasantly. The wide open, largely empty desert makes a nice setting and is well used as a place of isolation, where a philosophical loner like Johnny can find solitude to think. The viewer gets slowly sucked into Johnny's view of the world and begins to cheer Reinhold in his philosophical make-over, and leaves with a positive glow. The movie is neither particularly striking or memorable visually, but the chemistry between the two actors makes the time pass amiably and it can be revisited to get back the same good feeling. This is one of those movies that is more a mood altering substance than entertainment, but as such it's nice.

When "Roadhouse 66" first appeared on cable in Canada almost twenty-five years ago, I sat down to watch it, though about halfway through I quit watching it. I didn't remember why, however, so with it now available on DVD I decided to rent it and give it another try.I did make it all the way through this time... but barely. It didn't take me long to figure out why I stopped watching it the first time. This is one BORING movie. Although it runs about an hour and a half, there is only about thirty minutes or so of plot. The rest of the time, nothing of consequence happens.To make matters worse were the characters. Reinhold's character is the worst. His character is incredibly stupid, and you'll eventually relish the scenes where he gets over his head and into serious trouble. The bad guys are really mean-spirited for a movie that tries to be somewhat light-hearted the rest of the time.Oh, and the climatic race sequence? It was one of the most boring car races I have ever seen. For one thing, the cars for the most part seem to be going half speed instead of full-out.Maybe I'll give the movie another chance twenty-five years from now...

Not much of a plot to interest anyone here, but some very sexy men in blue denim. Willem Dafoe, to my surprise, was once very spunky, and looks great as the tough guy muso hero. Better still, the bad guys, Hoot and Dink are a couple of real nasty pieces. The film had me longing to find that roadhouse and go and start a brawl, just to meet those hot men.