TWO MEN AND A DESERT.
Sometimes a movie's premise is so strange that you want
to see it and hope that they pull it off. Buried
(2010) is an example of that, just Ryan Reynolds
buried alive in a wooden coffin.... for the whole movie. Could they
make that work? Could that sustain your attention for 95 minutes, I
thought as the cashier demagnetizes the Blu-Ray and the machine makes
an eerie beeping sound.
I felt the same way when I
first saw the DVD for Scenic Route on the shelf. On the cover
was the face of Josh Duhamel, who is known from the mega budget
Transformers franchise. He looks pissed off, has a beaten, bloody
face and is sporting a Mohawk. In the background is a road and an
endless stretch of desert where we see a full view of the man with
the Mohawk, he wears a polo shirt and khaki pants while he wields one
of his crutches in the air with what looks like the dead body of
another man at his feet in front of him. What the heck is this
movie, I thought as I quickly grab it off the DVD rack.
Scenic Route wisely
opens with a well executed fight sequence with these two characters
out in the middle of the Death Valley landscape. Then we are back
with them as they drive down the desert road before all the fighting
occurred. We watch the events unfold as we know that these two have
a difficult journey ahead of them. Duhamel's character, Mitchell is
sleeping in the passenger seat with a full head of hair. Carter,
played by Dan Fogler is driving. Several things happen and these
two, who we learn have been friends since high school are stranded in
the desert where their cell phones have no signal. Yes, this story
element of a cell phone dead zones is a cliche but with this setting,
it is realistic.
What follows is what they
call a two hander. The rest of the movie is a well written character
study that feels like a play, with the exception of the vast
landscape that practically becomes a character itself. These two men
have grown up to be total opposites. They both started with the same
aspirations but one chased wealth and family life while the other guy
has blindly followed his dreams with nothing to show for it.
Without food or water,
their lives hang in the balance while these two men argue and defend
their choices in life. Some of the decisions the characters make in
this situation are not smart, so that is tedious at times but over
all I was captivated with the chemistry these two actors had and the
command they had over the blunt dialogue of screenwriter Kyle Kitten.
This movie is definitely
not for everyone and that is why I like it. The actors have
expressed that they chose to make Scenic Route because it was
a departure from the types of films they made in the past. Josh
Duhamel was looking forward to getting a Mohawk, which was done for
real. The production was scheduled around this punk rocker haircut.
It is great to see an actor committed enough to do something like
that. It made the story feel more real, more authentic because you
could tell that they did not throw a bald cap on him.
The film's ending could be
a point of contention. Some people might say that it is too drawn
out, others may feel it was too ambiguous. My thoughts on it is that
it gives you some sense of closure and I'm glad to see that they
chose to end it this way. Scenic Route is an independent film
and the filmmakers took advantage of that from beginning to end.
Curt Wiser is the author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.
Official site and trailers for Cam-Girl, the movie the novel is based on go here:
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