While the last few films that placed Jeff Bridges in the leading role (Crazy Heart, Tron: Legacy, True Grit) all performed well at the Box Office, and earned a good deal of praise for Bridges himself (including an Oscar nomination for True Grit, and an Oscar win for Crazy Heart), The Open Road hasn’t; it’s gone direct-to-video with very little fanfare; but still boasts Bridges in the leading role, so is it still worth watching?
Justin Timberlake (the singer last seen in The Social Network) stars as Carlton Garrett; a young baseball player who’s going through a bit of a slump, and has to travel from Texas to Ohio and back, in order to inform his estranged father (Bridges) that his mother (Mary Steenburgen, Back to the Future Part III) is in hospital with a possibly fatal heart condition, and is asking to see her long lost husband.
After Carlton breaks the news to his father (who also happens to be a baseball player, and a huge celebrity thanks to his Hall-of-Fame skills) he agrees to travel to Texas to see his former wife; a task made much more difficult by the fact Garrett Snr. has misplaced his ID; leading to a father-and-son cross country road trip, joined by Carlton’s ex-girlfriend Lucy (Kate Mara, 127 Hours); who tags along for moral support.
While this sounds like a great setup for a movie (allowing for all the comedic jibes that a movie like Planes Trains and Automobiles or Due Date brings from a road trip with an awkward companion, and all the emotion one would expect from a father-and-son bonding experience), The Open Road entirely fails in its execution; with the comedy being short on quantity, short on quality, and so short it could easily be missed by anyone who has (and likely will have) dozed off for a bit, and with the characters being so dull, the writing being so average, and the film’s tone remaining so flat that the emotions not only fail to be as raw as they should be, but fail to make any sort of impact as no-one watching will care if the Garrett’s make amends or not.
The actors performances don’t help either; as while there’s no denying that Jeff Bridges is a brilliant actor, and delivers a decent enough showing, he did little more than phone in his appearance here and never becomes as endearing as he did while playing Bad Blake in Crazy Heart despite having many of the same character flaws (although a good deal of the blame for that should lay with the writers). Justin Timberlake isn’t a strong enough actor to lead a film alongside someone of Bridges calibre (often seeming well out of his depth), Kate Mara’s character is insufferably dull (even though she clearly has more talent than Timberlake), and while Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton (the Green Mile star who plays Steenburgen’s father) deliver solid performances they’re roles are far too minor to make a real difference.
Direction is uninspired and, like the rest of the film, fairly flat, and there’s actually very little praise that can be garnished on The Open Road; a cheap and cheesy B-movie that was right to go direct-to-video (wouldn’t have made it that far if it didn’t have the cast it does), and will surely find its niche on the 3pm movie slot for the Hallmark channel, where it’s blend of bland emotion, poor comedy, and little payoff, will at least keep some doped-up, retirement-home-laden, grannies company for a couple of hours.
Picture:
Like the feature itself the video transfer for The Open Road is nothing if not flat; as while there’s solid enough detail on display throughout, it has an extremely, and seemingly unnecessarily, soft tone overall; with skintones looking a little pale, blacks lacking depth, and even the open landscapes (which are the most spectacular visual shot) lacking any real punch or impact that could have been gained thanks to a muted tone, and severe lack of colour. It’s by no means a bad transfer; as scratches, noise, and other issues aren’t overly present or too distracting for anyone who enjoys this type of movie; but don’t expect to watch The Open Road and have it look as stunning as Tron: Legacy.
Audio:
Again coming via a similar vein as the film, and the video presentation, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix given to The Open Road DVD lacks any real flair; focussing almost entirely on dialogue and nothing else (meaning practically every audible noise emanates from the front channels); and while it remains crisp and clear throughout (despite the slightly questionable dubbing), the lack of surround usage (which leaves even basic ambience wanting for the most part) may as well have it labelled a 2.0 channel presentation; one that’s clear, and delivers its message without any issues, but one that would have benefitted from a little more care, and a bit of a kick.
Extras:
The Open Road also comes to DVD with only trailers for The Next Three Days, Solitary Man, and Shrink (which is an odd inclusion; seen as how it was released on DVD last July), and not a single other bonus feature; with no commentary, making of, or even theatrical trailer included; making for a real failure in the extras department, where the blow is only cushioned by the fact that anyone who sits through the film probably won’t be too bothered about exploring how it was made.
The Bottom Line:
The Open Road really is only for people who enjoy Hallmark movies, and the cheap and cheery emotional baggage that goes with them; as despite being a road movie with an awkward, irritable, alcoholic father, his uptight son, and the son’s attractive girlfriend, it’s devoid of any real laughs (barely managing to raise a smirk), feels overly subdued throughout, has a mismatched cast (Timberlake is certainly no Bridges, and it clearly shows), and substandard writing that fails to fully develop any of the characters, and ensures that no viewer will care too much what happens to the anyone onscreen.
Picture and audio quality are both average, but not stunning, and as there are no discernible special features to speak of The Open Road DVD is, much like the film itself, exceedingly lacklustre, and unlikely to thrill even the most easily pleased filmgoers; making for a wasted opportunity, and a disc that could make for a nice gift for a lonely granny, but will likely bore any other viewers to sleep.
