Film Review: Freeway (1996)

Classic fairytales are popular source of scripts for Hollywood films, although, thanks to Disney, they tend to be limited to realm of family entertainment. Among the few that treat such material in a way more suitable for adult audience is Freeway, 1996 comedy thriller written and directed by Matthew Bright.

The protagonist, played by Reese Witherspoon, is Vanessa Julia Lutz, 16-year old teenager from Los Angeles. She is illiterate and has managed to get criminal record, but nevertheless looks mature and responsible in comparison with her parents - mother Ramona (played by Amanda Plummer) who earns her living as street prostitute and stepfather Larry (played by Michael T. Weiss), paroled convict who uses every opportunity to sexually harass her. When Ramona and Larry get arrested at the same day, Vanessa is about to be sent to foster care, but she, thanks to previous experience, would have none of it. Instead, she decides to run and reach her grandmother living in Northern California. Before she leaves, her boyfriend Chopper (played by Bokeem Woodbine) gives her a gun to sell it and thus finance her trip. That gun would, however, come very handy when Vanessa’s car breaks down on the road and is offered ride by seemingly kind Bob Wolverton (played by Kiefer Sutherland), who introduces himself as psychologist who helps troubled youth. In reality, Bob is vicious serial killer but when Vanessa realises what is going on, she shoots him. Bob survives, albeit terribly disfigured, but Vanessa, due to her background and criminal record, isn’t believed by authorities and instead ends in jail for attempted murder.

Freeway at first glance looks very much like those low budget films that were quite popular among American independent film makers in 1990s. It is broadly set in the realm of crime genre, deals with troubled characters at the margins or bottom of society and features plenty of violence mixed with some dark humour. Matthew Bright, however, takes main source of his inspiration from Little Red Riding Hood, classic fairytale which is here given unusual makeover by being set in “white trash” milieu of 1990s California. Bright, who was helped during production by his good friend and famous composer Danny Elfman, as well as Oliver Stone as one of the producers, didn’t work out this idea too efficiently. The obvious references to the old tale are limited to opening title and very brief scene at the very ending. In the meantime, Freeway looks like typical exploitation film that titillates audience with graphic violence and gore and less graphic allusions to sex and various perversions. Probably thanks to Oliver Stone, this film also features some sort of social commentary and semi-satiric condemnation of America’s dysfunctional welfare state, oppressive justice system and media obsessed with violence. Those elements, however, don’t fit together very well and many times Freeway simply isn’t funny enough to function as a comedy while, at the same time, being too grotesque to play as a straight crime thriller. What ultimately makes this film watchable is an excellent performance by Reese Witherspoon who plays “white trash” heroine with incredible energy and vigour, using a lot of her native Southern accent. Kiefer Sutherland, who was at the time becoming specialised in roles of villains, delivers chilling performance of perverted serial killer, although its impact is subdued in the second half when his character ends under heavy makeup. The rest of the cast, which includes former teen star Brooke Shields and veterans character like Dan Hedaya, are also good and Freeway manages to become mostly entertaining experience for audience that likes unusual modern twists on classic tales. Despite lack of commercial success, Freeway was embraced by critics. In 1999 Bright directed the sequel Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby starring Natasha Lyonne, which was considered to be a failure.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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