Honky Tonk Freeway (1981)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writer:

Edward Clinton (writer)

Release Date:

4 February 1982 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

PROMISES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN - But carried out on Earth

Plot:

Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw...

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Florida | Exit | Road Trip | Pimp

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Rasche	...	Eddie White
Paul Jabara	...	T.J. Tupus
Howard Hesseman	...	Snapper
Teri Garr	...	Ericka
Jenn Thompson	...	Delia
Peter Billingsley	...	Little Billy
Beau Bridges	...	Duane Hansen
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Carmen Odessa Shelby
Daniel Stern	...	Hitchhiker
Sandra McCabe	...	Prostitute
Celia Weston	...	Grace
Deborah Rush	...	Sister Mary Magdalene
Geraldine Page	...	Sister Mary Clarise
George Dzundza	...	Eugene
Joe Grifasi	...	Osvaldo

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Apopka, Florida, USA

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

When released, its $24 million budget made it the most expensive comedy ever produced. It was a major failure at the box office.

Quotes:

Mary the Teller: Give 'em the money!
Actress in Bank: You would give them all your money and you won't cash a government check?
Mary the Teller: Dear, they have a gun.

Movie Connections:

References "The Muppet Show" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Ticlaw Anthem

Almost completely forgotten misfiring off-beat comedy

Okay, so it was never going to change the world, and it bombed at the box office, but Honky Tonk Freeway is one of those films I fell in love with as a child (the BBC showed it a few times during the 1980s and I happened to have a high quality VHS tape in the machine - lucky, that!) and watched endlessly. I watched the DVD last night and sadly, time has not been kind to this would-be blockbuster. Either that or I've just grown out of this kind of broad, dopey humour. Come on, when Schlesinger is so desperate for laughs he gives us close-ups of novelty underpants with 'amusing' slogans, what can you say about the cast or screenplay?

Certainly, it's ambitious, interesting, unusual and sprawling, but it's never once laugh-out-loud funny. I'd describe it as a children's film with some 'adult' overtones - you can safely let your youngsters watch this, despite the 15 certificate. They won't get the drug references, so don't worry about it. I had a pleasant surprise when I realized I'd forgotten just how catchy both the title song and the song-writing truck driver's 'Everybody's Going Faster, Faster' song were, not to mention the town of Ticlaw's patriotic anthem. The whole cast give commendable performances, the photography is crisp and captures the mood of the various locations perfectly, and there's a real time capsule feeling about the fashions, the cars, the gadgets (especially the dashboard-mounted drum machine), the interiors and the pop-culture references - I was more than a little surprised to hear the nutty bum in the bank loudly telling everyone "I'm OJ Simpson!", particularly now Simpson's legal tangles have overshadowed his sporting achievements. The snag is, there's almost no plot to speak of, it's way too obvious to be witty and not funny enough to elicit many genuine laughs. I wish I'd left this one as a pleasant memory.