The Road to Wellville (1994)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers (WGA):

T. Coraghessan Boyle (novel)
Alan Parker (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 October 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | History

Tagline:

A comedy of the heart and other organs.

Plot:

A story about the ins and outs of one unusual health facility in the early 20th century, run by the eccentric Dr. Kellogg.

Plot Keywords:

Health | Sex | Patient | Diet | Adopted Son

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Anthony Hopkins	...	Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
Bridget Fonda	...	Eleanor Lightbody
Matthew Broderick	...	William Lightbody
John Cusack	...	Charles Ossining
Dana Carvey	...	George Kellogg
Michael Lerner	...	Goodloe Bender
Colm Meaney	...	Dr. Lionel Badger
John Neville	...	Endymion Hart-Jones
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Ida Muntz
Traci Lind	...	Nurse Irene Graves
Camryn Manheim	...	Virginia Cranehill
Roy Brocksmith	...	Poultney Dab
Norbert Weisser	...	Dr. Spitzvogel
Monica Parker	...	Mrs. Tindermarsh
Jacob Reynolds	...	Young George Kellogg

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-3 | Iceland:L | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York, USA

Company:

Beacon Communications

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mr. Unpronounceable is dead, you can see him breathing.

Quotes:

Ida Muntz: Do you masticate, Mr. Lightbody?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Action: Blowhard (#1.4)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Rigoletto

one of the best comedies I've ever seen

I can't believe some of the reviews I've read on this site about The Road to Wellville. Some people complain that it was crude and disgusting, others complain that it didn't have a coherent plot, and still others whine that it wasn't historically accurate (concerning Dr. Kellogg's methods). Those reviewers clearly missed the boat.

As for those who thought the movie was crude and disgusting, what did you expect from a comedy set in a turn-of-the-century health sanitorium run by a well meaning but eccentric doctor? Such a movie is bound to contain scenes of patients vomiting, getting enemas, and having a sexual tryst or two, just as undoubtedly occurred in many health sanitoriums at that time. Furthermore, none of those scenes were graphic, so I don't understand anybody being offended by them.

As for complaints that the movie didn't have a coherent plot, it didn't need one. It was a comedy, not a drama! The health sanitorium setting was a perfect vehicle for satirizing turn-of-the-century attitudes about health, and it was the dialogue and comedic situations that held the movie together and kept it moving, not its plot.

Finally, for those who complain that the movie wasn't historically accurate about Dr. Kellogg's actual methods (such as his character's use of electric-powered machines for health therapy), the movie was a comedy, not a biography! It was meant to elicit laughs, and in that respect it was a smashing success. I haven't laughed so much during a movie in a long time.

Some people should take Sargeant Hulka's ("Stripes") advice and "lighten up." Good comedy is not dependent on plot or historical accuracy to be entertaining; all that matters is that it's funny, and Wellville was one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen.