Blacktop (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

T.J. Scott

Writers:

Kevin Lund (written by) &
T.J. Scott (written by)

Release Date:

20 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A woman traveling with her comedian boy friend gets fed up with him when he accepts a three night gig in a wayward trucker's bar...

Plot Keywords:

Trucker | Knife In Back | Ranting | Stand Up Comedian | Fall Over Cliff

Cast

Meat Loaf	...	Jack (as Meat Loaf Aday)
Kristin Davis	...	Sylvia
Lochlyn Munro	...	David
Victoria Pratt	...	Charlie
Blu Mankuma	...	Buck
Amanda Tapping	...	Waitress
Douglas O'Keeffe	...	Blacktop Cop
Jeremy Ratchford	...	Mechanic
C. Ernst Harth	...	Club Manager
Ken Roberts	...	Tattoo Gas Jockey
Bob Wilde	...	Bartender
Scott Heindl	...	Mine Worker
G. Michael Gray	...	Bad Dude
Rheta Hutton	...	Cataract Woman
Jonathon Young	...	Young Gas Attendant

Also Known As:

Blacktop: Murder on the Move (USA) (DVD title)
La route de la peur (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and terror.

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

BLT Productions

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During highway chase scene a chase/safety vehicle with large banners and flashing lights can be seen in a curve.

Movie Connections:

References Black Dog (1998)

Soundtrack:

Can't Let Go

Sex And The Highway

For a "bad" movie, this one is surprisingly watchable. The script is laughable, but the stars are decent actors (George "Meat Loaf" Aday and Kristin Davis give far better efforts than the script warrants). The rest of the casting is horrid, and the script is from hunger, but who doesn't like a good psycho-killer/woman-in-distress flick every now and then? My respect for Kristin Davis went through the roof after watching this film because many other actresses would have thumbed their nose at this script rather than taking it seriously, and that's about as professional an approach to one's work as one can get. I get the impression that if Kristin were working at McDonald's she'd convince you that she was happy with the job.

As for the plot: a traveling, B-list stand-up comic and his girlfriend (Davis) break up because he won't commit to marrying her (the idiot). She leaves him, and hops into the truck of Aday's character (who looks more like the product of five "Meatloafs Aday"). He protects her from rowdies at a bar in a gruesome way that foreshadows who the real danger is, and the rest of the movie seems to be a cross between "Black Dog" and "Scream" (the latter in that the killer views killing as almost a form of self-exploration).

Watch this film at least once, and maybe you'll like it enough to flick it on every now and then. I'm sure it'll be on cable for the next 1,000 years or so, as they seem to love this type of film.