Highwaymen (2004)

Rennie Cray (Caviezel) embarks on a bloodthirsty rampage to avenge the death of his wife who was struck down by a serial killer - a man who hunts and kills women using his '72 El Dorado.

Director:

Robert Harmon

Writers:

Craig Mitchell, Hans Bauer

Stars:

Jim Caviezel, Rhona Mitra, Frankie Faison

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Caviezel	...	James 'Rennie' Cray
Rhona Mitra	...	Molly Poole
Frankie Faison	...	Will Macklin
Colm Feore	...	Fargo
Gordon Currie	...	Ray Boone
Andrea Roth	...	Alexandra Farrow
Noam Jenkins	...	Kelt
Toby Proctor	...	Rookie
James Kee	...	Trauma Counselor
Guylaine St-Onge	...	Olivia Cray (as Guylaine St. Onge)
Joe Pingue	...	Long Hair Mechanic
Martin Roach	...	Detective
Ron Bell	...	Semi Driver
Paul Rutledge	...	Pickup Driver
Kelly Jones	...	Pickup Passenger

Storyline

Since the hit-and-run murder of his wife five years ago, Rennie Cray has crisscrossed America in his souped-up, stripped-down '68 Plymouth Barracuda, pursuing her killer. The man he seeks in a high-speed, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse is James Fargo, a merciless, wheelchair-bound pyschopath. Through a series of mechanical innovations, Fargo has turned his rampaging '72 Cadillac Eldorado into a monstrous extension of his own twisted body and mind. Now, their deadly battle of wits and wills is about to move into overdrive. And caught in their headlights is a tormented beauty who unwittingly holds the key to their ultimate showdown.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | death | headlights | serial killer | hit and run | 

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Taglines:

When murder is no accident, revenge is no crime.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some gore and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 2004 (Puerto Rico)

Also Known As:

Veloces y mortales

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£44,388 (UK) (2 July 2004)

Gross:

£44,388 (UK) (2 July 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Millennium Films, Cornice Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rennie Cray (Jim Caviezel) drives a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda with the 426 Hemi Package. This extremely rare "race prepped" car uses a 426 cubic inch Hemi V8, paired with lightweight front bumpers and fenders. The car also omitted things such as sound deadening and rear seats to keep the weight down. A sticker reading "Accelerated Time Trials Only" was placed on the car. A mere 50 were made in 1968.

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Goofs

As the car flips at the climax of the movie, the left rear wheel entirely comes off the axle, yet, when the car finally settles back onto the ground, the wheel is back on.

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Quotes

[first lines]
James 'Rennie' Cray: Olivia!

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Connections

Edited into Feast (2005)

User Reviews

Hit the highway, instead of seeing this film

My interest in seeing Highwaymen stems from the fact that it was directed by Robert Harmon; the same man behind what is probably the best road thriller ever made, 'The Hitcher'. Any hopes of this being as good as the 1986 film are quashed immediately, however, as an early scene that sees a number of cars smash into each other makes it clear that the action scenes aren't directed with any panache, and once the film starts properly and we are introduced to the dull cast of characters; all that we are left with is a rather crappy thriller. It seems as if Harmon thought he was directing something more like The Terminator, as the lead villain is a mechanical monstrosity, while Jim Caviezel's character stinks of Michael Biehn's Reese in the aforementioned masterpiece. The film gets underway when a young woman escapes from a car accident that claimed her friend. It soon becomes apparent that the perpetrator is a serial hit and runner, as the mysterious Rennie pops up and tells the young woman that he has been hunting the man in the car ever since he killed his wife.

In fairness, this film has to be given some plaudits for the fact that the car chases don't utilise CGI, and so they have a certain realism to them (even if this realism is often way over the top). It's hard to really care for any of the action, though, because the characters are so poor and since the lead actress is so irritating, I often found myself cheering on the murderer. The villain is slightly different to the norm; given that he's a wheelchair bound maniac driving a specially adapted car, which he uses as a murder weapon. However, this sort of thing has been seen many times before and the fact that it's all so unlikely brings it down. Jim Caviezel hasn't been in many great films, but he should be glad that Mel Gibson took a chance on him in 2004 as I'm sure he wouldn't want to make rubbish like this for the rest of his career. The central cast is rounded off by British actress Rhona Mitra, who doesn't get to do much in her role. Overall, this is a far from perfectly pitched thriller; the action sequences aren't very exciting, the characters are boring and the plot doesn't offer much. Not worth bothering with, is my verdict.