CHICAGO -- To win cult status, films must be at least one of the following: brainy, warped, poorly shot, stuffed with weird production design, have an oddball cast and revel in the excessive. Cultie aspirant ''Motorama'' has one of the above, but how much enthusiasm can one muster for seeing Michael J. Pollard on the screen again?
''Motorama, '' alas, is not likely to appeal to those with three-digit IQs. Its most receptive audience may be among pre-teens, defying the curfew order.
Narratively, ''Motorama, '' screened here at the Chicago International Film Festival, sounds like it has got a lot going for it: a 10-year-old (Jordan Chrisopher Michael) sets out in a stolen red Mustang on a cross-Southwest states quest to win a gas station game. If the tyke can garner all the letters in the word ''motorama, '' he wins $500 million.
His venture is not sparked purely by the passions of winning the big bucks but are prompted by his, as the social scientist types would say, ''dysfunctional home life.''
Admittedly, brainy blond boys, in this post-Macaulay Culkin age, are disarmingly sympathetic characters when triumphing over dimball adults, but after the first few narrative miles, ''Motorama'' runs out of story gas. Kid drives car, stops for gas, gets contest tickets from cooty station attendant; drives off, stops for gas, gets tickets from goofball station attendant; drives off, stops for gas . . . on and on.
While there are glints and squints of the vast Southwest here that contain glimmers of satirical intelligence, ''Motorama'' is, for the most part, a dumb-numb ride. In Joseph Minion's monochromatic script, even the roadside loons are all of a similar dimension. Under Barry Shils' direction, ''Motorama'' comes across as being kind of a city slicker's apprehension of the weird outposts of the way-out West.
Technical contributions are sagely mounted: Dana Allyson's costume design is rightly wacko, while Vincent Jefferds and Cathlyn Marshall's production design conveys a peculiarly parched panorama.
MOTORAMA
Proletariat Productions Corp.
Producer Donald P. Borchers
Director Barry Shils
Screenwriter Joseph Minion
Editor Peter Verity
Music Andy Summers
Director of photography Joseph Yacoe
Costume design Dana Allyson
Production designer Vincent Jefferds, Cathlyn Marshall
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Gus Jordan Christopher Michael
Phil John Diehl
Miss Lawton Robin Duke
Vern Meatloaf
Lewie Michael J. Pollard
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
''Motorama, '' alas, is not likely to appeal to those with three-digit IQs. Its most receptive audience may be among pre-teens, defying the curfew order.
Narratively, ''Motorama, '' screened here at the Chicago International Film Festival, sounds like it has got a lot going for it: a 10-year-old (Jordan Chrisopher Michael) sets out in a stolen red Mustang on a cross-Southwest states quest to win a gas station game. If the tyke can garner all the letters in the word ''motorama, '' he wins $500 million.
His venture is not sparked purely by the passions of winning the big bucks but are prompted by his, as the social scientist types would say, ''dysfunctional home life.''
Admittedly, brainy blond boys, in this post-Macaulay Culkin age, are disarmingly sympathetic characters when triumphing over dimball adults, but after the first few narrative miles, ''Motorama'' runs out of story gas. Kid drives car, stops for gas, gets contest tickets from cooty station attendant; drives off, stops for gas, gets tickets from goofball station attendant; drives off, stops for gas . . . on and on.
While there are glints and squints of the vast Southwest here that contain glimmers of satirical intelligence, ''Motorama'' is, for the most part, a dumb-numb ride. In Joseph Minion's monochromatic script, even the roadside loons are all of a similar dimension. Under Barry Shils' direction, ''Motorama'' comes across as being kind of a city slicker's apprehension of the weird outposts of the way-out West.
Technical contributions are sagely mounted: Dana Allyson's costume design is rightly wacko, while Vincent Jefferds and Cathlyn Marshall's production design conveys a peculiarly parched panorama.
MOTORAMA
Proletariat Productions Corp.
Producer Donald P. Borchers
Director Barry Shils
Screenwriter Joseph Minion
Editor Peter Verity
Music Andy Summers
Director of photography Joseph Yacoe
Costume design Dana Allyson
Production designer Vincent Jefferds, Cathlyn Marshall
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Gus Jordan Christopher Michael
Phil John Diehl
Miss Lawton Robin Duke
Vern Meatloaf
Lewie Michael J. Pollard
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 10/15/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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