Freeway (1996)

A twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.

Director:

Matthew Bright

Writer:

Matthew Bright

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Bokeem Woodbine

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Bob Wolverton
Reese Witherspoon	...	Vanessa Lutz
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Chopper
Paul Perri	...	Cop #1
Robert Peters	...	Cop #2
Ben Meyerson	...	Cop at Truckstop
Craig Barnett	...	Cop #3
G. Eric Miles	...	Cop #4
Wolfgang Bodison	...	Detective Breer
Dan Hedaya	...	Detective Wallace
Chris Renna	...	Doctor
Kathleen Marshall	...	ER Nurse
Melinda Renna	...	Female Anchor
Guillermo Díaz	...	Flacco
Kitty Fox	...	Grandma

Storyline

Little Red Riding Hood for the 1990's: After her mom and step-dad are arrested, 15-year-old Vanessa Lutz decides that instead of once again being put into a foster home, she'd rather go and search for the grandmother she's never met, and live with her. "On the way to grandma's house," (actually a trailer park) Vanessa's car breaks down, and she's picked up from the side of the road by Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for troubled boys. Bob slowly earns Vanessa's trust, and eventually convinces her to talk about her sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. When Vanessa realizes that Bob is enjoying what she's saying, she realizes that he's "The I-5 Killer," from the news. She tries to get out of his truck, but the inside door handle has been removed...

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Plot Keywords:

freeway | 15 year old | trailer park | police | school | 

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Taglines:

Her life is no fairy tale.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong lurid violence and sexual dialogue, some sexual situations, drug content and language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Sin salida

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,945, 25 August 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$295,493, 13 March 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Kushner-Locke Company,August Entertainment,Davis-Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min (uncut) 102 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two-shots including Dan Hedaya and Brooke Shields make it appear as if they are close to the same height, but in fact, Shields (at six feet) is a full three inches taller than Hedaya (five feet nine inches), and wearing the two-inch white pumps shown in the film, she would have towered over him.

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Goofs

When entering her Grandmother's trailer park, Vanessa's shadow on the ground is long, but as she turns a corner, her shadow becomes very short, indicating a different time of the day.

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Quotes

Ramona: You don't know nothin' about nothin'! You don't know a goddamn thing about nothin'!

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Crazy Credits

Except for the main characters of Bob (Kiefer Sutherland) and Vanessa (Reese Witherspoon), the rest of the cast is listed alphabetically according to the character's name.

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Alternate Versions

In 1997, the 102 minute edited US R-rated version screened in Australia with an R rating for its theatrical release. In 1998, the 104 minute uncut version was submitted to the Australian Classification Board for a video release, however, it was refused classification (RC). Instead, the edited US R-rated version was released on video. The Australian DVD released through Force Entertainment is also the US R-rated version.

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Connections

Features Little Red Walking Hood (1937)

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Soundtracks

DESCAFEINADO
Written and Performed by Ben Vaughn
Published by Quonset Music
Administered by Bug Music
Courtesy of Bar/None Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

Extremely twisted black comedy

Reese Witherspoon has never made a better movie than Freeway...Although I respect her for wanting to do more romantic/family oriented movies because of her daughter, I don't think even she realizes how amazing she was playing this role...She was completely foul mouthed and hot tempered, but her timing and attitude was fantastic..I recently realized how this movie is and has been potential for cult classic....Reese Witherspoon never mentions this movie in any interviews and I wish she would because I would like to hear her thoughts on playing Vanessa Julia Lutz...