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

Gross USA:

$295,493

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$295,493

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

The photo of Vanessa's (Reese Witherspoon's) father that she shows to Bob (Kiefer Sutherland) is of mass murderer Richard Speck.

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Goofs

When Bob and Vanessa are fighting in the trailer Bob fires off 19 shots. Bob appears to be wielding a .45 semi-automatic pistol with a standard magazine, which means it could hold 9 bullets (8 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber). Even an extended magazine (which would have been clearly visible protruding from the bottom of the gun handle) would only hold 14 bullets maximum.

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Quotes

Vanessa Lutz: Get out of the goddamn car, right now, you little pecker snot!

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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

The UK version suffered two cuts, totalling about 7 seconds. The first occurs when Mimi Wolverton discovers her husbands porn magazine collection. The missing footage briefly showed the cover of a magazine "Cock Sucking Toddlers". The second missing shot is of Vanessa's murdered grandmother in her trailer home. The cuts were fully waived for the 2007 Blackhorse DVD release.

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Connections

References Deliverance (1972)

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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

How did I ever miss this movie before

Although it started out slow, it really picked up the pace when Vanessa gets into Bob's SUV type vehicle. As the movie went on, it easily turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in years. Dark, gory and still full of laughs in a twisted way. How Reese Witherspoon didn't win an Academy Award for this is a mystery. I have found new respect for Reese and glad to know she isn't all about fluff movies catering to woman (i.e., "Sweet Home Alabama"). I hope Reese digs into the grittier side of life again and does another movie of the "Freeway" caliber and leave her mantle of "the next Meg Ryan" at home!

Way to go Reese, this movie is definitely worth owning!