Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road (2002)

Neal Oliver, a very confused young man and an artist, takes a journey of a lifetime on a highway I60 that doesn't exist on any of the maps, going to the places he never even heard of, searching for an answer and his dreamgirl.

Director:

Bob Gale

Writer:

Bob Gale

Stars:

James Marsden, Gary Oldman, Kurt Russell

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Edison	...	Quincy
Paul Brogren	...	Zack
Wayne Robson	...	Tolbert (Deep Stomach)
Gary Oldman	...	O.W. Grant
Michael J. Fox	...	Mr. Baker
James Marsden	...	Neal Oliver
Melyssa Ade	...	Sally
John Bourgeois	...	Dad
Roz Michaels	...	Mom
Amy Stewart	...	Nancy
Christopher Lloyd	...	Ray
Jonathan Whittaker	...	Dr. Craig
Mark Lutz	...	Frank
Krista Leis	...	Ann
Michael Rhoades	...	Kirby

Storyline

Neal Oliver is a young artist, but his father doesn't like his choice and wants him to go to Oxford. Everything changes after Neal's meeting with O.W.Grant, who grants exactly one wish per person, as his name suggests. Neal wishes for answers, and so he must travel to the nonexistent Danver by the nonexistent Interstate 60. In this trip he hopes to find the girl of his dreams, following the trail of her photos on the advertising stands along the route. Many encounters await him ahead. Will he receive what he asked for?

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Plot Keywords:

road trip | alternate reality | magic 8 ball | road movie | time warp | 

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Taglines:

No rules, no boundaries.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

The number of the building where Neal has his appointment with Ray for the delivery is 555, a reference to the fictional exchange for phone numbers in various movies and television shows. ("555" is reserved for phone company testing purposes, and no actual numbers exist using it in any area code.)

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Goofs

When Neal wakes up in the hospital, after delivering the package, he finds a playing card in a flower arrangement. As he looks at the face of the playing card, the back is clearly visible to the camera right-side-up. When he flips the card over to view the back, the back appears right-side-up to him, instead of correctly up-side-down.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Neal Oliver: [voiceover] Given an infinite universe and infinite time, all things will happen. That means that every event is inevitable, including those that are impossible. And it's as good an explanation for all of this as anything else. Now, a lot of stories start in bars, so that's where we're going to start this one. Not because I was there - I wasn't. But because it's a damn good introduction to a very unique... fellow.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits testify "No computer or miniatures were used to create or enhance the destruction of any vehicles in this movie".

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Connections

References The Twilight Zone (1959)

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Soundtracks

Not Too Close Encounters
Composed by Douglas Stevens
Performed by Seattle Music

User Reviews

A refreshingly moral story with important messages presented in a humorous way...

"Interstate 60" is about a highway that doesn't seem to exist, yet somewhere in between two highways in Louisiana it does, indeed, exist. The main character of the film has a hard time trying to find it at first, for his destiny lies somewhere upon the seemingly non-existent highway.

People looking for "Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road" may have just as hard a time looking for the movie itself, as it was not theatrically released, has not been released on DVD, but continues to circulate around small theaters and film festivals since 2002, in search of more eager viewers who will no doubt be both surprised and inspired by the film's truthfulness and sense of morals.

Yet "Interstate 60" plays like anything but a Surgeon General's warning. It isn't as openly strict or hard-nosed. It has a sort of subtle warning inside it that lets the viewer decide what it is about. It's a film that stays with you after it's over, and that's a rare thing these days.

It all starts with a rich kid named Neal Oliver (James Marsden, "X-Men"). Neal's 22nd birthday has just arrived, and with it a shiny-red BMW sports car, with the license plate specially modeled after his father's own personal motto. In fact, the entire convertible seems to be modeled after Neal's father's own tastes. "I woulda killed to have something like this when I was your age," his dad mutters. We have a feeling he really would have, too.

Neal makes a wish for his birthday, to find a meaning to his life. It is overheard by an odd man named O.W. Grant (full name: One Wish Grant), who decides to grant Neal his wish - by sending a painter's bucket flying from above, only to come to a stop on Neal's skull.

Out of it for a while, Neal wakes up again and finds his perception noticeably different. He notices things he never noticed before; his senses are more acute. A strange doctor named Ray (Christopher Lloyd) explains a thing or two about perception and blindness to Neal, before Neal finds out there is no doctor on the staff at the hospital named Ray (though that seems a bit odd, don't you think?).

Neal meets Ray again in a skyscraper, where Ray gives Neal a job to transport a small briefcase to Denvar (yes, DenVAR), a small town located along I-60. Neal reluctantly agrees to go on this journey in hopes of finding a girl he can't rid his mind of, and so he finally locates this nonexistent highway. Along his journey he once again meets O.W. Grant (Gary Oldman), as well as Laura (Amy Jo Johnson), a woman seeking as much sex as possible; a cop (Kurt Russell) in a small drug-infested town; an ex-advertising agent played by Chris Cooper; and finally he finds the girl of his dreams (literally), Lynn (Amy Smart). Along his journey, Neal comes to terms with himself and who he really is, and though this is predictable the way the film gets the message across is more than ingenious.

The writer and director of the film is Bob Gale, the man most people will always remember as the creator and sole writer of the three "Back to the Future" films. Gale tried his hand at directing a few times, including the 1995 "interfilm" called "Mr. Payback," which I have not seen but have heard is a supposedly horrid excuse for a film. "Interstate 60" is not - it is a cleverly-written little film that avoided being released into the mainstream, and for a reason: It didn't want to become Hollywoodized. It hasn't. And it shows.

"Interstate 60" is unmistakably a low-budget film, but it is all the better for it. It has some important messages that really should be seen by everyone. In a time when films like "Gigli" are invading the film market, this is a breath of fresh air, a step towards a better side of film-making, a side with morals for today's youth and future generations.

There are some great messages in this film, it's a shame that the majority of moviegoers and families seeking quality films will never even see this film, much less hear about it.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 2003 (Philippines)

Also Known As:

Interstate 60

Filming Locations:

Cannington, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,449

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fireworks Pictures, Fireworks Entertainment, Redeemable Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1