Peter Howell's 10 must-see roadtrip movies
The best road trip movies are journeys of the mind as much as journeys through geography.
The Star's movie critic picks his top 10 features about journeys
Jul 04, 2009
(9)
Toronto Star
A road movie by definition has to be in motion and preferably on asphalt, but the best ones are about more than just the burning rubber.
As Rod Serling used to say in The Twilight Zone, these journeys are "not only of sight and sound but of mind."
The characters in transit have to experience some change to their attitudes and outlook, or else the trip is wasted. They have to not just go somewhere, but more importantly, they have to arrive.
And if they can do it with a smile, all the better.
It Happened One Night (1934): A runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) is trailed by a scoop-hungry newspaper scribe (Clark Gable) in Frank Capra's classic screwball romance that rarely stops moving.
Trailer: It Happened One Night
One Week (2008): A cross-Canada motorcycle tour of Canuck symbols made by a sullen guy with terminal cancer (Joshua Jackson) somehow manages to celebrate life and Canada without jerking tears or waving the flag.
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971): Drag racers rocket down historic Route 66 to discover America and themselves. Bonus thrills in the pop stars behind the wheels: James Taylor and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson.
Y tu mamá también (2001): The title translates as "And your mother, too" and it nails the pugnacious spirit that sends two teenaged horndogs (Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna) on a cross-Mexico quest for the perfect beach they hope might also land them their dream girl.
Thelma & Louise (1991): The ultimate girls-gone-wild movie, as Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) hit the highway in a 1966 Thunderbird convertible to bond as pals and exorcise the ghosts of bad men past. The ride is a trip; the ending is classic.
Easy Rider (1969): Two California bikers (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) head east to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras bash with LSD enhancement. The quintessential 1960s road movie sent a generation tripping but also proved to be bigger downer than Altamont, as Fonda's character muses, "We blew it."
The Sure Thing (1985): What do you do when you've got no money, but there's a gorgeous "sure thing" (an unknown Nicolette Sheridan) waiting for you in California? You go west, young man, just like John Cusack.
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004): Before he was starting revolutions and inspiring T-shirts, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was a young medical student riding his beat-up motorbike across South America to learn about the proletarians he would later champion.
Duel (1971): Stephen Spielberg's debut feature is also one of his best and most terrifying. Dennis Weaver is a lonely road traveller dogged by an unseen and vengeful trucker who wants to run him off the road – and straight to hell.
The Cannonball Run (1981): Burt Reynolds stars in his multiplex-packing '80s prime. Based on a real and rule-flouting cross-America race, he's driving an ambulance full of kooks and one cutie (Farrah Fawcett) in a car-wreck of a picture that's also a lot of fun.
Related links:
Jim Kenzie's top driving peeves
John LeBlanc's 10 most beautiful new cars
Toronto Star
Auto News
Multimedia
Car Reviews
