The Open Road Review

Sometimes, the collective charisma of a film’s cast, or even just the star-power of one great actor can mean the difference between a boring cliché-fest and an enjoyable romp. The Open Road is a film lucky enough to boast an impressive enough cast to shrug off the drag factor of its not inconsiderable flaws.

Failing baseball player Carlton Garret is summoned to his mother’s bedside. She is suffering from a unspecified heart condition (one serious enough to be of major concern, yet mild enough for the doctors to wait several days before operating for the events of the movie to take place) and must soon undergo surgery. Katherine however, is refusing to sign her consent papers until she sees Carlton’s estranged father Kyle, a famous baseball ex-pro. Carlton flies from Texas to Ohio to track down his dad, dragging along his ex-girlfriend Lucy (who has the patience of a saint). Upon finding Kyle, the pair convinces him to fly to see Katherine; at the airport however, it becomes apparent that Kyle has ‘lost’ his ID and cannot fly. The only solution is that great cinematic stand-by: the road trip, which will also provide Kyle and Carlton with the opportunity to repair their fractured relationship.

You don’t need to be in possession of clairvoyant powers to correctly guess what will happen on the road. Will Kyle and Carlton learn to love each other again? Will Carlton and Lucy realise their mistake in breaking up? Will there be thrills, spills and a happy ending? What do you think?

Fortunately, the aforementioned charismatic cast save The Open Road from being a total wash-out and turns it into something really rather watchable. Justin Timberlake stars as Carlton, Kate Mara (127 Hours, Ironclad) as Lucy, the wonderful Mary Steenburgen (The Proposal, Step Brothers,Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Katherine and Jeff Bridges as Kyle, who frankly, you could watch in anything. Ted Danson even has a brief cameo.

Timberlake provides more evidence that he is in fact a rather capable actor, though he is less suited to his role than he was in The Social Network (in which he was about as perfectly cast as you can get) and his mid-film flip out is pretty unconvincing. Bridges brings his earthy appeal to his character and pulls off what might otherwise be some pretty stolid dialogue, had it come from the lips of a great many lesser actors. It is also interesting to note that alongside Tron Legacy, this is another film in which he plays an absent father; along with True Grit, in which he played a man who becomes a surrogate father figure, it seems these has been some thematic continuity in Bridge’s recent roles. Either that or all casting directors want him to be their dad. Mara has little to do other than be pretty, charming and longsuffering, but she does that well.

So while The Open Road will not set anyone’s world alight, it is a solid and enjoyable film, buoyed by its excellent cast. Writer-director Michael Meredith would do well to exercise a little more creativity and originality in his next project; however, as it is unlikely he’ll be able to assemble such a good combination of actors every time.