THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE A film review by Chuck Dowling Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack, Dana Carvey, Colm Meaney, Lara Flynn Boyle.
The Road To Wellville is one big mess of a movie. There are three seperate story lines throughout the film and none of them come together at the end. The main story involves Broderick and Fonda who come to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a "health" resort run by the inventor of the corn flake, Dr. John Henry Kellogg (Hopkins). Another plot involves John Cusack trying to start a rival breakfast food company and still another involves Kellogg's son (Carvey) who keeps terrorizing his father and the people at the sanitarium.
Broderick's character is subjected to all sorts of strange "health" contraptions, which allow him to do what he does best, the normal guy in a strange situation (see also: The Cable Guy, The Freshman, and Biloxi Blues). It's his reactions to what's going on around him that make the movie, and the entire film should have been about him and his experiences.
What we get instead are things that I can't imagine anyone caring about. These things include: vomiting, endless fart jokes, gratuitous naked fat people, gratuitous sexual discussions by naked fat people, masterbation, talk about masterbation, mud, and unfaithful spouses. Also, the ending is unsatisfying. However, there is good score music and as I said earlier, Broderick's character is amusing. But overall, steer clear of The Road To Wellville. D:Alan Parker.
Have A Question Or Comment? Email Me At chuckd21@southeast.net
-- Chuck Dowling
Please visit my movie reviews web site at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ You'll be glad you did.
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