With the release of the newest Todd Phillips film Due Date, which takes two unsuspecting strangers on the road together on a drive across the country of the USA I felt it best to list out 20 of my favourite road films; so here we go:
20. Bolt (2008) (dir. Byron Howard & Chris Williams)
After he’s accidentally shipped to the other side of the country Bolt, the wonder dog on TV, must get back to California to save his master Penny. With the help of Mittens – the mafia alley cat – and Rhino – the brave hamster looking for adventure – Bolt heads out on this trip that seems bigger than even he can handle as he learns a little something about life that they don’t always teach you on TV.
19. Sex Drive (2008) (dir. Sean Anders)
Ian is a lonely frustrated virgin. He makes friends with this hot girl over the internet and decides to drive half way across the country to lose his virginity to her. His two best friends, Felicia and Lance, tag along to be there for the moment when they can either pat him on the back or laugh him to scorn.
18. Dumb & Dumber (1994) (dir. Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly)
Lloyd and Harry are roommates, and best friends. Lloyd works as a limo driver. One day he takes this beautiful woman, Mary Swanson, to the airport and she forgets a bag in the terminal (on purpose) and Lloyd misunderstands and takes it upon himself to drive to Aspen to return to now misplaced luggage and profess his undying love for her.
17. Beavis & Butt-Head Do America (1996) (dir. Mike Judge & Yvette Kaplan)
After Beavis and Butt-Head have their television stolen from them they have to trek across the country to retrieve it. Along the way they encounter everyone from murderers to the FBI and Secret Service.
16. Tommy Boy (1995) (dir. Peter Segal)
Tommy is the son of the owner of one of the biggest car brake manufacturers in the country. Business is slowing up and unless Tommy and Richard can go on the road and boost sales or the company will go over to Tommy’s money hungry step-mother after the passing of Tommy’s father.
15. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) (dir. Kevin Smith)
Jay and Silent Bob have discovered the internet. They’ve found out that Hollywood is making a movie based on the comic book series Bluntman and Chronic, which is loosely based on them (from Chasing Amy). They also discover that there are many people all over the internet calling the idea stupid and them ‘pussies’. So they decide to leave their complacent lives in New Jersey and head over to Hollywood to shut down the production and therefore make sure they can continue to get laid (as if they were already).
14. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
Julio and Tenoch, two best friends, take a liking to Ana. Ana is having some marital troubles and Julio and Tenoch decide, as a way to get some time alone with her, to take a trip to some secret beach far away. With little in hand they jump behind the wheel and find out more about themselves and where their relationship can go than they ever imagined when they first cooked up the idea.
13. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
Everett, Pete and Delmar have all escaped from prison and are off on a quest for treasure. In this adaptation of Homer’s poem The Odyssey we are treated to the 30s southern culture, musical renditions and a lot of Clooney quirks.
12. Natural Born Killers (1994) (dir. Oliver Stone)
Mickey and Malorey are a match made in heaven, and they’re completely psychotic. The two of them trek across the US of A robbing, murdering and basically pissing off anyone who comes in their way.
11. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) (dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)
When Olive gets selected to progress in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant the Hoover family must all travel in their old VW bus to get Olive to the pageant in time. The Hoovers consist of a young girl, a mute (by choice), a failed suicide, a foul mouthed (but loveable) grandfather, a housewife and a self-help guru who’s trying to make it; put all these together in one room (let alone a small bus) for more than twenty minutes and sparks are going to fly, as we see here.
10. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) (dir. Danny Leiner)
It’s Friday night and Harold and Kumar really have nothing better to do than sit at home watching TV and get stoned. However, after blazing up a sufficient amount of weed they feel this urge to get some food. They decide to get something that’s been eluding them for so long: White Castle. So begins the epic night of crazy things that happen on their trip to get some really small burgers.
9. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) (dir. Terry Gilliam)
Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo head to Vegas for not only work, as a crazed journalist, but also just to get high on every drug ever invented and forget about the real world entirely. These two drug addicts go across the country with the only intention being to never be sober at any given moment.
8. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) (dir. Larry Charles)
Borat is a journalist in his nation of Kazakhstan. He has decided to come to America and document the culture so that he can take the film back to his country and hopefully they can learn something. However, along the way he’s distracted by his obsession with Pamela Anderson and must travel across America so that he can make her his new wife.
7. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) (dir. John Hughes)
Neal is trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving, but at every turn something is going wrong with any mode of transport he wants to take. He eventually begins to team up with Del, the oddball salesman that you hope to dear God you never have to sit beside on the bus, to try and get home for the holidays.
6. The Road (2009) (dir. John Hillcoat)
The end of the world is here and a man and his boy are trekking south to try and survive. They must duck and hide at every corner so as not to get caught by any groups of cannibals or thieves who have little care for their lives.
5. Away We Go (2009) (dir. Sam Mendes)
Burt and Verona are about to have a child, but with Burt’s parents planning on going on a life long journey half way around the world they decide that they want a change of scenery as well. Burt and Verona take a tour of numerous cities across the country to try and find the perfect place where they feel comfortable raising their soon to be born child.
4. Smokey and the Bandit (1977) (dir. Hal Needham)
Bandit and Cledus is challenged by a big Texan to try and pick up and deliver a shipment of illegal alcohol in a restricted time limit. Bandit and Cledus accepts and are off speeding down highways and stealing brides and ducking a dodging the patrols and a certain Sherriff Buford T. Justice of Portague County as they try to beat the clock.
3. Into the Wild (2007) (dir. Sean Penn)
Chris McCandless, after having completed his college degree, has decided that he’s going to finally give up on the socially accepted way of life and live his dream of going on a grand adventure to Alaska. He removes anything that connects him to this socially structured world and starts walking across the country and doing what he can to get him where he needs to go. Along the way he meets a lot of amazing people and learns a lot about life that you’d never find in any book or any classroom.
2. Almost Famous (2000) (dir. Cameron Crowe)
Russell Hammond is a rock fan and wants to be a rock journalist. He finds his way into writing a story for Rolling Stone Magazine on an up-and-coming band, Stillwater. He follows the band on the road from show to show trying to get bits of information here and there as to what the true meaning of rock and roll is. While also trying to discover Stillwater’s true identity, he finds out what it means to be a fan and a critic at the same time.
1. The Blues Brothers (1980) (dir. John Landis)
Elwood and ‘Joliet’ Jake Blues are out of jail and on a mission from God. They are out to get their band back together to go on the road and make enough money to save the orphanage that raised them from being shut down. Even though the film doesn’t leave the Illinois state line it definitely goes on the road and takes from bar to bar each day trying to swindle their way into enough cash to complete their mission from God.
What’s your favourite road movie?