The Open Road

Directed by Michael Meredith, Old Lot Entertainment, 2009. Starring Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake. Along with Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and Harry Dean Stanton.

I am a lot like Ellen Degeneres on American Idol when it comes to critiquing. I just don't like to bash a film if I didn’t like it. There has got to be some redeeming qualities. So here is my recommendation for The Open Road.

With the impressive list of actors, specifically Jeff Bridges (yes, another one of my favorites) I really tried to like this movie but I just couldn’t. The acting was okay, the story - a bit formulaic, but honestly I just didn't care for the characters; and when a story is heavily based on a character driven storyline – you must give me something that makes me want to like them or feel for them or understand their predicament. The Open Road didn’t.

Now I am not saying a story that is formulaic doesn’t work – heck, a lot of movies out there today are rehashing tried and true themes but The Open Road just didn’t deliver this time.

Justin Timberlake gave a decent performance and Jeff Bridges’ character reminded me a bit of his Crazy Heart character but it fell short at really pulling us in and making us care about these two. This father/son relationship story just didn’t work even though everyone did their best with what they were given.

Michael Meredith wrote and directed this film.

So I am not recommending this film unless you have 90 minutes to kill or you have to see everything Jeff Bridges or Justin Timberlake makes.

Review: 3 out of 10

Rating: PG-13
Length: 90 Minutes