Plot: What’s it about?
Typically I don’t like to judge a book (or in this case movie) by its cover. The cover for Scenic Route shows star Josh Duhamel with a Mohawk stranded on a deserted road. He has a bit of blood on his face and looks possessed. This wouldn’t be my first film of choice if I were to see it on a shelf at a video store. Well since video stores are no longer around, let’s just say I wouldn’t check it out from Redbox or Netflix. To be fair, the film is far from terrible, but also far from great. Duhamel stars as Mitchell. He and life-long friend Carter (Dan Fogler) are stranded in the middle of a desert after their truck breaks down. I’ve never been a fan of either of these two. Fogler seems to mimic the late Chris Farley at times and has never made me laugh. Duhamel is the better of the two, but that’s not saying much. His films haven’t interested me either. Needless to say, watching a 90 minute film with the two of them stranded in the desert didn’t seem like my cup of tea.
There are a couple of other characters who show up, but largely these two dominate the majority of screen time. There are a few surprises along the way. Mitchell is the more successful of the two, but Carter feels he’s living life by-the-books so to speak. Carter accuses him of giving up on his dreams becauseMitchell thinks Carter is unambitious. It’s hard to imagine these guys ever being friends. Their constant bickering throughout the entire film would have you to they’ve been life-long enemies. The film mistakes this bickering for character development. It’s hard to care about these guys when the act like total jerks to one another. I will say, the acting is better than I had anticipated. If the film had veered toward one genre it might have been more successful. It wants to be a road picture, comedy, drama and part thriller. None of these elements work nor do they mesh well. The ending is also convenient and happy. This contradicts with the darker edge of what preceded it. There’s also more than a few frustrating scenes. A sheriff drives by to see the deserted truck, but doesn’t get out to inspect what has happened or anything. As this happens, the two friends are away from it looking for help and trying to get a cellphone signal. Duhamel also has a cast on his leg throughout the entire film, but it never bothers to explain what happened to him. I take it the filmmakers thought this to add to the character’s misery to have him injured throughout the film. I wonder what attracted the stars to this film. Chalk it up as a missed opportunity.
Video: How’s it look?
While I didn’t like the film, the bluray at least presents it strongly. The 1.85:1 AVC encoded transfer is nicely detailed. The characters aren’t really nice to look at in this film, but the transfer does justice to that. This is pretty much a one setting film and the colors are all well saturated and accurate. The dirt and grim on their faces comes through in fine detail. You can also notice the blood on Duhamel’s face and his pit stains as well. Of course I didn’t want or need to see that, but I did. The desert sun shows strong detail in several of the scenes as well. There was no grain detected here either. I know I won’t revisit this film, but for the fans out there this bluray should please.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The DTS HD 5.1 is solid. It’s not as flashy as the image, but it’s still solid. Vocals and dialogue are strong here too. The rear channels didn’t kick in as often as I expected, but when needed it was good. There really isn’t much action in this film so don’t expect an overly robust track. This track should still satisfy fans. I can’t find much negative to say here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All we get here is an Audio Commentary track with the Goetez Brothers and actor Josh Duhamel. They are very enthusiastic and this is a fun track. I almost wish the film was better because they are seem very pleased with it.
