Harry here... sigh... Beware of Spoilers, and also while reading... if you find yourself thinking this is a positive review... it isn't. Mean Mr Mustered tickles the tackle and chomps down, ruining what you thought was a happy ending to this review. It is sad really, and kinda brought me down man. Really did. Tis a shame. Here ya go, and remember... beware of Spoilers...
Harry, Moriarty,
Mean Mr. Mustered here and I just saw a screening of the film Highwaymen, directed by Robert Harmon, who gave us the cult classic The Hitcher back in the 80's, and most recently Wes Craven Presents They. Yes, I know…my expectations weren't exactly that high from the above info, but what made me want to give Highwaymen a chance and gave me an open mind going into the screening was that the film starred Jin Caviezel.
2000's Frequency was one of my favorite films from that year, an under appreciated gem that gave Caviezel his first leading role. I also enjoyed Caviezel in his next lead role in 2002's The Count of Monte Cristo, an old fashioned swashbuckler that just got lost with today's CGI/MTV brained audience. Caviezel played the part of Edmond Dantes as well as a younger Mel Gibson/Kevin Costner would have if it were made a decade earlier. Even in junk like Pay it Forward and High Crimes, Caviezel does his best with the material given to him and comes out un-harmed unlike his higher profile co-stars.
Highwaymen is about a serial killer ( Colm Feore) who murders his victims in a unique way…he runs over them. To the police, it's just another hit and run. Cray (Caviezel) knows better because his wife was a victim of the killer and the two have been plying cat and mouse for some time now. Cray even served a past jail sentence for agitated assault (with a car!!!) from an incident where he caught up with the killer and smashed his car into the killers causing the killer to be a paraplegic. Only in the movies would Cray serve jail time while the killer, now confined to a wheel chair but still able to drive, goes free. The killer now has his sights set on Molly (Rhona Mitra, a dead ringer for Minnie Driver, but cuter) because Molly is the only person to have escaped from the killer, not once, but twice. It doesn't take long for Cray, in a supped up Plymouth Hemi-head to convince Molly to join him on the road to find the killer, now driving a paraplegic friendly 1972 Cadillac Eldorado.
Now for what is good with Highwaymen
…The cars…I use to own a 1980 Cadillac Eldorado, and from first hand experience, those mothers can cause some serious damage. Great idea to have a Cadillac Eldorado as a villain. The cars are the star of the show. Highwaymen is really no more than a western with cars with the good car (Plymouth Hemi-head) and the bad car (Cadillac Eldorado) ending up in a final standoff/draw/showdown.
And for what is Bad…
Unfortunately, everything else. As much as I wanted to have an open mind watching Highwaymen, and as much as I wanted to give it a chance, it was stuck in neutral. I would have had no problem if it was a good B film. But it wasn't! The direction is confusing during the action scenes, it moves at a snails pace when the characters are not on the road, it looked cheap, (yes it was test screening, but still…) there isn't really much suspense, and it's the kind of movie that's forgettable after you see it. My gut tells me that this is one of the many films that was quickly put together to capitalize on the success of The Fast And The Furious.
Caviezel and Mitra do the best they can with their roles, but both, especially Caviezel deserve better.
And yes, Highwaymen also has the problem of bringing to mind three superior films in the highway genre…Duel, Breakdown, and Joy Ride.
But for me, the main killer was that Highwaymen resembles in quality the type of film that goes direct to video or that you might catch late-late night on HBO. So in that sense Highwaymen fails a test of mine that is very simple. Would I pay $9 to see this in a theater? Mean Mr. Mustered Out!
