Roadkill

Review by By Clint Morris

Comparing the astounding Roadkill (or Joyride as it was known in the States) to road thrillers of a similar variety is like comparing a Corvette to a Datsun Sunny.

One's old-hat, just gets you there (most of the time) and comes with a punnet full of problems. The other though is smooth, slick and complete with awe-inspiring garnishing.

John Dahl's Roadkill has been made on a production line all of it's own, and is easily superior to it's rushed predecessors.

A gritty thriller veiled in the mould of a teen film, Roadkill stars Paul Walker, Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski as three young things, who find themselves the target of a sadistic truck driver who's not going to stop until they're mashed beneath his oversized tyres.

Walker (The Fast and the Furious) and Zahn (Evil Woman) play brothers who get re-acquainted with each other while travelling down a forlorn desolate tract highway. Lewis (Walker), the younger of the two, is scheduling to stop at a distant college and pick up Venna (Leelee Sobieski), the girl of his dreams, on his way home for summer vacation.

First, he has to make a detour to bail out his estranged brother, Fuller (Zahn), who's been arrested in Salt Lake City for drunkenness and disorderly manner.

To break the ice, the recently re-acquainted brothers start to muck around on the newly bought in-car CB radio. Lewis converses with an unknown trucker in a seductive female voice, and convinces him to stopover at room 17 of a roadside hotel for a sexual tryst.

Alas, the trucker, who goes by the CB name of "Rusty Nail," shows up at the hotel, ferociously attacks the guy who's in room 17, and disappears.

The cops find them irrational, and so Lewis and Fuller put it behind them and hit the road. But much to their alarm, the trucker is right on their tails, implying over the CB that our heroes are about to receive just deserts for mortifying him. Let the games begin…

Roadkill is full of gas and it keeps coming at you even after you think the film's as distant as something in the rear view mirror. It's 2002's Duel if you will.

Walker, Zahn and Sobieski are quite good, but they're hardly the stars. The star here is the snappy screenplay from Clay Tarver and J.J. Abrams. Couple it with some tense music, well choreographed stunts and escapade, and a polished directing style and you have a film truly rising above all expectations.

Roadkill is a crackerjack thriller - big on thrills, big on fun.

4 out of 5

Roadkill
Australian release: Thursday July 25th
Cast: Paul Walker, Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski, and the voice of Ted Levine.
Director: John Dahl.
Website: Click here

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