The Open Road (2009) User Reviews

An okay made-for-TV movie

[bob-rutzel-1 · 5/10 · 6 January 2010]

About to undergo a delicate heart operation, Katherine (Steenburgen) asks her son Carlton (Timberlake) to get her estranged husband Kyle (Bridges) to come to her side in her hour of need. Long story short Carlton, Kyle and Lucy (Mara) drive to the hospital. And, here we have the theme: it's the journey that's important.

This is not a comedy as was billed. This is light drama with no good lines and absolutely no comedic moments at all. Light drama is what we have here. But, I have never sat through a movie whereby there was tension from beginning to end. Yes, the situation all find themselves in does create tension. There is tension between Father and son who haven't seen each other in years; and between Carlton and Lucy and she isn't sure about Carlton anymore. And, Carlton, well, he isn't sure about anything.

I fault the script not the acting. Kate Mara says more with her eyes than what the script gives her. Timberlake is new at this and on unsteady legs, but his character is supposed to act the way he does. Lyle Lovett plays a bartender and not bad, not bad at all. Ted Danson (real life husband of Steenburgen) has a cameo in the beginning. As for Jeff Bridges, he plays what he is given and does a good job of it. I still maintain he is one of our better actors. Hear that Mr. Eastwood? Morgan isn't the only one.

One thing I didn't understand. If you are going to take a long trip why would you ever consider renting a gas guzzling Hummer. Yes, it was an H3, the smaller one, but still………….. Yes, I know it was only a movie.

There are some dime-store philosophies given out at various moments, but nothing noteworthy to report. The journey thing trumps all and as you know journeys bond people. So there you have it: an okay Made-for-TV movie.

Wait a minute. There was a light almost comedic moment. We got to see the internationally famous Peabody Ducks stroll into the Peabody Hotel in Memphis as they have been doing for years. They look all grown up now.

Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No Language: Some, not much

A good drama and no it's not a baseball movie

[pkzeewiz · 5/10 · 24 May 2010]

Carlton is a baseball player whose mother is sick and possibly dying in the hospital and she asks her son to find his estranged father and bring him there before she has the operation. The boy gets his best friend to go along for the ride. He meets his father who he hadn't seen in 5 years at a baseball convention, his father is a baseball legend. The father is a bit reluctant to go but decides he will and they head out on a long journey from Ohio to Texas. On the trip the father and son learn a lot about each other and the boy also learns how big of an idiot he was for putting baseball first in his life when writing is his true passion and his best friend Lucy is his true love. The road makes them all grow and bond and find out a lot about themselves.

I thought it would be a sports movie which I hate and I also am not very fond of Timberlake, but I was surprised on both accounts. I think there might be a total of 30 seconds of baseball in this movie, other than archive and Timberlake was once again proved as a decent actor. I think he should stick to acting as he's not bad at it and he definitely sucks as a pop star.

The movie was heartwarming and honest and thats rare in a lot of films. I was pleased and touched and felt something and took away a good message from it.

Jeff Bridges is often boring, but did a perfect job here and Timberlake was white in this film and did a good job as did his friend Lucy played by Kate Mara. Harry Dean Staton did great as a grandfather and even like Lyle Lovett playing a bartender. Mary Steenburgen is always the same in all of her movies but I like her and she did well here. Ted Danson played a baseball coach here as well, hadn't seen him in a film for a while.

If you like heartfelt dramas you should enjoy this film. 5/10 stars

Bland, boring

[eucalyptus9 · 5/10 · 21 November 2009]

This movie didn't do much for me. It's the story of another dysfunctional family, without much happening to make the family very interesting. I guess the theme is that no matter how rotten your Dad is, he's still your Dad, and can be loved and forgiven. I suppose that's true enough, as long as there are some good memories to outweigh the bad. But the Dad in this movie doesn't seem to have left too many good memories behind.

I like Jeff Bridges on screen. He's made some very good movies ("Fearless" for instance), and some that didn't impress me much ("The Contender", "Sea Biscuit", "The Fisher King"), but no matter the quality of the film, he always seems to rise above the material. In this movie, he plays such a rotten piece of work - a self-centred, boozy, sleazy, loud-mouthed jock living in the past - that I started to see the less redeeming features of Bridges himself. Maybe that just proves what a good job he did.

Justin Timberlake is OK, but he doesn't inject much life into his character. What the lovely Lucy (the totally gorgeous Kate Mara) sees in this sour, sulky, colourless character is beyond me. With her knowing grin, a flash of the eyes, a shake of the head, she makes it obvious that she understands this lot only too clearly. I felt like shouting "Run, Lucy, run! Don't get mixed up with these screw-ups! You can do better! Much better!" I could have added, but didn't, "Pick me!"

Basically, I found the film bland and un-involving. I gave it 5/10, and every one of the 5 points derives from the presence of Mara, who brings not just loveliness to the screen, but there's a fire in her eyes and a sense of personality that few others are capable of projecting.

Boring. You'd expect a lot more from some of these actors.

[Sirus_the_Virus · 4/10 · 24 December 2009]

I know that this film didn't go to theaters. It's probably a good thing too. Because I thought it was very bad. It's slow, boring, and it's billed as a comedy. There is nothing funny about it. Now I rented this crap cause my sister thought it looked good. I didn't though. I knew she was going to be disappointed. I'll be damned I was right.

You expect a lot more from Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen. I expected this from Justin Timberlake. He was awful in that movie. Who am I kidding, everyone was. The whole movie was. Did I expect much from this film? No. That is probably a good thing. Because I thought it sucked.

I love Jeff Bridges. And I love Mary Steenburgen. You can go tit for tat on Justin Timberlake. You can't go tit for tat on this film. You'll be bored while watching this. This film is not funny, it's rarely ever interesting, it's slow, and it's a mess. Please stay away from this film. It's awful.

The Open road:*1/2 put of ****

Long road

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 August 2010]

Great actors (Jeff Bridges always delivers, but even Justin Timberlake and his "girlfriend" in the movie are great too). As the title suggest, you are aware that this going to be a road movie. With characters that have flaws and a story that is very close to the directors heart (see a review of crew member for more information on that), this has everything a road movie needs.

While a few story tweaks may seem a bit far stretched (for something that seems to be so close to life), the whole thing still feels very real. The relationships in the movie are explored nicely without much glamour and there are a few treats along the way. There is not one real bad guy (which you might see as a bad thing or a good thing, depending on how you're going to feel about it), which made me like this even more and might have to do with the influence Jeff B. had on the script.

Not rewatchable

[ldjake21 · 4/10 · 7 March 2024]

Kate Mara was the best thing about this movie though her character smoked too much. As a healthcare professional myself gotta say the hospital would not have Mary Steenburgen's character taking up a room for that many days for something she could obviously be at home for especially that she would not do the procedure. And WHY? Were they driving the roads that they were. Should have been on main highway instead of back country roads. Cows, corn fields, trains, REALLY? The dialog between Timberlake and Bridges was weak and contrived. Generally, I could take or leave Kate Mara but she played a cute part here and didn't deserve the BS of the Timberlake character. Not a rewatchable movie.

Very enjoyable

[fjmetro · 7/10 · 7 February 2021]

Good cast but why does Ted Danson have any billing for his bit part. Timberlake and Bridges were great 👍

Predictable, but enjoyable

[merylmatt · 6/10 · 23 May 2011]

Maybe 6.5 or even a seven - yes, it's been done before - rouge, selfish father who leaves wife and child - (Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake, respectively)and contrived circumstances unite father and son on a road trip.

Not very subtle, but it works - there's just enough humor and the screen play is just good enough to pull it off. I rented this primarily to see if Justin could act. Neither he nor the movie will go down in movie making history for this, but I thought he did fine.

Kate Mara plays Justin;s girlfriend/lost love and Maureen Steenburgen is the ex-wife who never lost her love for Jeff Bridges. Cameo's by Ted Danson (Maureen's real life hubby), Lyle Lovett, Harry Dean Stanton also keep it interesting.

**Spoilers** A feel good movie with a happy ending, redemption, lost love found, acceptance, forgiveness.

I just saw the Open Road !

[gatermon · 8/10 · 29 August 2009]

I thought Timberlake and Bridges were a good match as dysfunctional father and son. Good story line and nice set of subtle twists and turns. Timberlake was impressive as an actor, quite believable really . Kate Mara , soft spoken yet sweet girl next door kind of looks ... A believable , down home story that I thought was well executed. I especially liked that there were no Chase Scenes, Gunshots, , Violence, not much foul language. Good Music too by the way ... Lots of Bluezy ,Jazzy, Piano and Organ Background music, well suited for this flick. Id like to see more films with this kind of score.I especially liked the piano piece in the Lyle Lovette section of the movie! Im not sure if The Open Road will be a blockbuster, especially with whats out there these days , But i guarantee it will please young and Old alike in that it is a somewhat heartwarming, real laid back, enjoyable movie for all to see. I can imagine after a nice run in theaters, it will do very well on DVD and on the HBO and SHOWTIME kinds of movie networks !

I have two concerns though... first, It was a very limited opening in very few theaters in very few Cities ,and second ,not enough advertising,There wasn't even a Poster up in the 20 theater cinaplex I saw it in !

Not even the people who worked in the theater knew ANYTHING about this film ... Lets give "The Open Road" a fighting chance !

Worth the time....

[booboobolhuis · 7/10 · 15 October 2010]

I thought this was an excellent movie with a great cast and good script. I only saw the preview on another movie I rented and had not heard of it before then. After watching it I'm surprised it didn't do better.

Justin Timberlake is a baseball player thats lost his passion and isn't playing so well. His mother is in the hospital needing heart surgery but refuses to sign a waiver for surgery without first having his estranged father there. This is where the fun starts. He flies to Ohio with his friend played by Kate Mara to meet up with and talk his father into coming down to Houston for the surgery. And the real laughs begin from there...

Jeff Bridges did an amazing job with his character and it just sent this movie a top spot on my movie list. Very good film, very funny but still carried a heartwarming story well. A definite must-see and should really be given more attention.

Sorry It didn't get more attention

[dbmcgill · 8/10 · 2 January 2010]

I have not actually gotten to see this movie yet, but I was a camera operator on this film. I was very sorry to see that it didn't get a wider release. I thought that with a cast including Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges that it would have gotten more attention. It just goes to show how messed up the movie distribution business is. When we were shooting this film I thought that it was going to be good. It was a good story and had a great cast. They all were a dream to work with. Now that I know it is out on DVD, I am going to see about getting a copy as soon as I can.

One interesting little anecdote from my point of view: We shot the bulk of the film in the vicinity of Hammond, Louisiana which is where we all stayed. But one sequence required that the whole cast and crew go to another small town that was just a little too far to drive to and from for each day's work, so we all stayed in some tiny old "tourist courts". One night several of us on the crew got together in one of the camera assistant's rooms to play poker. I wound up sitting next to writer/director Michael Meredith. I mentioned that I lived in Dallas and Michael said that he lived in Dallas up until he was five, then moved around a lot. So I asked him what his dad did, half expecting him to say either military or oil business. No, he said his dad played football. I immediately put two and two together and asked him "Your dad is Don Meredith?" he said yes. Turns out the movie we were shooting was very loosely based on Michael's own story, only the sport was changed from football to baseball.

As I said, they were all great to work with, cast crew and production. I hope that this film eventually gets the attention it deserves. Definitely worth a look.

I liked it!

[tepack · 9/10 · 22 June 2020]

.. low key drama. Focus on the complexities of family dynamic. Love Jeff Bridges - but I thought all the acting was good ... authentic ..,moving and satisfying- I recommend it - low keyed but enters the heart. Not high end on peripheral stuff- gore, sex, or car chases- if that ticks your clock... move on

typical, but well-done

[juliahro · 9/10 · 13 November 2010]

This movie has it all revealed in the title; we have the typical road movie, the open situations that need closure, the family gathering when almost-tragedy might happen, the girl that almost got away, the father-son estranged yet reliable liaison, the change in the hero's mind along the way.

And above that, it has the sparkling dialog, Jeff Bridges (I just love how he cries in most of his roles, because he can and he's so damn good), the wise replies that might (or not) mean something to you at some point. The open spaces, and a feel-good impression that will make it perfect for a late evening when you just don't feel like sleeping. Or you would feel like taking a long walk somewhere, only it would be wiser not to in the middle of the night.

I probably shouldn't give it a ten, but grades "don't mean nothing" to me, it's all about whether I liked it or not, and I sure did like it.

Baseball is not the whole of life

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 3 February 2013]

The Open Road stars Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake as a pair of baseball players, father and son, at different stages of their careers. They've been estranged for many years, but a health crisis in the life of Mary Steenburgen, wife to Bridges and mother to Timberlake, forces a reconciliation of sorts. But it's not an easy one.

Bridges is a former star who may have just missed the era of free agency and all he knows is baseball. So he now makes a comfortable living at various card shows, telling stories and signing autographs all of which he's well paid. When the crisis comes he's at a show and leaving abruptly would cost him some bucks. Still there is family to consider, something he's not very good at.

Timberlake is a minor league prospect who shows that he might not reach the same heights as Bridges. In fact he's in danger of being cut from the Houston Astros farm club where he's playing. He's got troubles with former girlfriend Kate Mara whom he broke it off with and now realizes that might have been a big mistake and worries now about the failed relationship with Mara and Steenburgen's health may have compromised his abilities. In short he's just not got his head in the game.

In fact Timberlake leaves the team in Texas and goes north to Columbus, Ohio where Bridges is doing a show and he and Mara take him back albeit reluctantly to Texas because Steenburgen wants to see him for the very last time possibly before open heart surgery. You ask why Mara is along with her ex when she has a current boyfriend whom she plans to marry. Bridges gets it, but Timberlake is a bit dense.

Not much of a story line, but some great characterizations by all involved. Bridges is his usual good reliable self and Timberlake shows some ability which blossoms later on in another baseball story Trouble With A Curve. Timberlake plays a similar role there in a film with a similar story. Of course Clint Eastwood's film got a much wider audience.

Basically there's a lot of growing up to do for both Bridges and Timberlake. Baseball is great, but it's not the whole of life for both of them. Timberlake keeps a journal because writing is a sideline for him. I can see him being a future Jim Brosnan or Jim Bouton.

This is not a baseball story as such, it's a story about life and the growth of people. You should really see this very unsung film.