In Praise of the Road Movies

Posted by admin on Dec 20, 2011 in Featured | 6 comments

There are several genres of movie these days, and we all have our own ideas about which of them is best. While some people prefer a good horror film, or a classy whodunit, they’re not everyone’s bucket of popcorn. For me personally, I would always choose the road movie. The adventures of a character trying to get from A to B in the face of several obstacles are as entertaining as they get. On top of this I love driving my Chevrolet contract hire car so it makes sense that I enjoy the road movie!

In turn, it may be difficult to pinpoint which road movie is the best, purely because we all have different individual tastes. Here are some of my favourites, and while you may or may not agree with them, it’s still fun to read about them anyway.

The Hangover (2009)

A hilarious movie that perhaps typifies the whole genre, it starred Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis as four friends who set out for Las Vegas for a bachelor party. While they get to the Nevada city relatively easily, their problems begin when they wake up on the morning after the night before.

Almost Famous (2000)

A movie about life on the rock circuit, centred on a fictional band called Stillwater. A young journalist covers a tour while attempting to get his work featured in Rolling Stone. The film was directed by Cameron Crowe, and starred Billy Crudup and Kate Hudson. A box office success, it was semi-autobiographical and based on Crowe’s early years in the music press.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

This quirky Coen Brothers offering starred George Clooney as escaped prisoner Ulysses Everett McGill, and featured excellent supporting performances from John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. Set in 1937, the film is based on the trio’s attempts to find some buried treasure in a valley which is due to be flooded to create a man-made lake.

Natural Born Killers (1994)

An Oliver Stone movie, Natural Born Killers began life as a Quentin Tarantino script. The film depicts the exploits of serial killers Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis). The controversial film pulled no punches, and caused much debate. It had an admirable supporting cast that included Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Downey Jr and Tom Sizemore.

Rain Man (1988)

A touching drama that starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as brothers Charlie and Raymond Babbitt, it featured the adventures of an ambitious yuppie and an autistic savant, and their travels across America. The movie was a worldwide hit and won four Academy Awards, including the Best Actor gong for Hoffman.

Are there any other road movie movies that you enjoy, has your car lease car featured in any of them?