Review of Scenic Route (2013) by Matthew C — 24 Feb 2014

It's Carter's bright idea to go for a drive somewhere, catch up with his buddy Mitchell (Josh Duhamel). They've been friends since they were kids. Carter's single, homeless, a wannabe writer while Mitchell is doing just fine with wife, kid, nice home and good job. They must have plenty to talk about. Except Mitchell goes to sleep during the drive, which annoys Carter, and when he wakes up he finds himself stuck in the middle of a desert in a broken down Ford truck with Carter (Dan Fogler) proceeding to pick fault with Mitchell's wife, his life, his job. Every damn thing. Harassed to the point of breaking, Mitchell retaliates by pointing out a few home truths to Carter and before you know it, they are beating the stuffing out of each other and friendship is dissipating faster than their water supply. Is anyone likely to rescue them, out in the desert, so far away from civilization, before they kill each other?

Scenic Route (2013) is an extraordinary movie, underlining the nature of two long-time friends as that friendship breaks down under the extreme pressure of fluctuating desert temperatures, lack of water, no food, and missed opportunities. When I speak of missed opportunities, I speak about the times they could have been rescued. As for the Mohican haircut, you will have to watch the movie to understand that! Scenic Route is so cleverly written that dialogue fills a whole 86 minutes with never a dull moment. And the awful thing is, I just couldn't stop laughing. It's definitely comedy but of the darkest kind. Did any two men ever work so hard at self-destruction, at being totally inept at staying alive?

There's strong language and a whole lot of violence, earning this an R rating. There's quite a twist at the ending that'll have you thinking. VJ - Movies and Books World.