MovieChat Forums > Scenic Route (2013) Discussion > A journey of idiots - spoilers

A journey of idiots - spoilers

posted 11 years ago by tkell31
12 replies | jump to latest

I think there is a good idea in there, but the execution was so bad I couldnt get past it. Sure the survival genre makes for a powerful movie because it's based on a primitive survival instinct, but this was so bad it was comical.

Two Mutt and Jeff friends decide to travel through Death Valley with no water, in an old beat up truck, and apparently without telling anyone what they were doing. This is so stupid on so many levels if they were real people I would be happy to have them out of the gene pool. Mutt and Jeff have found the world is not the warm and cuddly place they thought it would be when they were in their late teens early twenties. Boo-hoo. Now ten or so years later, having taken divergent paths they have virtually nothing in common except for their history. We all probably have friends like this, people who if we passed on the street now we would go out of our way to avoid, and the story has been done twenty times before so they had to come up with a twist.

The whole movie is a series of stupid actions that wind up digging our duo a deeper and deeper hole. Rather than go through them all I will just highlight the really stupid ones not previously mentioned:

1. Drinking windshield wiper fluid because "it has water in it."
2. Not being able to talk coherently and acting like lunatics when an elderly lady stops to see what is wrong. Of course this plot device is necessary to keep them stranded and lead to them...
3. ...engaging in an extremely violent fight. Yes, clearly two life long friends are going to try to kill each other
4. Not being able to tell someone is still alive i.e. breathing and deciding to bury him in the desert. Of course this was another necessary plot device so..
5. ..they could decide to sleep in the grave he dug instead of the truck and miss a patrol vehicle that would have saved them yet again.

After three days in 115 degree heat with no water I was just hoping they would die and the stupid movie would end. They do try and throw a twist in at the end where they manage to get to a place with cell coverage, but that turns out to be a delusion (how clever, that's never been done before to try and save a bad movie) and they are really dead out in the desert.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] exatera 10 years ago

Many of these thoughts passed through my mind while watching this movie, too, but here is one more: purposely sabotaging a car in order to have a "conversation" was creepy as hell. I would have left in the first car that rode by.

But hey, then there would have been no movie.

[–] Theotisnixon 10 years ago

I took like this......SOMETIMES....your keys....your ties to "selling" out is all that keeps people from being WHO THEY REALLY ARE

The fat dude started his demise as soon as he talked his freak friend to shave his head......first layer of guy next door......OUT the door.

SOMETIMES, nut cases NEED all of civilizations prohibitions..It ain't ALL. About following your dreams.

[–] herecomestheboombluray 9 years ago

it was never officially said, but i think it's implied that the fat guy's hijinks played a large part in the truck breaking down even after he refastened the cable.

this damages the story not only because it made no sense for him to remove the cable in the first place, but also because you have no sympathy for the character at all, and you completely side with the married guy, even though he's a creep in his own right (i.e. "awww. what's gotcha down, tiger? the married guy doesn't like your writing? well, think about it like this: MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HIM STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!").

why couldn't the truck just have broken down on its own? the filmmakers could've left all of the subsequent scenes the same while also muddying what viewers thought of the characters.

[–] Suthyrngrl 10 years ago

Lets not forget: You go so far up the mountain the tow truck driver can't see you and you really dont make a good attempt to go down the side. You stand there just yelling your head off.

But hey, like my mom always said...."They are just following the script."

[–] Jakealope 10 years ago

Jeeze, what kind of idiot goes on long road trip, especially in the desert, without some water and food? Plus Carter was supposed to be living out of his truck, yet it was empty of any basics like an extra jacket and sweater or two.

[–] wavelength121 10 years ago

More idiots criticizing a film for what they thought it "should" be instead of appreciating it for what it "is". Find a new hobby.

[–] draftdubya-274-182961 10 years ago

So their idiots because they criticized a movie you like.

[–] motopsychic 10 years ago

*they're*

[–] illimattic 9 years ago

This movie is beyond dumb!

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.

[–] anticaria 9 years ago

More idiots criticizing a film for what they thought it "should" be instead of appreciating it for what it "is". Find a new hobby.

i agree.. the folks criticizing this film's character motivations are merely superficial gawkers who simply failed to grasp the whole point of the film.. the very frailty and imperfection of human nature..

in that regard, i thought every plot twist was spot on in the way it was portrayed as per the personality profiles of the two close friends/main characters.. one with no realistic hopes of a career or a life (carter) and the other spoiled for choice of a dream life, yet unable to appreciate what he had (mitchell)..

the sabotaging of the truck seems a bit extreme.. however, sad and lonely people more often than not go to utterly desperate measures to hold on to a friendship.. or perhaps he (carter) just wanted to 'bring his friend down with him,' so to speak.. i.e., misery loves company, etc..

anyway.. this film seemed extremely poignant and realistic and the acting was impressive as hell.. flawlessly impressive in fact.. i went into it not expecting much and was blown away in the end..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] StarrKitty 8 years ago

The whole movie is a series of stupid actions that wind up digging our duo a deeper and deeper hole. Rather than go through them all I will just highlight the really stupid ones not previously mentioned:

1. Drinking windshield wiper fluid because "it has water in it."
2. Not being able to talk coherently and acting like lunatics when an elderly lady stops to see what is wrong. Of course this plot device is necessary to keep them stranded and lead to them...
3. ...engaging in an extremely violent fight. Yes, clearly two life long friends are going to try to kill each other
4. Not being able to tell someone is still alive i.e. breathing and deciding to bury him in the desert. Of course this was another necessary plot device so..
5. ..they could decide to sleep in the grave he dug instead of the truck and miss a patrol vehicle that would have saved them yet again.

After three days in 115 degree heat with no water I was just hoping they would die and the stupid movie would end. They do try and throw a twist in at the end where they manage to get to a place with cell coverage, but that turns out to be a delusion (how clever, that's never been done before to try and save a bad movie) and they are really dead out in the desert.

OP, I agree with all of the points that you made. I'm not sure why people who are supposed to be adult and of some degree of intelligence can't accept the fact that not everyone is going to like the same movie and stop making judgments about what kind of people they are and insulting them because they don't like something you like. Why take it so personal? Smh