Scenic Route

Name: Scenic Route
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: August 23, 2013
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 34
Cast: Christie Burson, Dan Fogler, Josh Duhamel, Miracle Laurie

2013

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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Scenic Route

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Movie Details & Credits

Anderson Digital | Release Date: August 23, 2013 | R

Starring: Christie Burson, Dan Fogler, Josh Duhamel, Miracle Laurie

Summary: The relationship between two life-long friends is tested when they are stranded in the desert.

Director: Kevin Goetz and Michael Goetz

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 86 min

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Critic Reviews

Scott Bowles

Aug 22, 2013

It's no "Taxi Driver" or even "Open Water," but Route has enough attractions to warrant the trip. Read full review

John DeFore

Jul 29, 2013

The movie becomes a survival tale and is more successful in its grueling, slightly crazed second half. The Goetzes do a better job capturing the terrain's physical extremes and the challenge of endurance than they do depicting a relationship. Read full review

Rob Staeger

Aug 20, 2013

Kevin and Michael Goetz's direction emphasizes the remoteness of the setting. The howl of the desert wind and the unflagging hammer of the sun are the backdrop for every bad decision, lending them a plausibility they wouldn't have in comfort. Read full review

Jordan Hoffman

Aug 22, 2013

The first half of Scenic Route is basically a filmed play, and not an insightful one. The more surreal second half takes on a moodier edge, but the switcheroo ending is cutesy to the point of annoying. Fogler impresses with some brooding edge, but neither he nor the location photography is enough to recommend you join him on this doomed trip. Read full review

Inkoo Kang

Aug 21, 2013

While the narrative spins in place, Kyle Killen's script throws out one uninspired gambit after another to extend the film to feature length, eventually climaxing with dual endings, both contrived. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

Aug 22, 2013

Sometimes indie pictures like this, with over-the-top acting and outrageous situations, are meant as a calling card for its creators - a chance to show their wares to others in the industry. So calling all producers, there is one tour-de-force performance in Scenic Route: the makeup team of Brian Kinney, Sara Robey and Maia Wagle. Admire their work, and bring earplugs. Read full review

Scott MacDonald

Aug 21, 2013

Digital projection has made it easier than ever to get no-budget movies onto theater screens. That might sound wonderfully egalitarian, but it mostly just leads to more shoulda-gone-straight-to-DVD clunkers like Scenic Route. Read full review

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User Reviews

Brokenspoke

Dec 1, 2013

I thought it was a really good ride, maybe some will think it slow but if your dialed In to what these guys are saying you'll see a real life story. Great job all around, writers, actors, and all who got this to the finished product.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

idbell

Mar 19, 2017

The critics score of this movie makes me wonder if they even actually watched it. It was easily one of the best of the year. The slow build of tension and the amazing ending - I was completely engaged. I have watched it several times and have gained a new appreciation each time. This isThe critics score of this movie makes me wonder if they even actually watched it. It was easily one of the best of the year. The slow build of tension and the amazing ending - I was completely engaged. I have watched it several times and have gained a new appreciation each time. This is a character driven drama/thriller, not a shoot-em up with a giant budget and exploding robots. Big ideas don't always need big budgets.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Erich

Jan 29, 2019

I agree with the User reviewer "idbell" who wonders whether the Critics saw the same movie. I rarely rank a movie a 9 (and almost never a 10, for that is reserved for a one-in-a million work of art). To me, a 7 or an 8 can denote an excellent film that I find quite entertaining. I reserve 9I agree with the User reviewer "idbell" who wonders whether the Critics saw the same movie. I rarely rank a movie a 9 (and almost never a 10, for that is reserved for a one-in-a million work of art). To me, a 7 or an 8 can denote an excellent film that I find quite entertaining. I reserve 9 stars for rare exceptional films -- like "Scenic Route". This film is phenomenal. The writing is intense, amazingly copious -- a nearly steady stream of perfectly realistic exchanges between two old friends as they become increasingly tested almost beyond their endurance out in the California wasteland of desert where their truck has become stranded. Of course, no matter how good a script is, it won't work without good acting and directing -- which this movie obviously has in spades: Josh Duhamel and Dan Fogler are superb, and there is never even a hint of a false note in their performances. This is simply the kind of movie nobody is going to dislike (at least that's what I thought, before I saw the Critics on the left panel here...). Not only is it engrossing and often thrilling, it has moments that touch the heart with a common human pain. And on that note, it achieves what few American films do: it reaches the height of true, and classical Tragedy.… Expand