The Road to Wellville

With Anthony Hopkins starring in an Alan Parker film based on a T.C. Boyle novel one would think they were in for something special. Then of course the studios have to get involved and throw Bridget Fonda, Dana Carvey and Matthew Broderick into the mix and fuck the whole damn thing up. Still, there are enough moments in THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE to make it worth watching and Hopkins is most certainly one of them. The story is one you will wish to disocver for yourself but I will say you'll never see Hopkins in a role like this one anywhere else. John Cusack as always brings a fine performance to the table as do Colm Meaney, John Neville and even Lara Flynn Boyle. The problems lay with Fonda, Carvey and Broderick....the are simply too light weight for this type of serious comedic fare and thus they stick out like an eight ball in a dozen eggs. Parker does his best to direct this mess and his signature style can be seen here but I tend to suspect he was pullling his hair out at times trying to get some of the talent to step up to the plate. A fine enough film if you don't expect too much from it as the majority of critics would lead you to believe.