End of the Road

In End of the Road, Shelton transforms an already compelling script into one about family, motherhood, and survival. And it is nothing short of entertaining and refreshing.

End of the Road was produced for maybe 10% of the budget allotted for the big, bloated, star-studded Netflix thrillers “The Gray Man” and “Red Notice” (both reportedly cost some $200 million to make), and it doesn’t come close to approaching the glamour value, breathtaking location shots and epic action sequences of those two films — but it’s better at executing its mission, which is to immerse us in 90 minutes of old-fashioned bloody vigilante satisfaction.

Even when the movie wants for tension, it brims with playful style.

The Freemans’ minivan is moving 35 miles per hour, max, in every scene set in the car. They needed a lot more horsepower in order to convey a sense of urgency and thrill, and I’m not just talking about the van.

Director and cast do their best — well, maybe not their best, but their competent professional duty — with a formulaic, contrived screenplay. Still, the results do no one much credit, landing closer to overripe cheese than taut suspense, or even guilty-pleasure terrain.

It’s as though the filmmakers couldn’t decide on one complication to set the action in motion, so they picked six. That much narrative congestion keeps the story from really moving.

Queen Latifah and Ludacris drive right into a brick wall of action cliches.

Ah, I wanted to like this. It tries, but 'End of the Road' isn't something I'd wanna revisit in a great hurry. Queen Latifah and Chris Bridges (aka Ludacris) are the film's only real positive, though I will say the change in directon of the story did fool me... so kudos for that. I actually think the twist makes the story weaker, but still. I found the pacing and dialogue to be off, it does attempt heart with the main characters but sadly it just doesn't come across as natural. You could do worse, but this one fell unfortunately flat for me.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This review was almost a 4, but then I saw that rating it as such makes the number yellow, and this movie isn't even deserving of that. This movie tries to be a riveting action film, but really has more of a comical effect due to the countless cliches and stereotypes. The film's depiction of Arizona, for example, left me thinking that David Loughery and Christopher Moore haven't spent a day in Arizona. The antagonist was predictable and generally uninteresting. The lighting throughout the movie reminded me of something you'd see in a nightclub. It looked good within itself, but was a complete misfit in the movie. The inclusion of political statements in this film was distracting and unnecessary. The only positive here is that there was a moment or two of good action, even if it was ultimately undermined by one or more of the movie's various issues, and the idea behind the plot was solid, even if the elaboration of that plot fell short.

Does it mean anything that I was expecting this movie to **** before I even started it? Does it mean anything that at least within the scope of my own personal criteria it did? I really don't know, and it doesn't really matter to be honest. If what End of The Road proposes as an action thriller is good enough for you, I have complaints, go for it, but for me with the abysmal script and the ton of clichés, it lost me too quickly, and I stopped caring about it for most of its running time.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]