Interstate 60
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| Interstate 60 | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Bob Gale |
| Written by | Bob Gale |
| Starring | James Marsden Gary Oldman Amy Smart |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
- Note: this is about a film; there is no actual Interstate highway numbered 60.
Interstate 60 (2002) is a comedy film starring James Marsden, Gary Oldman, and Amy Smart, with cameos by Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Chris Cooper, and Kurt Russell. The film was written and directed by Bob Gale.
[edit] Plot
The movie begins with two college kids in a bar, one telling the other his thesis statement for an upcoming paper. That being that America is unique in that it has no real mythological character for granting wishes. The Irish have leprechauns, the Arabians genies, but America doesn't. He is soon countered by an old man at the bar claiming that America does, and that wish granter is named O.W. Grant, the son of a leprechaun and a Cheyenne Indian. He soon sees O.W. Grant (Oldman) riding down the street on a bicycle, smoking a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. A man busy talking on a cell phone (Fox) doesn't see him and opens his door, slamming into Grant. Grant's bicycle is totaled, and the man's cell phone and suit are ruined. The man apologizes but starts screaming and yelling about how awful his day has been. Grant, seemingly amused, asks him if he wished the day would start over. The man screams a confirmation. Green smoke billows from Grant's pipe and the scene begins again. This time, Grant safely avoids the car door, and the man steps out of his car, unaware of anything different, he then turns around and is hit by a truck.
Neal Oliver (Marsden) is a young man who works at a grocery store at night on the stocking crew. He has rich family, his dad's a lawyer, but mainly works there to annoy his father. He wants to become an artist but doesn't have enough faith in his work, and his girlfriend is a psychology major that keeps analyzing him. He is also having dreams about a girl, whom he keeps drawing and painting. It is his birthday and his family is gathered in a restaurant to celebrate. Among the gifts and smiles, we see O.W. Grant is dressed as a waiter, and is serving them their cake. Neal blows out the candles and tells everyone that he wished for an answer to his life. Whether or not he wants to become an artist and submit his work into a competition coming up, or whether he wants to go to law school as his dad requests. Grant is intrigued by this declaration. As the family goes outside to look at the car that Neal's dad bought him, a bucket falls onto Neal's head, sending him to the hospital. In the hospital, a doctor named Ray (Lloyd) comes in and does a quick sight test with Neal using playing cards. He holds them up quickly and Neal has to guess what it is. At the end of the test, Neal confidently asks if he got it right, at which Ray replies that he didn't. The cards actually have a few red spades and black hearts in the deck. He then talks about the relevance of what you can see and what you can't. He leaves and another doctor comes in confirming that they don't have a doctor named Ray on their staff.
Neal keeps seeing the girl (from the dreams he's been having) on billboards. He gets a message to meet someone at a certain place. He goes there and meets Ray again. Ray gives him a package to deliver, but doesn't tell him what's inside; the only address is to a Robin Fields in Danver (not "Denver"), Colorado. Neal has to sign a contract and seal it with his blood, which he does, at which point Ray tells him to follow Interstate 60. He is told it doesn't exist, so he goes to where it would be, and finds it with the help of Grant.
Travelling along the mysterious highway, Neal and Grant discuss such things as the humor found in causing people to recognize the gullible side of themselves, Grant's unfortunate accident that rendered him permanently sterile, and the certainty of knowing what to wish for. Grant departs soon after, leaving Neal to run into such characters as a dying (yet persistently honest) ex-advertiser with an affinity for dynamite; a woman looking for the perfect "lovemaking experience" (the profane term is used repeatedly); and a lonely mother looking for her slacker son, who turns out to be living in a city where the population is addicted to a government-controlled drug (Russell is the local sherriff with a penchant for dry humor). Neal's next adventure on the way to Danver finds him stumbling into the town of Morlaw, where every citizen is a lawyer who spend their days suing each other, and imprisoning unwary travellers on trumped-up charges. It's here that he finally is united with the woman he's been dreaming about, who turns out to be far from the perfection he expected.
The film takes one more turn for the comedically-worse when Neal's car is revealed to match that of a reported murderer on the loose. He abandons the vehicle, and through various events, finally makes it to the proper location in Danver. Entering a seemingly-abandoned bar, he is reunited with the mysterious Ray, and is stunned when "Robin Fields" turns out to be none other than the whimsical O.W. Grant himself, whose insistence at holding people to their tasks prevented him from reclaiming his package earlier in the film. He uses his magic powers to "warp" Neal back in time, where he wakes up in the hospital before he first encountered Ray. Only this time, things have changed. Leaving the hospital, Neal finally faces his father with his own views, and then proceeds with his sister to the art gallery, confused as to why he'd need to be there with none of his work submitted. A few moments later, Grant appears, reminding Neal of the value of honesty and humor. A young girl Neal's age (also played by Amy Smart) turns out to be the "real" version of what Neal wants in his life. As the new lovers start to chat, Grant is seen talking softly to Neal's sister. "You have a birhday coming up, right?" he says, smiling mischievously. "Don't forget to make a wish..."
