The Road to Wellville
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Dana Carvey, John Cusack, Matthew BroderickDVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); Chinese (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Taiwanese Chinese (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Chinese (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed); Taiwanese Chinese (Dubbed)
Format: Color, Dubbed, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
Published: 2002-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Road to Wellville
Movie Review: Clever...clever...and clever! Battle Creek,corn flakes,enemas and fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have seen the A&E BIOGRAPHY THE KELLOGG BROTHERS,CORN FLAKES KINGS, then you will all the more appreciate the hilarity of THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, a comedic but also very sobering look at the wealthy person's search for illness cures and the seemingly bizarre and revolutionary medical practices of Dr.John Kellogg ( a bucktoothed Anthony Hopkins in a rare comedic role!) of Battle Creek, Michigan.The late nineteenth century was positively a time of "anything goes" fads that swept this country. The wealthy flocked to every new word on the wind. People wanted answers about life after death and medical cures for their ills (enter husband and wife played by Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda). Thus we come to the enigmatic John Kellogg whose Battle Creek Sanitarium became the Mecca for the upper classes to spend their money and brag that they were in on the latest craze; laughing cures, enemas,no meat, electrical shock, fresh air rest cures and all done in grand style and at exorbitant prices!
Kellogg founded the corn flake as the miracle food of his Sanitarium. This started a mad rush for other entrepreneurs to cash in on this new fad. Battle Creek became a nuthouse of self seekers seeking honest patrons waiting to be victimized.(Here enters a scheming John Cusack with excellent comic timing!)
THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE examines this odd piece of American history with great comic relief and accuracy. If the movie seems silly that is because the whole Battle Creek craze WAS SILLY! It was full of eccentric and self absorbed people willing to try anything. This is nothing new as history is full of "revolutionary thinkers" who got some things right and got many things wrong! The unfortunate thing is that well meaning people got caught in the crossfire through blind trust.
This is a fascinating and very interesting,accurate and downright funny film. Who else but soundtrack composer great Rachel Portman could add her notes of genius to such a film of a quirky subject matter.
Excellent companion films would be THE KELLOGG BROTHERS,CORN FLAKE KINGS, MESMER,and BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS for contrast.
Summary of The Road to Wellville
This wrong-headed adaptation of the very funny (and scatological) novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle was written and directed by Alan Parker, who doesn't seem to have much of a clue. It's not a botch, just a movie that hammers its efforts at humor too hard. The focus is split between three story lines: the life of cereal tycoon John Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins with buck teeth), who has created a health spa for the wealthy that focuses on regular cleansing of the digestive tract (as well as applications of electricity); the troubles of an unhappy young couple (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda), who come to the spa hoping to cure their marital ills (Broderick gets the worst of the deal); and the efforts of a young hustler (John Cusack), who is trying to break into the breakfast-cereal business but gets taken by an even bigger hustler (Michael Lerner). There are subplots about Kellogg's children but they add little. For all the doo-doo and enema jokes, the joys of this movie are distinctly scattered. "--Marshall Fine"Similar DVD Movies
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