A film notable for its talented cast and the first serious acting role for pop star Justin Timberlake, The Open Road is an endearing tale of father and son confronting their broken relationship. But what it has in talent, it lacks in coherence, which ultimately fails to make the movie stand out amid the rest of the road movie genre.
“Oh, Carlton,” a maternal but hopeful Kate Mara says to the wind as her ex-boyfriend talks through his estranged father’s behaviour while at the same time failing to see how it mirrors his own failed relationship with Mara’s character.
It is one of several endearing moments in this road movie that boasts an impressive cast of actors and possesses touches of brilliance but which ultimately falls down by trying to push the reconciliation of its main characters too fast.
Justin Timberlake stars in his first serious acting role in The Open Road, appearing alongside Jeff Bridges as a father and son rebuilding their relationship despite themselves.
Bridges’ character, Kyle Garrett, is a revered retired baseball pro living off his glory days who agrees to travel with his son Carlton to his estranged wife’s hospital bed before she undergoes surgery. But Kyle is much happier sticking with the unconditional praise he receives from fans than the messy and complex relationships he has left behind.
Popularity: 27% [?]
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With my book out the way, I now have lots more time to, er, read books. And one of those near the top of the pile was Who controls the Internet? by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu. The book has frequently cropped up in conversations with various Net people since it was published in March, and so I have been itching to read it.