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DEMOLITION HIGHWAY
Produced by Rick Martin, Earl Reed, and Phil Jones
Written and Directed by Donald Farmer
Edited by J.P. Johnson and David Hills
Director of Photography - Abe SchragerFrank - Danny Fendley
Xavier - Joe Estevez
Summer - Lisa TyreThere are moments in Donald Farmer's DEMOLITION HIGHWAY that are blindingly brilliant in their brutal ferociousness. But for every one of these instances, there's another that's equally insipid to the point of physical aggravation. I can live with b-movie cliches, and even moronic characters, especially if the tone is right, but moronic characters who get by on moronic cliches in a film that tales itself seriously is truly unforgivable.
As always, Farmer sets his Danny Fendley pictures in a seedy underworld with few admirable characters. Even his heroes are questionable, and often downright unlikeable. This lends a extra dose of depravity. Viewers aren't just shown a glimpse of a world they rarely see, but instead get a heaping dose of the everyday world of those they pass on the street. It's a world so A-moral from the average joe that one can't help but find it both fascinating and enticing
All Farmer's plots are dependent upon the first few minutes where the pre-credit teasers are actually catalysts for the events to follow. My favorite was in COMPELLING EVIDENCE where Farmer summed up the savage sexuality of b-cinema in little more than 2 minutes. With DEMOLITION HIGHWAY, the events are more directly integrated into the plot. Danny Fendley's Frank has just stolen half a million dollars from his mob boss, Xavier Cordone, who or course wants it back.
The sequence ends in a shoot out reminiscent of RESIVIOUR DOGS. People are dead, and even more are about to die. Guns equal strength and power, and with any luck the fastest of the bunch will survive with only a few minor holes. In the end, intentions mean little to the speed and force of a 45 tearing through the soft tissues of your mid-section.
The rest of the movie takes place 5 years later. Frank has been to jail without once ratting on Xavier. You would think Xavier would be forgiving in light of this, but no, he has to save face in front of the higher-ups. Once Frank is on the street, he's a marked man.
As Frank and Xavier play cat and mouse, the movie takes a BICYCLE THIEF-like tour of b-movie scenarios. The middle-of-the-woods execution. The dueling bikers. The father-who-only-wants-to-save-his-daughter. It was intriguing to see how many of these cinematic micro-cosims Farmer could weave into the plot, but then a common connecting link started to rear its ugly head. Farmer starts to rely on that old cliche where villains never wait to make sure their victim is dead. For 90 minutes, this is how Frank makes his way through the movie. If only he were more cold-blooded of a character he wouldn't have even allowed himself to be put into those situations. The gun-equals-survival ferociousness that makes the violence so powerful is undercut by convenience.
As a viewer, I'm a firm believer that "convenience" can be an interesting way to get your protagonist into trouble. At times, the surprise can be just as strong for the audience as it is the character. At the same, "convenience" is an insulting way to get your protagonist out of trouble. It's as if the filmmakers believe their audience is dumb enough to believe that common sense and real world brutality take a backseat to whimsical fate.
I expected a good deal more from Farmer, a filmmaker with a dark viewpoint similar to my own. His work sometimes deals with themes that can be degrading to the participants, but he treats the material in such a manner that it's enlightening to the audience. At least until now. Every filmmaker has a blemish on their resume. I'm sure Farmer will bounce back from the mistakes of DEMOLITION HIGHWAY. Actually, I'm sure he already has. He's made films since this one that pack a true wallop. ">Fear Film