I don’t recall what prompted me to add the ironically titled Scenic Route (2013) to my list at Netflix, but I’m glad I did. It is the story of two 30-something lifelong friends traveling across a desert in an old truck. One is a handsome former musician, now successful businessman, married father of one. The other is a single, overweight struggling writer living out of the truck. They’ve grown in opposite directions and resentment comes to the surface and eventually to a boil. Verbal jabs lead to physical altercation. Some of the points the pair make are mundane, as is so much of life. There is a bias toward the artist as real and the businessman as sell-out, which I shared for many years until I realized job-creators are every bit as, if not more important, than artists. In a weird coincidence, in the chapter I proofed this morning in my rock n roll epic, Rising Star, a musician visits the trading floor where the band's financial backer works, and demonstrates the same prejudice. Josh Duhamel and Dan Fogler are excellent in their roles. Screenwriter Kyle Killen’s dialogue frequently crackles. The situation eventually turns to one of survival and is largely plausible, but the most interesting aspect remains the intense characterizations. Killen has written for the TV series Awake and Lone Star. I’ve not seen either. He also wrote the Mel Gibson vehicle The Beaver (2011), directed by Jodie Foster. My resistance to viewing it has lessened now that I’ve seen this other film. It is the story of a troubled soul who begins communicating exclusively through a sock puppet. It garnered good reviews and I suppose I should be more open-minded about what seems a silly premise. Anyway, Scenic Route is the first full length feature of directors Kevin and Michael Goetz. Kudos, gentlemen. I hope they will become as successful creatively as the Coen brothers. I was not happy with what appeared to be the ending, but it changed in the last moment and provided food for thought. On a scale of five, I rate Scenic Route 3.25.
For the first two hours it seemed like it would be a disappointing day for the floating book shop, as I sold only two books. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous and I was able to stay open an extra hour, and I sold ten more. My thanks to the buyers and the woman who donated four books in Russian.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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