Paul Walker and Steve Zahn star in this early 2000s thriller which not enough people talk about these days.
The premise of the movie is that two brothers Lewis and Fuller play a prank on a trucker via a CB radio and the trucker seeks revenge on them. The film begins with Lewis buying a car so he can go and meet his would be girlfriend Venna. Lewis is then tasked by his mother to pick up his brother who is about to get released from prison. Fuller buys a CB radio for Lewis’s car and in playing with it the two brothers play a prank on a trucker who goes by the handle Rusty Nail. Lewis puts on a pretend woman’s voice and starts flirting with Rusty.
They lose their signal to speak to Rusty, but later at a motel have a run in with a big guy who is staying in the room next to them. At this point they hear that Rusty Nail is back on the CB radio and Fuller schemed the ultimate prank on both Rusty Nail and the big guy. Pretending to be a woman again Lewis invites Rusty to meet up at midnight and gives the big guy’s hotel room.
Rusty turns up and has an altercation with the big guy leaving him brutalised and after this begins to seek out the brothers to seek revenge. The rest of the film sees the brothers pick up Venna and attempt to have their journey home, but are plagued by Nail.
The film is great for its balance of tension, action, and some light touches of humour mostly from Zahn. Walker is his usual charming and likeable clean cut self and the two have great chemistry playing brothers. Leelee Sobieski plays Venna as a competent third companion and the dynamic between the three has them all bring something without anyone in particular being the damsel or the hero.
Ted Levine is the uncredited voice of Rusty Nail, and if you don’t know who he is, it’s maybe best known as the Buffalo Bill serial killer in the Silence of the Lambs. His performance in particular is perfect in how creepy it is, and the choice of never seeing Levine on screen means that throughout the film his voice builds as this ominous threat.
It’s a film that could be up there with the likes of Scream, Final Destination and the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchises, but unlike those films it’s sequels were beyond terrible. The straight to DVD released sequels really changed the character of Rusty Nail to just out and out killer and from film to film the story doesn’t grow or progress. Frankly if you enjoy the first film, you’re better off not watching the sequels.
If you haven’t see the film I would suggets you check it out. In the US it was known as Joyride and in the UK it was known as Roadkill. Even if you have Disney Plus in the UK though these days it seems to be known as it’s US title.
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