Let's be realistic.

A Brilliant Conflict

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Scenic Route is the story of two best friends, Mitchell and Carter (both excellently portrayed by Josh Duhamel & Dan Fogler respectively)....two guys in their mid-30s who have decided to take a road trip together and use the time as sort of a "male bonding" experience. Unfortunately they end up getting stranded on a remote desert highway, and it's not long before what was supposed to be a trip of self discovery, actually turns in to a fight for survival from not only the elements & being stranded, but also from each other.Now you may think that this doesn't read like an exciting story, but you would be wrong because it's actually much more than just two guys getting stranded. Admittedly the story may seem like a simple one, but it has much more to it and it delivers well by bringing suspense, thrills, and sheer captivation with it. Even the way the movie starts brings it's own surprise because when you watch the opening scene, you actually think you've seen the outcome of the movie. When the time comes, however.....well, you'll just have to watch it to find out for yourself to see what I mean.The pace of the movie is just right and it never becomes boring as there is always something about it to keep you watching. The story develops really nicely as it goes on, right up until it gets to the very thought provoking ending (which will actually stick with you for some time).Scenic Route is definitely one of those wee gems of a movie that comes along once in a while and actually restores your faith that there ARE some great movies out there in amongst what seems to be a sea of mediocre Hollywood big budget remakes, sequels, and spin-offs.Fantastic movie and well worth watching.

Sometimes I love independent films, especially about disaster/breakdown scenarios. Scenic Route is just that and though a tad far-fetched, it might actually happen this way.And…I did like it, despite my doubts.Josh Duhamel, whom I will always cherish from the TV series Las Vegas over the horrible Transformers "Go-bots" films, did okay here and was definitely over-shined by his costar/buddy, Dan Fogler.Allow me to back up. Two lifelong, albeit drifting apart, friends plan a road trip that inadvertently gets them stuck in the plains. The dominate one, Fogler's Carter, ignores passerbyers' help in lieu of conversation with his life mate, Mitchell (Duhamel.)Eventually, the heat of the day, cool of the night and the delirium of the situation gets the two boys down. How would you get out of the desert once your car breaks down and there are few passengers on the lonely and isolated "short cut" of road you choose?At less than an hour and a half, with little new to bring to the table, you could do worse. But, I believe these two guys brought their heart and soul to these roles and absolutely showed what would happen if a desperate friend needed his life-partner this bad.Interested in how I described this? Absolutely see this. 82 minutes – seriously, what else were you planning for tonight?* * * Final thoughts: THE ENDING. Like a lot of independent "SHOCKING" endings, I loved this one. Where these two end up is surprising, and it does make you relish in the film you have seen. I did like the movie up to the ending, and I believe this sealed the deal.

...this lo-fi freshman feature mostly hits responsive notes as it wends its Ambrose Bierce-ish way into the Twilight Zone, and that's about the extent of any spoiler I'm likely to offer. Scribe Kyle "The Beaver" Killen sends two not-so-buddy-buddy buddies into Death Valley, and the results aren't quite what one would call scenic. The two leads are mostly believable, with Josh "Safe Haven" Duhamel evincing stronger chops than Dan "Kung Fu Panda" Fogler, who is perhaps a hair too whiny for the character's own good, but then again maybe that was the whole point. Worth a watch for folks who enjoy lo-fi sleepers and films that are otherwise off the scenic route.

The film is basically an hour of two friends needlessly bashing each other physically and psychologically to the point where you are ready to leave the theater - which is what I did. I thought the film was terrible, but at the behest of a friend, I rented the DVD. I scrubbed through 90% of the film to the end where I was pleasantly surprised by a great plot twist that was well executed.So my rating goes from a minus something to a reluctant five for a cool ending of a first effort. To those thinking of renting the DVD though - watching is still torture unless you chop the second act. If you do watch this film the repetitive bashing starts twenty minutes in so whenever you tire of this you can save your sanity by skipping to the start of the plot twist at an hour and fifteen minutes for a reasonably entertaining half hour short.FLASH TO FILMMAKERS - No one but your parents and friends will pay $20 to see a feature film that takes an hour and fifteen minutes to engage its audience. The static script might have worked as an off-Broadway one act but as an 86 minute moving picture film this needed a lot of development - or at the very least a lot of heavy editing.FLASH TO PARENTS AND FRIENDS WHO POSTED INCREDIBLE REVIEWS - if your reviews were disingenuous, you are not only cheating IMDb readers but the people behind this film. Think about it. You are building unreasonable expectations for a $20 movie ticket or DVD sale that the material cannot support. What should have been a great "reel" and learning experience for the filmmakers is now going to be held to the unreasonably high standard of your reviews. This is not going to sit well with people who watch based on your recommendations.