Kiefer Sutherland first displayed a menacing display presence together with his breakthrough profession position within the 1986 coming-of-age drama movie Stand by Me, during which he’s frighteningly convincing as Ace Merrill, a teenage hood who appears genuinely intent on slashing one or all the movie’s 12-year-old protagonists with a switchblade. Sutherland adopted his position in Stand by Me together with his compelling efficiency as David, the manipulative teenage chief of a bike gang of bloodthirsty vampires, within the 1987 horror movie The Misplaced Boys.
Whereas Sutherland is now undeniably greatest identified for the position of 24 sequence protagonist Jack Bauer, arguably his greatest profession efficiency is featured within the 1996 darkish comedy thriller movie Freeway, during which he performs Bob Wolverton, a friendly-seeming faculty counselor who befriends a teenage juvenile delinquent runaway, performed by Reese Witherspoon, earlier than revealing himself to be a wicked serial killer.
In distinction to the assorted overtly disgusting villainous characters Sutherland has performed all through his profession, one of many joys of watching his magnificently despicable efficiency in Freeway is to look at how good Bob seems to be within the movie’s early scenes, during which Bob slyly features the belief of Witherspoon’s character, in a lot the identical approach the Large Dangerous Wolf does to Little Crimson Using Hood.
Kiefer Sutherland Performs a Gleefully Sadistic Psychopath in ‘Freeway’
Freeway
- Launch Date
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August 23, 1996
- Runtime
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105 Minutes
- Director
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Matthew Vivid
Kiefer Sutherland’s greatest performances are related by the seriousness with which he approaches even essentially the most outlandish roles and conditions. Sutherland’s crazed efficiency as serial killer Bob Wolverton in Freeway is particularly stunning when contemplating how pleasant and reassuring Bob appears to be when he first introduces himself to Reese Witherspoon’s character, abused teenage runaway Vanessa, who initially views Bob as being a caring father determine, till Bob reveals himself to be a serial killer, often known as the “I-5 Killer,” after which makes an attempt to rape and homicide Vanessa.
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The agility and inventiveness of Sutherland’s efficiency is most impressively displayed after the resourceful Vanessa shoots Bob a number of instances, leaving him wounded. After miraculously surviving the strategically positioned gunshot wounds, the outrageously disfigured Bob emerges as a darkly hilarious caricature of exploitation and hypocrisy. Joined by his lovely socialite spouse, Mimi, performed by Brooke Shields, Bob embarks on an ethical campaign towards the coddling of “human rubbish” like Vanessa. When Bob is revealed to be a serial killer, a surprised Mimi commits suicide, whereas Bob follows the Large Dangerous Wolf’s instance from Little Crimson Using Hood and targets Vanessa’s grandmother.
‘Freeway’ Is a Fashionable Retelling of ‘Little Crimson Using Hood’
Kiefer Sutherland wholeheartedly embodies Bob Wolverton’s Large Dangerous Wolf persona in Freeway, which transports the Little Crimson Using Hood legend to an underserved neighborhood of Los Angeles, the place Reese Witherspoon’s character, the illiterate and uneducated Vanessa, lives along with her abusive stepfather and prostitute mom. After her mom and stepfather are arrested, Vanessa takes her mom’s rundown automobile, with the intention of dwelling along with her grandmother in Stockton. When the automobile breaks down on a freeway outdoors Los Angeles, Vanessa is picked up by Bob, who gives to drive her to her grandmother’s house.
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In a precursor to Witherspoon’s iconic comedic performances within the movies Election, Legally Blonde, and Candy House Alabama, Vanessa exudes confidence and management all through Freeway, particularly when confronted with Bob’s terrifying risk. After surviving her violent encounter with Bob and leaving him for useless, a blood-covered Vanessa calmly walks into a close-by diner to order breakfast.
Not like her weak babe-in-the-woods fairy story counterpart, Vanessa is a lethal, fearless, foul-mouthed heroine who outmaneuvers Bob all through their absurdly twisted cat-and-mouse recreation. Witherspoon’s star-making efficiency in Freeway is completely complemented by Sutherland’s delightfully hateful efficiency as Bob, to whom Vanessa says, “These are some f*cking large, ugly enamel you bought there, Bob,” throughout their ultimate confrontation.
Sutherland Has Performed Many Memorable Villains in His 40-12 months-Lengthy Profession
Kiefer Sutherland’s villainous display persona is usually outlined by his gravelly, matter-of-fact voice, as seen together with his mesmerizing efficiency as a murderous sniper within the 2002 thriller movie Telephone Sales space, which generates most of its pressure by Sutherland’s just about invisible character’s cryptic, taunting phrases. Nonetheless, his sensible efficiency as Bob Wolverton in Freeway transcends this persona by showcasing his broadened vary as an actor.
By the virtuosity of Sutherland’s efficiency, Bob turns into an impressed comedic creation, during which the disgusting parts of Freeway are offered throughout the context of black comedy and pointed satire. That is on full show after Reese Witherspoon’s character, Vanessa, turns Bob right into a disfigured monstrosity who turns into a logo of mockery for Vanessa’s darkish humorousness. Sutherland’s capability to make Bob look and appear concurrently hilarious and horrifying was famous by critic Roger Ebert in Ebert’s enthusiastic evaluate of Freeway. Ebert wrote:
“Sutherland, who has performed nice villains earlier than, outdoes himself this time. [It] seems he [Bob] was not killed by the gunshot wounds, however solely wounded in all essentially the most inconvenient locations. The docs patch him collectively right into a Halloween monster whose face was shot away, who can hardly converse, who smokes by a gap in his throat, and whose different infirmities and amputations are too distressing to catalog.”
Freeway is streaming without spending a dime on Tubi, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Plex, and CW.