loading...
The Road To Wellville
1994
Based on the best-selling novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE satirises late-19th-century health fads and medical procedures. The story focuses on Will Lightbody (Matthew Broderick) and his wife, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda), guests at the health spa of eccentric and toothy cereal mogul Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (.. Read more
| Starring | Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack |
|---|---|
| Director | Alan Parker |
| Genres | Comedy |
loading...
The Road To Wellville
Based on the best-selling novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE satirises late-19th-century health fads and medical procedures. The story focuses on Will Lightbody (Matthew Broderick) and his wife, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda), guests at the health spa of eccentric and toothy cereal mogul Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). The couple get more than they bargain for, however, when doctors separate them and force them to undergo an array of hilariously absurd medical treatments, often involving wacky and dangerous equipment. Meanwhile, con artist Charles Ossining (John Cusack) and Kellogg's adopted son (Dana Carvey) plot to steal the doctor's coveted recipe for corn flakes.
THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE's highbrow humour lies somewhere between the stinging ironies of Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL and the spontaneous, madcap wit of a comedy sketch show. As he displayed in ANGEL HEART and PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, director Alan Parker is wonderfully adept at combining magic and mirth to make movies that entertain while subtly pressing forth a pointed moral lesson. A whimsical film, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE mocks modernity and industrialisation and warns viewers that sometimes even supposedly enlightened minds can lead society astray.
| Starring | Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack, Dana Carvey, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael Lerner, John Neville, Colm Meaney |
|---|---|
| Director | Alan Parker |
| Studio | ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 55 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 28 Jun 2004 Production year: 1994 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (3)
View all -
Evita director, Alan Parker, comes unstuck with this tasteless farce about turn-of-the-century health habits. Anthony Hopkins is all-wavering accent and buckteeth as Dr John Harvey Kellogg (yes, he of cornflakes fame), who ran a notorious sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan, where idle rich Americans flocked to have enemas, salt scrubs, yogurt therapy and bowel inspections. Matthew Broderick turns up with chronic constipation, his sexually frustrated wife Bridget Fonda in tow, to indulge in numerous high-class Carry On-style shenanigans among the handsome period detailing and gorgeous spa sets. About as funny as it sounds.
-
A film quite unlike any other in its exuberant account of the quirky methods of the health industry; Hopkins brings toothy menace to the role of Kellogg, but the screenplay fatally softens the darkly satirical tone of its source, bringing it closer in spi
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Excellent Comedy
Well. At least this film is different. It has at least three subplots winding through it and I couldn't tell which one was the main theme. In the end, it really doesn't matter. The actors all did good things with their roles.
The inventor of the corn flakes, and the electric blanket, Dr Kelloggs has a thing about Poo! yep you read correctly. He analysis it and decides on your treatment whilst staying at his Health resort
Excellent comedy -
Most recent members' review
View all -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Pu(e)rile!
Took a while to get into this but thought the cast was worth it. However, after a while the puerile jokes and obsession with bowel movements etc. got very wearisome. Afraid we couldn't be bothered to finish it but watched a nonfiction DVD of life on farms in Scotland in the 1930's and 50's (for which I've given a 5 star rating) instead.
Maybe this is a film for the younger person rather than single female senior citizens! -
More like this
View all
Related user collection
carry on laughing (168)
60% from 1 member
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
-
The Road To Wellville
Based on the best-selling novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE satirises late-19th-century health fads and medical procedures. The story focuses on Will Lightbody (Matthew Broderick) and his wife, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda), guests at the health spa of eccentric and toothy cereal mogul ...
-