Wild Hogs (2007)

Director:

Walt Becker

Writer (WGA):

Brad Copeland (written by)

Release Date:

2 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

A lot can happen on the road to nowhere.

Plot:

A group of suburban biker wannabes looking for adventure hit the open road, but get more than they bargained for when they encounter a New Mexico gang called the Del Fuegos.

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Friend | Motorcycle | Road Trip | New Mexico

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tim Allen	...	Doug Madsen
John Travolta	...	Woody Stevens
Martin Lawrence	...	Bobby Davis
William H. Macy	...	Dudley Frank
Ray Liotta	...	Jack
Marisa Tomei	...	Maggie
Kevin Durand	...	Red
M.C. Gainey	...	Murdock
Jill Hennessy	...	Kelly Madsen
Dominic Janes	...	Billy Madsen
Tichina Arnold	...	Karen Davis
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Charley
Jason Sklar	...	Earl Dooble
Randy Sklar	...	Buck Dooble
Drew Sidora	...	Haley Davis

Also Known As:

Blackberry (Philippines: English title) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and some violence.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Ireland:12A | UK:12A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43259) | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:6 | Argentina:13 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7 | South Korea:12 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

A sequel was planned but scrapped due to the critical and commercial failure of Old Dogs (2009/I), also directed by Walt Becker.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The front tire on Woody's motorcycle is on backwards. The tread should go the other way.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dudley Frank: [after getting a fist-tap from Woody and nearly wiping out] Whoa! Whoa! Oh! Man, oh, man. I almost lost it back there. I didn't know what was going on.
[hits a sign face first]

Movie Connections:

References Deliverance (1972)

Soundtrack:

Highway to Hell

Looking for an escape from your life? Take a time-out

I attended a pre-release screening of the movie in Philadelphia, and I went in expecting a lot of zany sequences, funny violence and a truckload of laughs, and I wasn't disappointed.

Messrs. Travolta, Allen, Lawrence and Macy fit their parts well, and while the story doesn't demand a lot from the actors, they are good as middle-aged professionals tired of their boring lives. The film's theme is a road-trip across America on Harley-Davidson's, with leather jackets ("Wild Hogs" is what they call themselves) and all the other paraphernalia. The whole movie is littered with stereotypes and clichéd characters and plots, and this lends an air of predictability to it. Some people might say that it's closer to an animation, given the generous helpings of crashes and falls, but then I didn't find it to be a put-off because it doesn't pretend to be an action film. You fall, you look funny, you get back up, and story moves on.

At the outset, I thought that there might be a resemblance to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, with it's concept of two tired guys out to discover the American Dream, but it isn't so. The humour is rib-tickling at times, and mostly slapstick. Among individual performances, nobody really steals the screen, but the overall chemistry between the Wild Hogs is good. Ray Liotta plays the bad guy with an overdose of menace, and Marisa Tomei did a good job of looking pretty. Some of the cinematography is breathtaking, but for a road trip across America, there was very little of variety in location.

I won't advise spending $15 on it in a theater, but it'll be a fun watch with friends, when the DVD comes out, much like how I would judge Eurotrip.