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      Down the Road Again

      2011 1 hr. 24 min. Drama List
      Reviews 44% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score A retired Canadian mailman (Doug McGrath) sets out on a final road trip to Nova Scotia to scatter his late buddy's ashes, and he makes a few special stops along the way. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Pretty good follow up decades later to Canadian classic "Goin Down the Road". A story of second chances from poor decisions made years earlier as Joey is asked by Pete in a letter after he passes to deliver his ashes to Cape Breton from Vancouver. The director and as much of the cast as possible is reassembled. Could never match the original but a sequel that ends up for the most part satisfying. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review norbert d Seldom have I so wanted a sequel to succeed.I had been deeply moved by the gritty original, Going Down the Road, which I saw at a time when the Canadian Maritimes provinces were bleeding good young folks for whom no jobs were left. Different as my life was from Pete and Joey's, I well understood what it's like to have to leave the Atlantic for what the late Stan Rogers once singingly dubbed, "the scummy lakes and the City of Toronto". The initial excitement and the inevitable disillusionment when down the road still doesn't make for the good life was brilliantly captured. So this one, focusing in on the reverse journey for Pete and the now deceased Joey's wilding daughter sounded like a good gig. And it was until they reached Cape Breton and the schmaltz starting dripping all over the plot. In the process, for reasons I cannot imagine, film-maker Shebib conveniently invented a backstory for when and why Pete and Joey had left, that is utterly inconsistent with the so-much better original. Who can forget Pete's boyish grin as he sat high in the old convertible driving towards Toronto? Yet, now, Pete's departure is linked to a wrong side of the tracks love affair which had driven the lad down the road broken-hearted. This indigestible change sets up for the schmaltz that the film descends into with coincidences and reunions that even Dickens at his worst would blush at. I did squeeze out a secodn star because you can't not love seeing Doug McGrath again, playing well, in spite of the bad plotting, the what you see is what you get Pete, 40 years on. I wish more movies would make this sequels with decades of separation. I'd like to see ET come back into the life of grown up Elliot (Henry Thomas) and lots of other such... it's just they gotta do it better than Shebib did in this disappointing movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Sequels made this long after the original really never work out. This film has a few things going for it, chiefly the performance of the great Doug McGrath, but it feels like an afterthought ... an attempt to tie up ends that nobody felt were loose in the first place. Like so many Canadian films these days, it looks and feels like a TV movie. Not embarrassing, but unnecessary. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I enjoyed this movie. I watched it becauseI have family in Cape Breton and hoped to see some familiar and beautiful scenery. But it was much more. A story of how people deal with disappointment and surprises from their past and move ahead. Simple but genuine, authentic, well-acted. I would recommend it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a bad follow-up to the 1970 classic..flashbacks to scenes from the original are very poignant. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member I liked this movie. I enjoyed seeing some of the original cast members continue the story of the original film. A simple, if somewhat Dickensian story line, with a made in Canada feel. I think some part of me hoped for the look and feel of the original, i.e. low budget, grainy, gritty story. But probably not realistic to assume the director would try to capture the feel of the original, technology has changed too much. We need to tell ourselves our stories. This is a good one and worth seeing with the original. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Greg Quill Toronto Star It's a worthy companion piece to its raw and jagged partner, maybe a bit old-fashioned, maybe a bit too sweet, but imbued with wisdom, heart and good intentions. Rated: 2.5/4 Oct 20, 2011 Full Review Liz Braun Jam! Movies Shebib, who would probably be the first to admit that Goin' Down the Road is a hard act to follow, tells the story in Down the Road Again with energy and humour and he gets terrific performances from his cast. Rated: 3/5 Oct 21, 2011 Full Review Norman Wilner NOW Toronto Returning to the characters he created in 1970, Shebib has made a wheezy, flat and unnecessary follow-up that tries in the clumsiest way imaginable to slap a happy ending on the first film's downbeat story. Rated: 1/5 Oct 21, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis A retired Canadian mailman (Doug McGrath) sets out on a final road trip to Nova Scotia to scatter his late buddy's ashes, and he makes a few special stops along the way.
      Director
      Donald Shebib
      Executive Producer
      Sandra Cunningham, Anna Stratton
      Screenwriter
      Donald Shebib
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jul 10, 2012