Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      Highway 61

      R 1991 1 hr. 39 min. Drama List
      100% 7 Reviews Tomatometer 84% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score Pokey Jones (Don McKellar), a Canadian barber who plays jazz on the side, has his life turned upside down when a corpse turns up near his home. Jackie (Valerie Buhagier), a roadie, says that the dead man is her sibling and begs Pokey to help get the body back to New Orleans. Pokey agrees, completely unaware that Valerie's real plan is to transport drugs across the border. They are followed by the satanic Mr. Skin (Earl Pastko), who claims ownership of the body and the soul contained therein. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (97) audience reviews
      jon c He has a thirst for adventure, she has a lust for action Somewhere life has meaning...maybe it's on Highway 61 Pokey Jones played by Don McKellar is a Canadian barber who plays jazz on the side He then has his life turned upside down when a corpse turns up near his home Jackie played by Valerie Buhagier a roadie, says that the dead man is her sibling and begs Pokey to help get the body back to New Orleans Pokey agrees, completely unaware that Valerie's real plan is to transport drugs across the border that she took out of a guitar after leaving her punk rock home life They are both followed by the satanic Mr. Skin played by Earl Pastko who claims ownership of the body and the soul contained therein He's hot on their trail even to leaving the pentagram symbol lying around Both the man and woman get into all kinds of antics together and perhaps start something special while trying to give this dead body some dignity left Very episodic with eccentric people that feel very real on your standard road trip film Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review dave s While it may not (or may) be the greatest road movie of all time, Highway 61 is certainly the oddest and most consistently entertaining. Accompanied by a naïve bugle-playing barber from Northern Ontario, a young woman appropriates a corpse from a funeral home, stuffs it full of cocaine, packs it into a cheap casket, straps it to the roof of the barber's car, and takes off on a road trip down Highway 61 from Thunder Bay to New Orleans. To complicate matters, they are being tailed by Satan, who owns the soul of the cocaine-stuffed body. Bolstered by a great soundtrack, a sharp script, scenic locations, effective cinematography and enough weird encounters to keep things interesting, it's a wild ride from beginning to end and relentlessly fun. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A slightly romantic comedy romp that's inbetween Where the Buffalo Roam and National Lampoon's Vacation. It's more out there elements clash with it's more mundane and light-hearted nature in an interesting and unique way. A moderately humorous and entertaining with two individuals with wildly different walks of life that satisfies, but never thrills. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Bruce McDonald makes a minor classic helped by the unforgettable McKellar and Buhagiar who meet the most bizarre people in a voyage down a highway and through musical history. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member This is one of those VHS films from the days of me first investigating indie film, and I was so happy to finally revisit it on DVD awhile back. A great little love story filled with oddball characters and a charming travelogue from Canada down into the Southern parts of the US. Recommended. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member A great Canadian film eh! Even with the gun and the rose eh. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Photos

      View All Highway 61 photos

      Highway 61

      Highway 61 (1991) Highway 61 (1991) Highway 61 (1991) Highway 61 (1991) View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (7) Critics Reviews
      Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times What's good about it are the performances by McKellar and Buhagiar, who look surprisingly like real people and not like movie actors, and a rock sound track by Nash the Slash, a group (or person) previously unknown to me, that's fun to listen to. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Kathleen Maher Austin Chronicle Rated: 3.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Brian D. Johnson Maclean's Magazine Highway 61, whose characters head south, has higher production values, better acting-and a real story. Oct 15, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A diverting episodic look at some eccentric characters on Bob Dylan's Highway 61. Rated: B Aug 14, 2013 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jun 17, 2005 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 3/5 Jul 30, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Pokey Jones (Don McKellar), a Canadian barber who plays jazz on the side, has his life turned upside down when a corpse turns up near his home. Jackie (Valerie Buhagier), a roadie, says that the dead man is her sibling and begs Pokey to help get the body back to New Orleans. Pokey agrees, completely unaware that Valerie's real plan is to transport drugs across the border. They are followed by the satanic Mr. Skin (Earl Pastko), who claims ownership of the body and the soul contained therein.
      Director
      Bruce McDonald
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Apr 17, 2020
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $8.7K
      Sound Mix
      Surround