Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

sunznc End of the Road shouldn't be completely dismissed. It is hard to watch not only for what happens to the people in the cast but because it tries to be arty about something that isn't. A man in a catatonic state because he is overloaded by what is happening in society isn't arty. And if his catatonic state is played out too long with obscure or trite images we just become impatient. We aren't absorbing what we're seeing.As hard as it is to allow yourself to become absorbed in this it's hard to shut it off. And when a female character decides to have an abortion we just know we're going to be subjected to the brutality of it and we don't want to be. Not after we have seen a man come out of a catatonic state and behave oddly in public and with his students. We're already alienated by the characters to have to endure anymore.The acting is good by everyone even if we don't like any of the characters. The film does have an impact I'm just not sure what the message really is and why we need it. Maybe someone else can figure that out.

marekj66 The End of the Road, is probably Terry Southern's most personal work for the cinema. One over which he had most input and control. Southern's presence is felt throughout the film, from the use of his own East canaan home as a location, to Keach holding a pair of Terry's legendary 'Bono' fly style shades, to Terry's own cameo appearance as a patient.The film is superbly acted by all concerned, Keach especially and the film is shot and edited as a subversive assault on the psyche and hypocrisy of America at the end of the sixties. Family life and alienation are to the fore, and a profound sadness for the end of the sixties.The film often goes too far and screams too loudly its in gags and cleverness, but it is genuinely moving and totally unique. One can also say that the ill judged inclusion of the protracted and unwatchable abortion scene, killed any chances the film had of success. Which is a great shame, as this is a film which deserves a wider audience beyond its status as a cult oddity. The End of the Road is one hell of a unique ride if you can stay on board and a great insight into the mind of one of cinema's greatest screenwriters, Terry Southern.

HEFILM That's actually perhaps a bit harsh, but at 110 minutes the over the top acting and tedious 2 characters in a room trying to "out-strange" each other, first half of the film will turn most people away. The two great lead actors make the, can you top this for over the top performance, moments interesting only because they are such good actors, but at it's heart this is a drug or alcohol script, culled from a novel with much internal thought that can't really be done as a film anyway. Writer/producer Terry Southern was an unfocused, from what I've heard increasing bitter man, and his flashes of inspiration here and there just make the rest of it that much more unforgivable. Sure it's a product of the era it was made in, but the best of those can still speak to today, most of this is just a collection of bizarre behavior (people having sex with chickens, flashes of photos of mutant babies) with no sense of reality and nothing but a, "I wrote the script in a brothel with no sleep and 5 bottles of scotch in me." feel.There is a funny telephone conversation near the end that reminds you of some of the phone conversations in Dr Strangelove. But by that point in the movie it's totally out of place.There is really for the first hour no sense of purpose at all, then something that resembles a plot emerges and it all ends in a rather memorable scene that really is just the "I woke up sober and wanting to die" bad hangover ending.The photography is occasionally fascinating, Gordon Willis first feature. The movie is not a reflection of insanity in the world or of the times, it's a reflection of substance abuse masquerading as a exploration of a crazy world. The bottoming out and turning of 60's ideals into recreational drug use as an excuse for self examination. It's the drunk who opens his mouth after saying, "do you like see food." A waste of talent and time ultimately.

PenDrake-2 I saw this film when it was released and was totally mesmerized by the story and the performances. When I found it on video, (twenty years later) I immediately rented it and had a number of friends over to watch it. I couldn't believe how pompous and overdone the film was. My film recomendations to my friends have suffered ever since.