Goin' Down the Road Reviews

This film, made for only $78,000, is an excellent example of how a small-budget film easily can outdo a multimillion-dollar extravaganza. Two small-town workers, McGrath and Bradley, looking for something better in life, leave their little Nova Scotia home and head for the big time in Toronto. There they find work in a soda pop factory and find life even more dismal. Though constantly fighting, they depend on each other's friendship. One marries a girl he has made pregnant and then loses his job. McGrath and Bradley once more run off from their troubles at the film's end, looking for their dreams elsewhere. The leads are exceptional. Bradley is fine as a simple man, happy with beer and television. McGrath, the more restless of the two, wants the finer things in life, yet he knows he'll never attain them. Eastwood, in a small role, gives a gem of a performance as the hapless waitress who becomes pregnant. The dialog is earthy but not coarse, and the direction is self-conscious but overall does a good job of giving the film its humanity. The only technical problem is an inherent graininess caused by enlarging the film from 16mm to 35mm. The film was partially financed by the Canadian Film Development Corp., as well as Phoenix Films.