# Road to Wellville, The (1994)

### reviewed by
Shane Burridge

    The Road to Wellville (1994) 120m

One-of-a-kind comedy by Alan Parker. It boasts Anthony Hopkins at his most eccentric and appears to be an attempt to redefine the screen presentation of toilet humor - because nearly every moment of the story is devoted to a body function or orifice. Story is set at the turn of the century, when the popularity of Dr John Kellogg's new breakfast food, corn flakes, was part of a society fad for health and fitness. Two storylines look at both sides of the craze - the main one has Matthew Broderick, who has chronic indigestion, checking into Kellogg's sanitarium with wife Bridget Fonda. The second story follows attempts of John Cusack and Michael Lerner to break into the lucrative health-food market. We take our morning cereal so much for granted that we don't think twice about the impact that the novelty of 'breakfast food' might have had on its first appearance. Although he doesn't state it as such, Parker uses this idea to lampoon similar health crazes of contemporary times - the Victorian sensibility of going through personal suffering for a cleaner mind and body doesn't seem too far removed from the high-tech torture equipment of your local gym.

Delivering one hilarious organic metaphor after another, Hopkins makes for a spirited Kellogg. Every one of his scenes is a delight, especially those in which he confronts his rebellious, filthy son Dana Carvey - easily the biggest flake he was ever responsible for. The flashback scenes to their early family life are highlights. Kellogg's clinic puts every idea into practice - colonic irrigation, vegetarianism, aerobics, dietary restriction, mineral baths, surgery, and sexual abstinence. As if that isn't enough, some of the female clients opt to undergo a highly suspect 'therapeutic massage' by a neighboring German physician. Film is consistently entertaining, but nevertheless overlong. It wouldn't have made much difference if the Cusack sub-plot had been cut entirely. As with most comedies, this one is an acquired taste. You may have to chew it over 23 times before swallowing.

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