The Road to Wellville (1994)

Overrated and overhyped

Absolutely Fantastic

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Based on T. C. Boyle's novel of the same name, The Road to Wellville tells the story of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his famous Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan. It is a very broad satire, freeing mixing fact and fiction to create a humorous take on American health practices around the turn of the century, as well as the Battle Creek cereal boom, which lasted from 1900 to 1905. Many wonder if this is based on real history, and indeed elements of it are, but as usual, the real history turns out to be far more interesting than the Hollywood version (see, for example, the new book, "Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Religion of Biologic Living" for an lively overview of the true story). Anthony Hopkins does a bizarre, but entertaining turn as the Dr. Kellogg, and the supporting cast (including Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda) gamely run through the frequently scatological and sexual situations of a rather untidy script. For those who like their historical movies broad and colorful and full sophomoric humor, this movie is for them. (By the way, The Road to Wellville was actually a pamphlet written not by Kellogg, but by C. W. Post, who for years inserted it in every box of Post Toasties.)

Based on the novel by T.C. Boyle, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE is a delightful lark of a film that wickedly spoofs the health fads of the early 1900s--and in particular those set forth by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, co-inventor of the famous Kellogg cornflake and proponent of numerous "healthful" ideas that seem calculated to make moderns squirm.The film presents a triple story line. William and Eleanor Lightbody (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda) are a young married couple in trouble: Eleanor has accidentally poisoned William and hopes a trip to Dr. Kellogg's sanatorium can set him right. Charles Ossining (John Cusack) has come to Battle Creek in the hope of striking it rich by creating a breakfast cereal to cash in on America's fitness craze--only to find himself involved with various thieves and scoundrels. These include George Kellogg (Dana Carvey), who seems to live to make the life of his adoptive father Dr. Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins) unmitigated hell.The various stories are extremely entertaining as they intertwine--but most of the laughs come at Dr. Kellogg's expense as he advocates yogurt enemas, electric baths, and other bizarre treatments that seem to arise primarily from his idea that sex "is the sewer drain of a healthy body." Patients are humiliated, harassed, and harangued about their sex lives even as they remain largely ignorant of their own sexual natures, which was typical of many Americans in this era. Much of it is crude, bad taste, bathroom humor--but it is expertly, hilariously handled. Any one who can sit through THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE without hooting out loud doesn't simply lack a sense of humor: they're probably dead.The performances are sharp, clever, and make the most of the various outlandish situations into the characters are forced. Broderick carries the film with tremendous charm and Fonda follows suit, but the real acting awards go to Anthony Hopkins, Dana Carvey, and a supporting cast that includes outrageously funny performances by the likes of Camryn Manheim, Traci Lind, Colm Meaney, and John Neville. The DVD has nothing in the way of bonus features and is, alas, only available in pan-and-scan, but don't let that stop you. Laugh your way to health the Kellogg way! GFT, Amazon Reviewer

"With friends like these, who needs enemas." is the funniest line in the movie.If you laugh when you hear the words "shit", "poo", "enema" or "masturbation" you will enjoy this movie. Reliance on pompous people saying these words wore thin for me.I would have made a nice 30 minute short. It dragged on and on repeating the same elements.The actors shout as if they were on stage trying to emote to the back rows in some melodrama. I just wanted them to shut up. The musical score reminded be of an endlessly extended frantic Wendy's commercial.It is visually interesting with all the Victoriana, and the crazy health machines created by Dr. Kellogg.Lots of nudity of ugly people. The extras are a bizarre looking crew, picked for their grotesqueness.

"The Road to Wellville" was sort of silly, but quite neat. Focusing on a health spa in Michigan in the early 20th century. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins) is a little too obsessed with health, to the point where everything relates to sex. I really liked everything that they did to William Lightbody (Matthew Broderick), and when Eleanor Lightbody (Bridget Fonda) snapped at the people wearing animal skin. After watching this movie, anyone is likely to feel weird about being a health-freak (although there are some good lessons about health). Dana Carvey, John Cusack, and John Neville also have great roles. It all just goes to show why the people involved in "The Road to Wellville" are so well-regarded. Cool.