Zyzzyx Road (2006)

I rented this movie knowing nothing about it. I guess I should have gone with my gut instinct and skipped it.The movie is about a married accountant (Grillo) and his girlfriend (Heigl) who are discovered fooling around by her psychopathic boyfriend (Sizemore). The accountant kills him with a vibrator (!), and they take him out in the desert to bury him. The name of the movie, for no apparent reason, comes from the road they take into the desert. Once they get to the desert, Sizemore's body seems to have disappeared from the trunk of Grillo's car.The pacing and directing were absolutely awful. I would say the acting was terrible, but I can't blame the actors for having so little to work with. In fact, the only reason I gave this a 2 was for Heigl's game efforts to do something with this mess. The plot, what there was of one, was stupid. Worse yet, it went off in a completely different direction midway through. Plot holes? Why yes, there were plenty of them. They were so frequent and so big, it was hard to follow the story. If it had been campier and had something resembling a plot, it might have made a decent B movie, but it doesn't even rise that far.I was particularly amused at the makeup. Heigl's makeup varies from scene to scene, and the blood effects are hilarious. Grillo goes through most of the film with a cut on his head from his fracas with Sizemore. It is obvious that the cut is drawn on with a sharpie and smeared with grape jelly. What's more, it looks the same throughout the entire movie. Sizemore has a bruise on his forehead from being bonked with the vibrator that keeps moving around.John Penney, who wrote and directed this travesty, should never be allowed to make another movie. Heigl and Sizemore need to fire their agents. Even if you're a B movie fan, you should give this one a pass. It's 90 minutes of your life that you can't get back.

I'll go with 5 on this one, I don't think it's that bad of a watch, though it did lose me here and there and some of the flash-forwards and backwards threw me off in the way they're cut together. I do agree with others that this is a different role for Heigl and she doesn't do too bad at it. I'm not sure if she would take that as a compliment given the role, but I love seeing the diversity and you have to start somewhere, right :)? Why not Zyzzyx Rd? I guess I'm a little thrown by the different spellings of the road, since I believe the "other film" Zzyzx actually has it correct, which if that's the case, I'm not sure why they spelled the title of this film as they did. There's also the fact that the 2 apparently came out the same year. Nevertheless, this wasn't a bad watch and I would suggest it to folks who like the Horror/Suspense/Thriller thing.

Absolutely one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time! It starts off badly and just deteriorates. Katherine Heigl is woefully miscast in a Lolita role and Leo Grillo manfully struggles with what is essentially a cardboard cutout character. The only cast-member with any enthusiasm is Tom Sizemore, who hams it up as a villain and goes completely overboard with his role. The script is dire, the acting horrible and it has plot holes big enough to drive a double-decker bus through! It is also the most sexist movie I have ever seen! Katherine Heigl's character is completely unsympathetic. She's seen as an evil, wanton seductress who lures the poor, innocent married man to cheat on his wife. It is implied throughout the movie that she's underage, and the message that accompanies that plot-strand just beggars belief! At the end, she isn't even able to redeem herself by shooting the man who's obviously (ha!) become demented with rage and guilt, but the script allows him to kill himself, thereby redeeming himself in the eyes of males everywhere. Horrible. Don't waste your time.

The family man accountant Grant (Leo Grillo) travels to Los Angeles and meets the lascivious "Lolita" Marissa (Katherine Heigl) in a casino. While in the motel with Marissa, her violent ex-boyfriend Joey (Tom Sizemore) surprises them on the bed, hits Grant on the head, but he kills Joey. Grant brings Joey's body to bury in the desert Zyzzyx Road, but after digging a grave, he finds that the body is missing in the trunk of his car. Grant chases Joey with a shovel in the desert, and when he finds the man hidden in a abandoned mine, Joey discloses a secret about Marissa.I bought "Zyzzyx Rd" on DVD without any expectations and I really liked this low-budget movie. The story begins theatrical, claustrophobic and intriguing; there are two surprising twists and a tragic conclusion after disclosing the guilty complex of Grant. I like this type of films where screenplay, direction and performances prevail over a high budget and special effects. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Estrada da Morte" ("Road of the Death")