Staid accountant Grant finds himself questioning his sanity after he begins a passionate affair with the enigmatic Marissa in Las Vegas and winds up killing her jealous boyfriend, Joey when he attacks them. But is Joey really dead?
Writer/director John Penney’s independent feature “Zyzzyx Road” is best known (rather infamously) for making only $30 at the box office during its brief theatrical run. A total of six tickets were sold, two of which went to crew members who were ultimately refunded their ticket purchase. Upon learning this about the movie, my expectations were low going in.
“Zyzzyx Road” is a film that doesn’t do much to raise your expectations. It doesn’t necessarily start on the wrong foot, but by the time you get to the end, you’ll more than likely be ready for this feature to be over and done with.
The movie opens on a highway outside of Las Vegas late at night. A man, Grant (Leo Grillo), and a woman, Marissa (Katherine Heigl), are riding together, both looking disheveled. It soon comes to light that Grant and Marissa have been having an affair. Marissa’s jealous boyfriend, Joey (Tom Sizemore), attacked them in their hotel room, and, in defense, Grant killed Joey. The pair, Grant and Marissa, are driving to the desert, specifically Zyzzyx Road, to dispose of Joey’s body. Except, is Joey really dead?
What follows becomes a load of nonsense, with the film growing continually worse as it goes on. There’s really no way to get into the second half of this movie without flat-out spoiling things. It becomes a basic chase flick by the end, not well-orchestrated or timed. In line with most low-budget works, the acting and effects work are not very good.
I viewed the movie via the 4K disc. This is not the best-looking film. The first half of the movie takes place predominantly at night. Things are difficult to decipher, and objects sometimes take on unusual hues. Although, I do wonder if some of that is intentional on the filmmakers’ part. The second act takes place in daylight, with the photography becoming more vibrant at times and dull/washed out at others. Penney uses the film’s color scheme to bring the viewer into the characters’ world. The sound on the disc is fine. Dialogue is never hard to understand, and sound effects are clear.
If you are so inclined, there are plenty of special features to dive into. Among them are two commentary tracks (one with Penney and another with Grillo), a feature-length featurette about the film’s legacy, and several archival features from its original release. I’m not much of a special features viewer. The only feature I was intrigued by was the new featurette on the film’s legacy, but at over an hour and a half, it’s longer than the movie itself. I couldn’t stomach it after sitting through the film.
If you’re interested in physical media for the film itself, this is one to avoid. If you’re interested in the behind-the-scenes items and featurettes, I feel enough of them included on the Blu-ray™ Disc to be worth your time (and I apologize for not delving into them in this review). This film was more of a curiosity watch, not something I plan to revisit. Stream it if you’re also curious, or wait and see if this set ever goes on sale.
Available on 2-Disc Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD™ November 26th
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