This is a pleasant little film with an amiable cast. It's always fun to see Billy Burke in a starring role. You may think you know where this is going from the first view of the corpse in the trunk, but you'd probably be wrong. There's a touching side trip to Charleston, where Jimmy (Burke) faces down some old demons, even if the film never knows quite what to do with the Jake Busey character after this, and Neve Campbell is properly enigmatic as "the girl"--she's femme enough without being overly fatale. My favorite scene is when Dil, er, Billy, er, Jimmy sings along with a tape of Fred Neil on "Other Side of This Life." If you've never seen "Dil Scallion," it's a much better film than "Lost Junction," but this one is okay, an agreeable time-waster, if a bit more beige than noir. But that's fine too.
19 Reviews
Flawed and Strange, But Also Original and I Liked It
claudio_carvalho5 July 2006
While trying to fix his Mustang on the road, Jimmy McGee (Billy Burke) gets a lift in the Cadillac of a sweet lady, Missy Lofton (Neve Campbell). Missy invites Jimmy to stay at her house in Lost Junction, a very small town in Mississippi with a population of 652 locals, while his car is being repaired by the mechanic Shorty (Michel Perron). Missy asks Jimmy to help her to take her savings in the bank, and later they travel together to New Orleans to meet Missy's boyfriend Porter (Charles Powell). While on the road, Missy discloses to Jimmy that the body of her husband Doc is in the trunk, but Jimmy is in love with Missy and stays with her. Jimmy returns to his hometown, but his best friend Matt (Jake Busey) convinces him to return to New Orleans for Missy. Later the truth about the death of Doc is disclosed.
"Lost Junction" is not a great movie, actually it is very weird; the original screenplay has flaws, but also romance, thriller, action and black comedy in a perfect pace; adding the pros and con, in the end I really liked this movie a lot. The cast is very nice, with Neve Campbell very beautiful and performing a sweet and charismatic character that will certainly make the viewer falls for her. Billy Burke has also a great performance and shows a magnificent chemistry with Neve. Jake Busey and practically all the characters are good people from the country, with the exception of the stressed banker, the villain Porter and the dead husband Doc. The music score is excellent, with wonderful blues and country music. Surprisingly there are some bad reviews in IMDb, but I believe this road-movie is a great entertainment. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"Lost Junction" is not a great movie, actually it is very weird; the original screenplay has flaws, but also romance, thriller, action and black comedy in a perfect pace; adding the pros and con, in the end I really liked this movie a lot. The cast is very nice, with Neve Campbell very beautiful and performing a sweet and charismatic character that will certainly make the viewer falls for her. Billy Burke has also a great performance and shows a magnificent chemistry with Neve. Jake Busey and practically all the characters are good people from the country, with the exception of the stressed banker, the villain Porter and the dead husband Doc. The music score is excellent, with wonderful blues and country music. Surprisingly there are some bad reviews in IMDb, but I believe this road-movie is a great entertainment. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
Attention To Detail Serves To Lift Level Of Comedic Melodrama
rsoonsa3 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The opening shot of this pleasing film is enhanced by buoyant scoring from Normand Corbeil, and this reveals to viewers that the work that they are about to see is not meant to be noirish in nature, but instead, in an actor's scenario such as this, a general tincture of incongruity is to be established from the outset. Director Peter Masterson, with assistance from lead Neve Campbell, ensures that this is accomplished, while her co-lead Billy Burke consistently provides a foil for Campbell, both being aided by a well-crafted script credited to Jeff Cole, who also produces here. Drifter Jimmy McGee (Burke) is stranded with his broken-down automobile along a back road in an unidentified state in the American South when he is fortunately given a ride from Missy Lofton (Campbell), driving her vintage convertible, but he soon learns that Missy has more than altruism behind her offer of a lift, because she takes McGee with her to her bank in the small town of Lost Junction whereupon she withdraws her entire savings of over $320,000, after which she shows Jimmy the contents of her car's trunk: her dead husband. This all proves to be a bagful with which bewildered Jimmy must deal, and he decides to set off, by foot this time, along the same country road upon which Missy had found him, but she has other ideas and will not permit him to go his own way, Jimmy therefore discovering that he is tied to a woman whose sinister background is more startling than he could have expected, and the two of them, in addition to all other main characters from the screenplay, dovetail to a climactic meeting back in Lost Junction. The film's storyline unfolds in an interesting manner, and solid performances are turned in by the cast, with Campbell's reading being particularly effective, and director Masterson paces his scenes correctly, permitting the narrative's admittedly bizarre events to develop within a well-detailed and naturalistic framework. The editing of Peter Frank and cinematography by Thomas Burstyn, the latter utilizing beautiful Quebec locations, are invaluable, with all shooting occurring during daylight hours for this film that, largely as a result, becomes a whimsical character study that emphasizes its elements of mystery and romance, thereupon further negating any possible connection to the Noir genre.
Another road movie...
dbdumonteil28 October 2006
... but an unpretentious often funny one.This is not the kind of movie you will watch twice but you can save it for a rainy day.Many lines are full of black humor ("When we get to New Orleans ,my husband will be there " ) and good scenes (the priest reading the Book of Ecclesiastes not to mention Neve Campbell and the pretty little houses of the graveyard).The cast is uniformly good with Jack Busey as some kind of disabled Starsky who steals every scene he is in.
Main objection: the poor ending and the mediocre black and white flashback.
Not much food for thought but,by and large,quite entertaining.
Main objection: the poor ending and the mediocre black and white flashback.
Not much food for thought but,by and large,quite entertaining.
Hard to know what to do with this one....
AlanSquier18 February 2007
Really, just what can you say about a movie that has a gal who's driving around with her husband's dead body in the trunk, a drifter who pushed his best friend off a cliff crippling him for life (the best friend is one of the characters too), a no-goodnik trying to make off with a batch of money he's got no right to, and a batch of yokel law enforcers? Well, I gave it a mediocre rating because I can't say it's really good...it sort of wanders all around the place in no hurry to get to where it's going. On the other hand, I can't say it's bad because there was never a place where I wanted to stop watching it.
So really, I think you should see it. Neve Campbell is good as Missy as is Billy Burke as Jimmy.
The bottom line is that I can't rate it high nor can I rate it low, but I can't say it's mediocre either. I really think you should see it.
And if anybody gives this review a helpful rating, I shall be shocked!
So really, I think you should see it. Neve Campbell is good as Missy as is Billy Burke as Jimmy.
The bottom line is that I can't rate it high nor can I rate it low, but I can't say it's mediocre either. I really think you should see it.
And if anybody gives this review a helpful rating, I shall be shocked!
Pleasantly quirky!
Fitzweldon1 March 2003
I was not planning on watching this movie - just happened to come across it right at the beginning on USA Channel and thought I'd sit through the first 5 minutes. I ended up with it to the very end. The best part of the movie was the excellent character development and the fascinating interactions they had with each other throughout the film.
You never knew where Neve Campbell's character was going next and Billy Burke was great being positively perplexed.
This movie is definately worth seeing.
You never knew where Neve Campbell's character was going next and Billy Burke was great being positively perplexed.
This movie is definately worth seeing.
Could this movie get any worse?
tarbosh220001 December 2004
I don't see how this movie is entertaining at all. Everything about it is bad: The acting is atrocious. Just because Jake Busey is in a wheelchair doesn't mean he's a better actor for not moving his legs. What did Neve Campbell see in this script? There's no drama, action, comedy, or mystery. I can't remember the plot because there was none to speak of. The climax and ending are ridiculous to say the least. Don't be fooled by the other comments on this site. This went direct to video for a reason. Avoid it like the plague. It looks like MGM studios is churning out a lot of junk lately with this, "Angel Of Death", "Species III", "Unspeakable", and "The Ranch". MGM puts out anything if it has a B-list actor or actress.
Slightly unrealistic, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Saturnfly12 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Lost Junction starts out with a man and his broken down car, then a woman who never leaves town drives past to aid his rescue, she takes him home and lets him stay in her house, but of course before she goes to 'feed the ducks'. Keep in mind, this guy is a complete stranger, and this gal has some pretty old fashioned beliefs. But, lucky for her he ain't some homicidal maniac searching for his next victim.
So the movie is all perfectly innocent to begin with, however if you are good at reading body language, you'll learn there is something strange and dissatisfying going on.
Anyway, the story goes on, the man eventually leaves after over welcoming his stay (in my opinion anyway), goes to his mates place who he deserted pretty much after pushing him off a cliff and turning him into a crippled (not on purpose I should probably add). So they have a heart to heart, shed some tears and forgive the world and all it's glory and are pretty much best mates again from there on.
Now with my own opinions lurking around, I think that the crippled was shoved in the movie scene so you can feel a bit of emotion when things start going a tad haywire. I have to say though, with all the Busey movies I've seen, he's always been some what of a villain, I couldn't help feeling exactly what the director wanted me to feel. Despite it's cheesy plot, and it's unrealistic ways of things happening.
But at the end of the day, this movie is obviously not Oscar matarial, but it is very enjoyable, the characters maybe far too acted, but you are able to care for them and want them to be semi happy, as long as you got a decent amount of cash. Which is mainly what this movie evolves around.
Overall, I give this a 6 out of 10.
So the movie is all perfectly innocent to begin with, however if you are good at reading body language, you'll learn there is something strange and dissatisfying going on.
Anyway, the story goes on, the man eventually leaves after over welcoming his stay (in my opinion anyway), goes to his mates place who he deserted pretty much after pushing him off a cliff and turning him into a crippled (not on purpose I should probably add). So they have a heart to heart, shed some tears and forgive the world and all it's glory and are pretty much best mates again from there on.
Now with my own opinions lurking around, I think that the crippled was shoved in the movie scene so you can feel a bit of emotion when things start going a tad haywire. I have to say though, with all the Busey movies I've seen, he's always been some what of a villain, I couldn't help feeling exactly what the director wanted me to feel. Despite it's cheesy plot, and it's unrealistic ways of things happening.
But at the end of the day, this movie is obviously not Oscar matarial, but it is very enjoyable, the characters maybe far too acted, but you are able to care for them and want them to be semi happy, as long as you got a decent amount of cash. Which is mainly what this movie evolves around.
Overall, I give this a 6 out of 10.
Appropriately Titled
boyinflares23 August 2006
The thing with Neve Campbell is, while most actors and actresses who play one role on a television series for a lengthy amount of time often get well remembered for that role and do not always find success elsewhere (such as some of the "Star Trek" casts), Campbell on the other hand is probably always going to be known not for her role in "Party of Five", but for playing Sidney Prescott in the meta-horror "Scream" Trilogy. Which, for Campbell, is not necessarily a bad thing, as not only was the entire "Scream" Trilogy extremely well done, Sidney Prescott is a horror heroine unlike almost any other.
However, despite having such a honor to her name and career, Neve manages to get a variety of interesting roles, such as the one of Missy Lofton in "Lost Junction", an unusual film that for quite some time you may wonder what the point of it is. The film revolves around the meeting of Campbell's Missy and hottie Billy Burke's Jimmy McGee. The chemistry between Campbell and Burke is terrific and their characters are well-defined in terms of the context.
What goes on between Missy and Jimmy in the small town of Lost Junction is interesting to a point, but becomes long and drawn out. The flashbacks are irritating and the story seems to go nowhere for quite some time. The supporting characters are rather uninteresting, except for Jake Busey, who for the first time surprised me in his role as a paraplegic. Despite Burke's charm and Campbell's skill, "Lost Junction" doesn't really add up to much, and therefore, is aptly titled.
However, despite having such a honor to her name and career, Neve manages to get a variety of interesting roles, such as the one of Missy Lofton in "Lost Junction", an unusual film that for quite some time you may wonder what the point of it is. The film revolves around the meeting of Campbell's Missy and hottie Billy Burke's Jimmy McGee. The chemistry between Campbell and Burke is terrific and their characters are well-defined in terms of the context.
What goes on between Missy and Jimmy in the small town of Lost Junction is interesting to a point, but becomes long and drawn out. The flashbacks are irritating and the story seems to go nowhere for quite some time. The supporting characters are rather uninteresting, except for Jake Busey, who for the first time surprised me in his role as a paraplegic. Despite Burke's charm and Campbell's skill, "Lost Junction" doesn't really add up to much, and therefore, is aptly titled.
Way Out Film
whpratt15 July 2007
This film starts off with a red sports car driving down a country road and then you notice that this red sports car is pulled off the side of the road and the driver is using a hammer hitting everything under the hood. All of a sudden you see a blue Cadillac pull up next to the red car and a pretty young gal, Missy Lofton,(Neve Campbell) asks the driver, Jimmy McGee, (Billy Burke) if he needs a ride in her car and Jimmy agrees. Missy shows Jimmy the small town of Lost Junction and a mechanic who will tow and fix his car. Missy is a strange girl who wants to be treated like a lady and is very soft spoken and is too sweet to be wholesome and had some very deep dark secrets. Jimmy and Missy decided to take a trip to New Orleans and visited a disco club and danced together and even go to a very old New Orleans cemetery. You will never believe how this picture will end and I would never have been able to guess.
'Lost Junction' is well-paced and entertaining
Drychron Red17 February 2003
Although 'Lost Junction' is not going to win an Oscar, it's a very entertaining movie, which is the first gauge I always go by. The characters are very believable, although the character development does not go that deep. The main characters play well off of each other, and everything slowly escalates until the last act, where relationships are strained and it's anybody's guess how it will turn out. It's a unique romantic comedy as it does not go down the comedy road so far as to make the romance unbelievable. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's a light drama with some really funny parts to it. 'Lost Junction' is a great curl-up-on-the-couch and eat popcorn movie. It's editing is well-paced, and the cinematic style is interesting. The twist at the end has you going, but it too is believable.
LOST JUNCTION......I wish the DVD was lost so I would have never saw it!!
batpickle2 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is bad,bad,bad! I would write more spoilers but there isn't anything in this stinker to give away! Except for the director's surprise twist in the end of who the killer is, yep it is easy to have a twist when the killer is barely in the movie, I love Neve Cambell but the phony southern accent was bad. Jake Busey was horrible and Billy Burke was a complete dork in this nowhere southern tale of nothing! The back of the DVD box say's Neve has a "killer past" now that is misleading as heck! I watched the whole movie only to be completely disgusted in the ending and wondering how I could recover 90 minutes of my life! Don't rent it, don't buy it, don't ever talk about it!!
One of those pleasant little surprises
bmcdannell26 November 2004
Knowing nothing more about this movie than the blurb on the back, the wife and I decided to check it out. Many times when we've done this we've wound up with something that leaves us wondering what the folks who coughed up a couple of million to make a picture were drinking (or smoking). Not this time. Lost Junction is a little gem - thoroughly weird and truly entertaining - and a better movie by far than many of the big name/big budget movies we've seen lately. Infused throughout with an off-center take on reality, the film uses this skewed point of view to provide both poignant and humorous moments woven throughout a uniquely goofy storyline. When Jimmy hauls the bag out of the lake and the sheriff comments on its contents, we both started laughing so hard we were nearly in tears. His line will go down in our all-time movie favorites right alongside Marie Dressler's double take at Jean Harlow at the end of Dinner at Eight. But that's just us. If you're cruising the video store and having a hard time finding anything that looks interesting, by all means pick up this sleeper and enjoy!
Very Interesting
MelJJ12321 November 2004
I just spent 2 hours lost in Lost Junction... and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Excellent film. Best part was the very real chemistry between the two main characters. It's not so much an edge of your seat type of thriller, but more of a quirky southern mystery with charm, romance, and subtle humor. I'm not claiming that this is a life-altering movie or even a 10, but at times it's so bursting with honesty and emotion that you can definitely get lost in the moment. (Sure you have to suspend disbelief, but isn't that why we watch movies). Different is good. I had not heard of this film before finding it at the video store, which amazes/annoys me because it's a lot better than the majority of junk out nowadays. Take a chance and visit Lost Junction.
I defy you to know who the killer is before it is revealed to you
Dr_Coulardeau19 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
A very effective film in which the worst is always to come. An old greedy and dirty doctor takes advantage of a young girl raped by her father and provides her with an abortion, in fact a sterilization at the same time. The doc is killed. So what happens next; She moves the body to New Orleans to have him buried next to his wife or something. She is getting all her money out of the bank, what was on her personal savings bank account. She goes to New Orleans to get back to a boy friend of hers who does not respect her at all and takes advantage of her again. Along the way she meets with a young man who has a guilty feeling on his back that is so heavy that he can, hardly walk tall and straight. But he falls in love with her. And after a lot of small details he manages to go away with her practically freed by the sheriff himself. And we only learn who killed the peculiar doctor at the very end and it is a general surprise. How complicated simple things can become in the hands of complicated spirits, and police and justice are some of the most complicated spirits in this world.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Great acting. Simple story.
SILENCEikillyou10 March 2005
To me, this film shows how great acting talent can save an otherwise hum-drum plot and story. Not that the story, itself, was bad. It was just not anything enthralling. What I liked most was seeing Neve act as a Southern Belle. Billy Burke played well off of Neve's strong presence. And Jake Busey... well, he just stole that letter quarter of this movie. I'd watch this movie again, just because I think the trio did really well. Though, I have to admit: Even if Neve wasn't a very good actress, all she'd have to do is smile and I wouldn't even notice if she was terrible. However, I've asked many people -friends and strangers, alike- and we all seem to agree that she is VERY talented. So, for once, my bias is on the money.
She even helped assure that I wasn't totally disgusted with 'When Will I Be Loved'. That's a major feat!
She even helped assure that I wasn't totally disgusted with 'When Will I Be Loved'. That's a major feat!
Ohhh, SO worth it!
save_a_cowboy_ride_a_red22 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Honestly, I had some doubts when I looked at the cover, but once I put it in the DVD player, I fell in love with it. It's on my Christmas List! It got pretty funny when Jake Busey finally came in, about half-way through. He put so much humor into it, it was great.
I absolutely love it, even though the cover is pretty miss-leading.
MUST watch to appreciate! It can be a little confusing, so you have to pay attention a lot. Of course when your favorite actor (Busey) is in it, you HAVE to, and CAN'T help it! So, I wish you lots of luck with this. It's so funny!
Also, I thought the movie was very well put together, and the ending was a huge shock. It was very refreshing, and a great change to all the movies that are put together today. I mean, how many times have we seen the endings with everyone running off to paradise with each other? It's so old. This is a great ending.
I absolutely love it, even though the cover is pretty miss-leading.
MUST watch to appreciate! It can be a little confusing, so you have to pay attention a lot. Of course when your favorite actor (Busey) is in it, you HAVE to, and CAN'T help it! So, I wish you lots of luck with this. It's so funny!
Also, I thought the movie was very well put together, and the ending was a huge shock. It was very refreshing, and a great change to all the movies that are put together today. I mean, how many times have we seen the endings with everyone running off to paradise with each other? It's so old. This is a great ending.
I think u should see it...
juanmacass7 July 2013
Well, let's see... this movie is a little weird. I think it must not be judged from a logical and factual point of view. Movies are art... they are good if they make you feel or think what they intended to. And this movie made me feel Good! The film is about a man trying to escape his past and a strange and mysterious young woman of a small town. He meets her when his car breaks down on the road and the woman offers him help. The movie includes a supposed murder that don't get clear until the end. As the film progresses, events that led the young women to be as she is, are discovered. Drama, mystery and romance, presented with innocence... as if you were telling a story. Nice.
Most Boring movie I've seen in a long time
blackie-519 January 2005
I can usually find at least one thing to enjoy about a bad film, even if it's just the scenery or one actor's performance. Lost Junction, however, was one hundred percent lost on me and I'd like my $4 rental fee back. If I ever run into Neve Campbell or Peter Masterson, I'm going to ask that they repay me. I truly felt I had been watching this movie for at least an hour, and looked over at the clock to find I was only 23 minutes in! This is one of those films that's supposed to be about Southern Gothic, quirky characters in oh-so-disturbing, Southern Gothic scenarios. But it's anything but. This is one of those "Southern" tales where the Southern-ness is so pathetically imitated, the most "belle"-like thing Neve or the script can ever muster is to have Neve CONSTANTLY say to her leading man "Oh, Jimmy McGee!" (Because we all recognize a young, airheaded woman who likes to coo a man's FIRST AND LAST NAMES EACH AND EVERY TIME SHE SPEAKS TO HIM as "Southern"). The plot goes NOWHERE until the last 10 minutes(when it's way too late), bringing a throwaway character, a near-extra, into sudden plot relevance, taking away anything quirky or disturbing we've taken as truth about the 2 main characters for the last 90 minutes! An absolutely atrocious, unwatchable film. I refused to turn it off before it was over only because I'd paid that $4 (and I was determined to watch all of it, hoping it would improve), but BOY WAS IT AN ENDURANCE TEST!!!!!!!! Peter Masterson directed this, the same man responsible for the great "Trip to Bountiful." Hard to believe. Keep driving past this LOST JUNCTION!
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