Down the Road Again (2011) Poster

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8/10
Worth Going' Down this Road Again
sheena195920 December 2011
I liked this movie. I enjoyed seeing some of the original cast members continue the story of the original film. A simple, if somewhat Dickensian story line, with a made in Canada feel. I think some part of me hoped for the look and feel of the original, i.e. low budget, grainy, gritty story. But probably not realistic to assume the director would try to capture the feel of the original, technology has changed too much. Loved seeing the same actors gather to finish the story they started so many years ago--though the time-lines seem a bit off if the original was 40-odd years ago wouldn't the "young" actors be playing people in their 40s?

We Canadians need to tell ourselves our stories. This is a good one and worth seeing with the original. More Don Shebib please, more of his DVD's, more main stream Canadian cinema.
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A great Sequel to a Canadian Masterpiece
gilbertcollins71 November 2011
I can't understand why more of Donald Shebibs' movies are not readily available on DVD. I saw this one today and had to drive all the way to the Kanata Cinemas to see it. Disgraceful, that a film like this doesn't get better distribution.

This is a great sequel to a Canadian Classic. Often sequels just don't come up to the mark, but this one has got a great story and nearly all of the cast from the first film reprise their roles.

I'm very glad that this film was made. Too bad most Canadians will never see it nor even hear of it.

I'm disgusted with the way Canadian films are (non) distributed in this country.

If you can appreciate the original then you will love this film. If you didn't like the original then there is little point in seeing this one.
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10/10
Like Meeting Up With Old Friends 40 Years Later
gooelf5019 December 2013
Such a wonderful movie. I saw "Goin' Down the Road" decades ago and it made a big impression on me. I was a young man, about the same age as "Pete" and "Joey", when I first saw it. At first I thought it was a documentary as it was filmed in black and white and seemed totally unrehearsed. All these years after the fact, I can still recall the huge influx of young men from the East coast, into Ontario, during the 1960s. Most of them were fine fellows, who worked hard and loved to party. Some of them quickly became disillusioned with Ontario and moved restlessly on to the next promised land, the West Coast. Others remained in Ontario, put down roots, raised families and lived out their lives here. The rest simply didn't acclimate to the huge difference between life in Ontario and life in the Maritimes and eventually, returned to the East coast, disappointed, but happy that they gave it a try. I never failed to watch the original movie when I came across it, often in the wee hours of the morning. Invariably, I enjoyed the story immensely, but I was always left wondering what happened to the two restless young men who were so skillfully played by Doug McGrath and the late Paul Bradley. I was delighted when I stumbled across "Down the Road Again" while I was channel hopping a few months ago. I had no idea that a follow up to the original movie had been made. I found "Goin Down the Road" originally while I was channel hopping, so my discovery of the sequel, in exactly the same way, forty years later, was very appropriate. I enjoyed the sequel so much that I tried to find an email address for Doug McGrath, just so I could send him a short note to tell him what a great job he and the rest of the cast did and how much I loved both movies. I always felt a vague sense of sadness when I saw the two young men leaving Toronto and heading West at the end of the first movie. Happily, this final instalment answered most of the questions that were raised in the first movie. As I watched it, I felt like I was meeting up with some old friends from my distant youth and finding out how their lives had turned out.
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10/10
A retired Vancouver 'postie' heads back east to do a last favor for an old friend.
dale-northcote4 December 2012
I loved this charming, quintessentially Canadian movie. I haven't yet seen the first one but am definitely planning on it now. I loved Betty, with her hard boiled edge, hanging up on Pete and closing the door in his face. Pete's humble, patient attitude prevailed despite the successive plot twists and perhaps helped me to believe the unbelievable.

Some cynics might dismiss this movie as being too poignant but they're making a mistake because it shows how easy acceptance and forgiveness can be. This movie deserves a lot more recognition. I hope that over the years, it will become a classic must see for Canadians.
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10/10
An enrichment to the original story
yrussell2 July 2020
I'm so glad that this film was made. This was a beautiful way to revisit the original story. So often, our mistakes in life are left unresolved, our broken relationships stay broken, and our old wounds are still sensitive when touched upon. Too easily, we turn away and refuse to visit the past. Pete would never have made that trip back east, if it weren't for Joey's death. Yet, he did, because of his loyalty to his lifelong friend. The sequel gives us new information which adds much for understanding the motivations of Pete and Joey in the original story. This movie illustrates, how, when you take a risk and revisit your past, it could lead to a new beginning. Wonderful performances from the actors in this film, old and young, make this not only an affectionate homage to the original film, but a meditation on the passage of time, on facing one's past, reinterpreting it, renewing old relationships, and making new ones.
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Worth while - a must see
derek-white23 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A seamless effort delivered in this film from both Doug McGrath & Kathleen Roberts and notably humorous moments from Jayne Eastwood make this heart-warming film the memorable sequel 40 years in the making we had all hoped it would be.

While Canadian film does not always receive the publicity it sometimes deserves, seeing Going Down the Road Again on the big screen leaves little doubt it earned its place amongst the bigger players as the seasoned yet relatively unknown cast hold their own amongst the more recognizable names in show business.

A proud achievement in Canadian film.
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10/10
I find part 2 very enjoyable.
bluechevy-423203 April 2023
I am from Oshawa and find it interesting when she wants to go with Pete to Nova Scotia she says she needs a ride to Oshawa and then tells him it was a ruse and would not go to Oshawa if you paid her. I had meant Joey and Pete in a pub in bloor and yonge (moishe tavern Haden street) in 1971 area and beat them in a game of table shuffleboard. Pete like the movie did not like to lose and threw a beer glass at me. It missed me and was funny.

I deserved it since I was a bad winner as well and rubbed it in.

I moved to Oshawa in 1988 so that reference to Oshawa was also funny.

I really enjoyed the movie and it was hard to get but found it thru Amazon.
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Finally found it
MrOvletine11 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Finally found this movie by chance in a set with both the original and the new movie. I've wanting to see this since I found out about it. You've really got to see the first movie to appreciate what is going on the sequel I think, but it could be a stand alone film. It's fun to see the cast reunited after 40 years with some new additions. It ties a lot in from what happened in the first movie and why things happened the way they did. Pete is now a much more humble and thoughtful person than the brash young guy he was in the first film. Jayne Eastwood and Cale Chernin are great in reprising their roles as Betty and Selina. Who would have thought they would be called on for the same roles so many years later. I really liked Kathleen Robertson as Betty-Jo, the somewhat cynical daughter of Joey, who even as an adult feels resentment for having not known her father. She does a great job in this movie. This is a very Canadian experience to watch this. You pretty much have to be Canadian to understand a lot of what parts of this film really means. Great effort.
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