Backseat (2005)

8% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(190 ratings)

Director Bruce van Dusen takes the helm for this late bloomer coming-of-age story about two lifelong friends from New York City who embark on a three-day road tip to Montreal in hopes of meeting their favorite actor: Donald Sutherland. But this hapless duo hasn't left their problems behind just yet,… More Director Bruce van Dusen takes the helm for this late bloomer coming-of-age story about two lifelong friends from New York City who embark on a three-day road tip to Montreal in hopes of meeting their favorite actor: Donald Sutherland. But this hapless duo hasn't left their problems behind just yet, because in order to achieve their lofty goal, these two pals will have to get a large cache of drugs to its intended drop spot in time, and contend with an eccentric keyboard clacker who only communicates via instant messaging. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.
Directed By: Bruce Van Dusen
Genres: Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 20, 2005 Wide
Studio: Truly Indie

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
A road movie that runs out of gas almost immediately after it gets started, Backseat is the sort of quirky indie feature that impresses at festivals but feels wan when experienced under real cinematic conditions.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Culturally falling somewhere between Sideways and Dumb and Dumber, this low-rent road movie similarly rides on principles of audience identification, largely minus competent helming, thesping or scripting.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Sporadically funny, micro-budgeted indie comedy.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
The flailing, protagonists of Backseat, while not exactly 40-year-old virgins, can have avoided that fate only by the tender mercies of women with low expectations.
Jim Ridley, Village Voice
Bruce Van Dusen's 2005 comedy plots a meandering course due north without locating a word of truth.
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
Once in a while, a movie inspires nothing more than complete apathy. Backseat is such a lackluster work.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Backseat satisfies itself with small observations and minor breakthroughs of self-awareness.
Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
Alexander's script considers context anathema, leaving us to wonder, among other puzzlers, why these two jerks are friends to begin with - and, perhaps, on what bad breakup or neglected childhood one may blame the film's dispiriting misanthropy.
Chad Greene, Boxoffice Magazine
To be sure, slapstick misadventures ensue, but there's a sweetness and vulnerability beneath the surface of the boys' sometimes-blue bantering.
Noel Murray, AV Club
Anyone who's spent a lot of time at independent-film festivals will feel a familiar sinking feeling within the first 10 minutes of Backseat.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Just a series of character skits, some charming and others tedious.
David Fear, Time Out New York
The list of transgressions in Bruce Van Dusen's stalled road-trip flick is miles long: dialogue chocked with bumper-sticker platitudes, self-consciously quirky characters, gratuitous gunplay and a soundtrack top-heavy with achingly bad dorm-rock.