The Road Within Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Road Within Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 7, 2015

The Road Within is a patently odd road trip film that attempts to play Tourrette’s Syndrome, along with obsessive compulsive disorder, and (just for good measure) anorexia at least partially for laughs. I’ve actually known a couple of people with Tourrette’s Syndrome, and while it’s no laughing matter, there is a certain humor to the uncontrollable verbal tics the syndrome can elicit, especially for those prone toward obscenities. While that’s certainly the case with The Road Within’s Vincent (Alex Sheehan), it bears mentioning that Vincent is (as they say) heavily involved, symptom wise, something that many Tourrette’s sufferers don’t experience. Vincent’s mom has just died, and the kid’s heightened emotional state leads to several unfortunate outbursts at her funeral. Vincent’s father Robert (Robert Patrick) ships Vincent off to a high falutin’ “experimental treatment” facility where Vincent meets kindly Doctor Rose (Kyra Sedgwick). Rose has Vincent room with OCD afflicted Alex (Dev Patel), yet another heavily involved kid who flies into a panic if his routine is altered. Suffice it to say Vincent’s arrival alters Alex’s routine. The third character is fellow “inmate” Marie (Zoë Kravitz), a wisecracking chick who has an eating disorder.

A completely ludicrous set of plot machinations plops these three kids down in the good doctor’s car on a road trip whereby Vincent hopes to spread his mother’s ashes at an almost semi-mythical California location. The kids actually have no real clue where they’re going, and soon enough Robert and Dr. Rose are in semi-hot pursuit (a subplot has Robert running for office, making his urge to get his kid under control all the stronger). The Road Within never wanders much off the well beaten path of outcasts learning to forge new relationships and (no surprise here) deal with their infirmities as they go along. Add in a bit of family reconciliation and the stage is set for an emotionally cathartic journey. While performances are good (if too hyperbolic at times, as necessitated by an overly fussy screenplay), the film’s predicability is its chief detriment. For all the supposed whimsy inherent in this ragtag group of kids, this is one road trip where many viewers are going to be saying “been there, seen that.”

The Road Within Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Road Within is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While this is a solid and often quite scenic presentation, contrast and brightness seem boosted in several scenes (notably interiors), adding a kind of milky haze to the proceedings that tends to defeat fine detail. A lot of the film takes place in rather bright exterior locales, and those moments pop with very good clarity and depth of field. Close-ups offer excellent fine detail. There are a couple of very brief moments of banding in some segues between different lighting environments, but otherwise this is a problem free presentation.

The Road Within Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Road Within features a serviceable if somewhat unambitious lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one which tends to offer some of its best immersion via its source cues and underscore. Dialogue is always presented very cleanly and some of the exterior scenes offer excellent ambient environmental effects realistically placed around the soundstage.

The Road Within Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews (1080p; 16:47) include Robert Sheehan, Zoe Kravitz, Dev Patel and director/writer Gren Wells.


• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 13:03)


• Music Video "Get It Right" by Oh Honey (1080p; 4:16)


• Trailer (1080p; 1:55)

The Road Within Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Road Within is one of those films that is right on the cusp of being offensive, something that's offset by a winning cast if not by some of the too exaggerated elements woven into Gren Wells' screenplay. What is most surprising about this film is not in fact its "odd triple" at its core, but instead how resolutely predictable everything turns out to be. For those not minding a trip down a road seen far too frequently before, The Road Within offers some slight pleasures along the way and comes Recommended.