A Movie that Betrays Us All

 Easy Rider 2 – The Ride Home (2012) – A look at the family of the legendary Wyatt Williams, “Captain America” from “Easy Rider”.  His brothers, father and sister try to find a way through their shared memories, anger and hurt.

Directed by Dustin Rikert                Starring- Chris Engen, Sheree J. Wilson, Jeff Fahey

Why I Liked It – Yeah, about that…

Don’t ask. I don’t know.

Let me get this out of the way first. If you love the original “Easy Rider”, do not watch this movie.  This sequel in name only is a cinematic grave robbery that you will hate.  If you like well-made movies that do at least a decent job of it, don’t watch this movie.  If you want to see a great premise tortured and ruined, the perfect example of potential wasted, dive right in.

The original “Easy Rider” from 1969 is a movie with flaws, but even those flaws helped to raise it to iconic stature.  It was innovative in its use of contemporary music as the soundtrack.  The movie offered an unblinking look into the counterculture of the 1960s that included how those dreams could and would crash and burn.  Even the production was counterculture in nature.  Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper worked from a partial script, hiring crew members from nearby hippy communities, and extras from the small towns where they filmed.  Along the way, it incorporated bits of classic movie tropes, like the buddy film and the road trip.  There is genius nestled inside the original.

There is crass opportunism at the heart of this sequel.  A terrible script and awful acting stand at the pinnacle of this garbage.  That second attribute is surprising because the cast includes some folks with actual acting experience.  None to be mentioned in the same breath as the greats of this generation, but professionals who should be able to deliver a line believably. It might have helped to have lines that were believable.  They have to struggle though some lumbering, awkward dialogue for 90 minutes plus.  There is still no excuse for the abysmal performances here.

All of it in service to a story line that betrays everything about its inspiration.  Jerking back and forth from the early 2000s “present” to World War II and the war in Viet Nam, the story is a bit of a jumble.  While Wyatt’s name gets tossed around with regularity, the movie isn’t about him. This is about his two younger brothers, younger sister, Shane, and their PTSD ravaged, bitter father. Younger brother Morgan is the hippie, while favorite son Virgil goes off to war. I lost track of what happened to whom after a while.  And yes, they are all named for the Earp brothers of western legend.  Why not?  Their father is Hickcock “Wild Bill” Williams.  No reason ever given.  It all makes no sense.  I won’t bore you with the rest of this story, in large part because so little of it sticks in my mind.  Be prepared for characters that appear, only to disappear after a minute or two.  This includes the Salton Sea, at one point! Plus, whenever the staggering nature of the storytelling spins out of control, a few nearly naked/naked young women will appear on the screen.

I will give the movie two positive notices.  The camera work results in some gorgeous shots, and the movie soundtrack is easy on the ears.

“Easy Rider 2 – The Ride Home” betrays its source material, the audience, and the movie making process itself. There is nothing else to say. 

Rating – ** Not Impressed.