In Rain Man, Tom Cruise rediscovers his brother Dustin Hoffman and the road trip they take in the film provides an opportunity for them to build a relationship. For Cruise, Hoffman initially proves something of a challenge due to his autism, but over the length of the film he manages to appreciate his brother.
Almost Famous focuses on a different type of family, namely that of a band and its followers, all of them on the road from gig to gig, building or destroying relationships along the way. It’s a semi- autobiographical film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Kate Hudson, both particularly praised by critics.
Thelma and Louise was nominated for six Academy Awards (and won for Best Original Screenplay) and is rightly recognised as a classic. Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in the title roles, exploring their relationship while exposing social injustices as they travel across America.
Less road trip and more road trippy is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro travel to Vegas to write about a motorcycle race for a magazine under the influence of a great many drugs. Terry Gilliam directs their wild antics in this adaptation of Hunter S Thompson’s critically acclaimed novel.
Talking of drugs and motorcycles, Easy Rider is a classic counter-culture film about two bikers, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, and later Jack Nicholson, cruising the American South West on the proceeds of a recent drug deal. The film is also well known for its striking soundtrack, which almost tripled the budget due to the required licensing!
For something more daft, there’s Dumb and Dumber. In this film, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels travel across the country to return a briefcase of money, but as they are the Dumb and Dumber of the title, the road trip isn’t without a few mishaps on the way. A sequel and prequel followed, as well as an animated series.
If you want some laughs on your road trip, well then there are plenty of films to choose from. Such as the aptly titled, Road Trip. An ensemble cast cross America to recover an incriminating video tape before it falls into the wrong hands, suffering various mishaps on the way. It’s a film with an American Pie flavour, and even stars one of the same actors, Seann William Scott.
From road trip to road strip, we have Magic Mike XXL. This sequel sees the Magic Mike strippers reuniting years after the first film to drive to a stripping convention for one last ‘pec’tacular show. Channing Tatum and his abs star alongside much of the returning cast for a journey that is as much metaphor for self-discovery and development as it is about the destination.
For a different kind of sequel, try the high-octane adrenaline-fuelled Mad Max: Fury Road. The road trip without a road, this is a desperate action-packed race for survival, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron fleeing across the desert wasteland of Australia in an armoured semi. Pursued by the War Boys gang, there are chases and explosions aplenty, making this film an absolute blast.
Finally, there are even a few road trip films that might make you feel better about staying indoors. Spielberg’s classic from the 70s, Duel, for example. Adapted by Richard Matheson from his own short story, in tells the story of one man chased across the Mojave Desert by a murderous trucker. Less of a spectacle than Mad Max, but far more sinister, it also inspired the modern road trip horror Roadkill, starring Paul Walker of The Fast and the Furious franchise. And then there’s The Hitcher, a tense road trip thriller that redefines stranger danger; Rutger Hauer stars as a homicidal hitchhiker picked up by Christopher Howell and he wreaks havoc up and down the highways of America. He doesn’t even chip in for petrol money.
So there you have it, a selection of films to let you take a road trip without leaving the safety of your own home. Some are fun, some are frightening, and all of them are available to stream now on either Netflix or Prime Video.