He Went That Way (2024)
Directed by Jeffrey Darling
Written by Evan M. Weiner
Starring Jacob Elordi, Zachary Quinto, Chimpanzee
Release Date January 5th, 2023
Published January 7th, 2023
He Went That Way is a deeply misguided movie. Despite a unique true story basis, the movie cannot figure out what it wants to be. Is it a thriller? Is it a road movie? Is it a thrilling road movie? It's deeply unclear and wildly strange but not in a very interesting way. The film stars of the moment star Jacob Elordi as a serial murderer and Zachary Quinto as the trainer of a world-famous chimpanzee named Spanky. No, I didn't make that up, that's the actual character dynamic. A road movie featuring a serial murderer, an animal trainer, and a chimpanzee. Ugh!
Jim Goodwin (Quinto) is slowly losing everything. His marriage is struggling, he and his chimpanzee, Spanky, have lost their television show, and now he's on the road and possibly having to beg someone who owes him money to finally pay him. With his vehicle breaking down, Jim stops at a gas station. There, he meets Bobby Falls (Jacob Elordi), a drifter thumbing a ride on Route 66. Jim offers to take him as far as Chicago, Jim's destination, and they hit the road.
On their first stop, a roadside motel, Bobby reveals that he's carrying a gun. He threatens Jim, steals his wallet and ring, and demands that Jim take him to Michigan where Bobby claims he has a girl waiting for him. In flashbacks following this scene, we see flashes of some of the murders Bobby has committed. He's murdered several people since coming back from, what we assume is Vietnam, though the movie isn't clear about this idea. The film actually opens with Bobby dumping a dead body out of a car, unrelated to anything to do with Jim and Spanky.
And from there, Jim spends several days trying to convince Bobby not to kill him and, perhaps return his wallet and pinky ring. Jim also has the tricky task of keeping Bobby from killing the people that they meet along their way, including a pair of teenage girls that Jim picks up for them by introducing them to Spanky the Chimp. This could work, I guess, as a story, if it were played as wildly absurd but Quinto and Elordi play these scenes completely straight and the direction is basic and adds nothing stylistically to underline how bizarre this story is.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media
