Main Cast: Don McKellar, Valerie Buhagiar, Earl Pastko, Jello Biafra
Release Year: 1991
Country: UK/US/CA
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Highway 61 is an offbeat, comedic road movie about a small-town Canadian barber (Don McKellar) who finds a dead body. When a woman claiming to be the corpse's roadie sister (Valerie Buhagiar), arrives in town, he agrees to drive her and the body from Ontario to New Orleans, following Highway 61 over the entire journey. Along the way, they meet several odd characters. Though the story is poorly-paced, it has enough off-center humor and the performances are engaging enough to make it worthwhile. Rockers Jello Biafra and Tav Falco make cameos. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Johnny Askwith - Claude; Charlie Azzopardi - 2nd Rock Band Member; Art Bergmann - Otto; Peter Breck - Mr. Watson; Ellen Carlisle - Mother; Kevin Carlisle - 1st Rock Band Member; E.G. Daniels - Motel Vegetarian; Alma Doyle - Bingo Angry Woman; Chantal Ettles - Missie Watson; Tav Falco - Motorcycle Gang Leader; Steve Fall - Jeffrey-the Corpse; Ray Gabourie - Bingo Caller; Caroline Gillis - Bingo Attendant; Clarence Haynes - Motel Meat Eater; Namir Khan - Funeral Director; Jimmy Lynch - 3rd Rock Band Member; Peter Lynch - Angry Bingo Man; Hadley Obodiac - 2nd Customs Agent; Jay Pattison - Bus Driver; Elizabeth Pritchard - Louise Watson; Brooks Rapley - Mother's Little Helper; Willie Selkirk - Motel Clerk; Lad Shaga - Gun Dealer; Ann Shipman - Pickerel Falls Reporter; Ken Sinclair - 4th Rock Band Member; Dog: Sweety - Iggy Pup; Robert Theodore - Rock Band Manager; Michael Vendruscolo - Pickerel Falls Photographer; Jimmy Watson - Highway Panhandler; Alithea Watters - Minnie Watson; Tracy Wright - Margo; David McFarlane - Satan's Neighbor; Larry Hudson - Nathan-the Manservant
Credit
Ian Brock - Art Director, Bruce McDonald - Director, Michael Pacek - Editor, Nash the Slash - Composer (Music Score), Miroslaw Baszak - Cinematographer, Colin Brunton - Producer, Bruce McDonald - Producer, Allan Magee - Screen Story, Bruce McDonald - Screenwriter, Don McKellar - Screenwriter
The film stars Don McKellar as Pokey Jones, an orphaned barber in a small town near Thunder Bay, Ontario who dreams of becoming a jazz musician. One morning, Jones discovers a frozen corpse (Steve Fall) in his backyard, and soon meets Jackie Bangs (Valerie Buhagiar), a tough and mysterious roadie who claims the dead man is her brother.
Jackie's real intention is to use the body, a vagrant unknown to anyone in town, to smuggle stolen drugs into the United States. She convinces Pokey to use his parents' car, which hasn't been driven in decades, to drive her to New Orleans to bury her brother. So Jackie and Pokey set out along Highway 61, coffin strapped to the top of the car, and follow Bob Dylan's famous U.S. Highway 61 south through the heart of the United States. They're pursued by Mr. Skin (Earl Pastko), who believes he's Satan and wants to claim the body because the dead man sold Mr. Skin his soul.
Peter Breck is fourth-billed as Mr. Watson, the "stage-mom" father of three girls: Mississippi (Missy), Minnesota (Minnie) and Louisiana (Louise). The film also includes cameo appearances by Tav Falco, Jello Biafra, and Art Bergmann.
