United States

Ever since John Schlesinger made his international reputation with Darling he has been one of the British directors most courted by the Hollywood studios; and with Midnight Cowboy in 1969 he became one of the handful of British directors to carry off Oscars for both Best Film and Best Direction. Returning to the American scene, Honky Tonk Freeway is a worthy companion to the earlier film, for where that caught the glitter, excitement, disillusion and sometime bitterness of Manhattan, this is a marvellous reflection of the rural United States - exuberant, bustling, friendly, loquacious. As the title-song says, Honky Tonk Freeway is "America on wheels" and most of the characters are making their way, though they don't know it, to the small town of Ticlaw in Florida. The trouble with Ticlaw is that the new motorway is to bypass it, and its inhabitants, led by the inventive Mr Calo (William Devane), mayor, minister and chief hotelier, do not want to lose the benefits of tourism. When bribery fails, they resort to more desperate means, till eventually arriving in Ticlaw are the oddballs and others whose exploits we have been following en route: an unhappily married Chicagoan (Beau Bridges) who falls in love with a light lady (Beverly d'Angelo) who has exhausted the men in Paducah, Idaho; a retired ad-man (Hume Cronyn) and the Old Fashioned-downing wife (Jessica Tandy); two nuns, the young one (Deborah Rush) already doubting her vocation; and two hopeless bank-robbers (George Dzundza, Joe Grifasi). They are all, like the citizens of Ticlaw, corruptible to a man, and though the writer, Edward Clinton, is an American, the film's satiric view of the good old U.S. of A. did not please a number of reviewers. But, as with Midnight Cowboy Schlesinger's direction is as accomplished as it is affectionate; and of the species "road" or "runaround" comedies there have been few as sharp and as funny. DAVID SHIPMAN