On the Road With Judas

This is more of an experiment in filmmaking than a real film. Basically, it’s film about a book that’s being made into a film, explicated by means of an on-screen film/book/talk show etc. Layers of reflection and meta-levels of self-awareness pile up, but underneath it all, it’s basically a story about two guys who steal computers from college dorm rooms, the business they later run, and the beautiful woman who may or may not have stolen one of their hearts. Within On the Road With Judas, each character is in two roles—one the “actor” from, I assume, the film version of the book, and the other the “real” person whose life forms the basis for the story. (Actually, they’re all actors playing parts, so some of the parts are actors playing the parts of actors, and others are actors playing the parts of real people, who aren’t really real, but are characters in a book.) Some fine B-listers are cast here, including Kevin Corrigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Leo Fitzpatrick, and they’re all very decent, but the voiceover that ties it all together is peppered with pretentious bits that are clearly meant to be quotable. (“When you’re on the road, you’re never home.” Deep, dude.) There’s actually a pretty good criticism of the film within the film itself, when one of the characters tells the author that his work is glib and self-indulgent.