The Road to Wellville1994
The Road to Wellville (1994)
The Road to Wellville Photos
Movie Info
Cast
as Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
as Eleanor Lightbody
as Will Lightbody
as Charles Ossining
as George Kellogg
as Goodloe Bender
as Dr. Lionel Badger
as Endymion Hart-Jones
as Ida Muntz
as Nurse Irene Graves
as Virginia Cranehill
as Poultney Dab
as Dr. Spitzvogel
as Mrs. Tindermarsh
as Young George Kellogg
as Dr. Frank Linniman
as Bartholomew Bookbinder
as Mr. Unpronounceable
as Mrs. Hookstratten
as Desk Clerk
as Ernest O'Reilly
as Hannah
as Reporter
as Mrs. Kellogg
as Nurse Bloethal
as Ralph
as Woodbine
as Laughing Lady
as Pianist
as 1st Reporter
as 2nd Reporter
as 3rd Reporter
as Laughing Instructor
as Waiter on Train
as Woman on Train
as Bellman
as Mr. Abernathy
as Mrs. Portois
as Bartender
as 1st Waitress
as 2nd Waitress
as Breathing Instructor
as Nurse
as San Guest
as Bath Attendant
as Fox Fur Man
as Fox Fur Woman
as Process Server
as Miss Jarvis
as Doorman
as Farrington
Critic Reviews for The Road to Wellville
All Critics (17) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (10) | DVD (4)
Painful.
Much maligned Alan Parker comedy that looks better all the time
Even a stellar cast can't save this meandering farce from a script that needs a high colonic.
Off-putting at first, this self-consciously scatological comedy does grow on one.
One hilarious organic metaphor after another
Audience Reviews for The Road to Wellville
Quirky comedy that suggests that most health fads are based, at root, on a desire for more sex, and further that most "professionals" in that game are willingly consenting. Except for the leader, here played with anal retentive glee by Anthony Hopkins, buck toothed, insistent on colonics for everyone, and strangely matched against Dana Carvey as his unhappy, rebellious, recaltrant adopted son. The star though is hapless Matthew Broderick as the outsider with whom we are introduced to the misguided cult and its adherents. John Cusack is in here too, though I'm unclear as to just why. It's kinda fun, but no more.
Super Reviewer
Another extravagantly underrated film, Funny & fun, A wonderful satire & a pretty good comedy with great perfs, I still feel that I've rated it a bit low, Don't miss this movie
Super Reviewer
I can't believe some of the reviews I've read on this site about The Road to Wellville. Some people complain that it was crude and disgusting, others complain that it didn't have a coherent plot, and still others whine that it wasn't historically accurate (concerning Dr. Kellogg's methods). Those reviewers clearly missed the boat. As for those who thought the movie was crude and disgusting, what did you expect from a comedy set in a turn-of-the-century health sanitorium run by a well meaning but eccentric doctor? Such a movie is bound to contain scenes of patients vomiting, getting enemas, and having a sexual tryst or two, just as undoubtedly occurred in many health sanitoriums at that time. Furthermore, none of those scenes were graphic, so I don't understand anybody being offended by them. As for complaints that the movie didn't have a coherent plot, it didn't need one. It was a comedy, not a drama! The health sanitorium setting was a perfect vehicle for satirizing turn-of-the-century attitudes about health, and it was the dialogue and comedic situations that held the movie together and kept it moving, not its plot. Finally, for those who complain that the movie wasn't historically accurate about Dr. Kellogg's actual methods (such as his character's use of electric-powered machines for health therapy), the movie was a comedy, not a biography! It was meant to elicit laughs, and in that respect it was a smashing success. I haven't laughed so much during a movie in a long time. Some people should take Sargeant Hulka's ("Stripes") advice and "lighten up." Good comedy is not dependent on plot or historical accuracy to be entertaining; all that matters is that it's funny, and Wellville was one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen.
Super Reviewer
The Road to Wellville Quotes
| Dr. John Harvey Kellogg: | An erection is a flagpole on one's grave. |
| Charles Ossinging: | Health! The open seseme to the sucker's purse. |
| Goodloe Bender: | Health! The open seseme to the sucker's purse. |