Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Good morning and welcome back to another episode of movie deputy reviews, where we are coming off of a great week. We talked about kung fu panda one, two, three and four. So if you happen to miss those, be sure to go back and check out our other episodes this week to be sure and get those in. Today I am jumping right in with one of the new movies that's opening this weekend. Now, mind you, this weekend is not going to be, it's nothing like super spectacular. I mean, as in like the big, the big Hollywood hype, a list movies and things like that. I mean, these are kind of some like lower end a list, higher level b list type films, but there's still a lot of promise. I mean, there's a lot of buzz about some of these movies and such like that. And I am excited that I actually got to see both of these actually last night. I love when I get, like, early access to some of the movies. So if you are very familiar with these at all and you want to come check these out, they are likely playing at a local film, local place near you, quick Google search or even Fandango or if you've got Marcus theaters, AMC theaters, Cinemark Cineplex, regal, whatever is in your area. So I just kind of a little bit all over the place. And the one that we're going to be starting off with today, and we're going to be talking about this one, this one's based on a true story. And I don't mean to be kind of stumbling over my words a little bit like that, but this one, it's been getting a lot of praise from both viewers and critics. And I am going to kind of go in a little bit different direction than the typical reviews. Well, don't, I, there's nothing about me that's normal. I, I'm weird. I stand out. And you know what? I'm proud crowd of, of that. And sometimes it leads me going into a spiral, and sometimes that spiral goes up and sometimes it goes down. It's kind of a little bit all over the place. And yes, I know I'm a little bit high energy. I've already had way too much caffeine this morning or last night or, yeah, I have, I haven't slept much, so can you tell?
[00:02:22] But yeah, today is going to be busy. I've got a lot of stuff going on today with both deputy and in my life as well. So I'm not going to bore you with all the details of all of that stuff. But if you are looking for something that is kind of an inspirational movie, but you don't mind, like, strong language, a lot of references to things, to very sensitive subjects and things like that. Then this, oh, let's just say, let's get, let's get through the review first. Now, I, the movie I'm going to be talking about is called hard Miles. If you have not heard of it, it is.
[00:03:03] It's based on a true story of a, it's not like a rehab center, but it's like a youth detention center, but it's not where they are, like in jail or anything like that. But they're like work through. And so they're basically going to school and they have to follow very strict rules and stuff. But if they screw up here, basically they go off to a youth penitentiary. And so it's kind of a punishment, but it's not a pun.
[00:03:31] It's basically in house probation kind of thing, if you can kind of imagine that. And in this one, all of the ones that they're dealing with are teenagers. And you've got teenagers that are in there for drug offenses and for violence and for assault, murder.
[00:03:48] I don't know. Okay. I take that back. I don't think, I think one of them was talking about murder, but again, they're not in there actually for murder. So my apologies on that. But it's just a lot of people dealing with a lot of different things. And there's one of them that's dealing with an eating disorder, and there's just a lot of stuff going on, and there's a lot of tension. I mean, there's regular, like, full blown out fights and just think of, like, inner hood. Think of just, like, the kids that are past the point of being at risk for gang type behavior. And the people that have gone past the at risk part to where they're actually involved in all of this stuff. And, of course, the teachers and the directors here and this athletic director that is here, his name is Greg Townsend, and he's just, he has his life.
[00:04:46] He knows what he wants in life. And he's also able to relate with these kids because he grew up in a very, very unhealthy environment and a very, very, just a lot of everything going on. And so there's actually multiple stories going on here. You've got the story with all these kids, and then you've got the story where Greg and his brother Doug, and his Doug is also in lock, is in prison, and they're dealing with somebody close to them that's in hospice. And so you've got that storyline going on. You've got the stuff that's a school, you've got that story going on. You've got the school threatening of being shut down. So that's also going on and happening.
[00:05:30] And then some of the kids that are in this situation have been planning basically a field trip, a camping trip. And so they're kind of trying to sell it as hoods in the woods, which kind of thing. It's catchy, but it's just a little. It's a little cheesy. And because of something that happens to one of the people that's supposed to take them on this trip, things end up just getting totally upset in Greg's life because Greg, he's an avid biker. It's kind of like the main storyline of this whole thing is his passion with biking. And he had put in for his vacation time ten months in advance, and he had this all set out that he was going to do the Tour de grande, and it was a thing across three states from where they're at, all the way to the Grand Canyon National park in Arizona, which is 762 miles. So when all of this falls on him, that he's now got to do the camping trip, and he's like, no, I'm not giving up my camping trip. So he ends up working with the people at the school and with his community and with things like that. And don't worry, I'm not giving away any spoilers. You can figure this stuff out even from the trailers. But with, obviously, I'm giving a lot more detail. But again, no spoilers at all. But so he's. Greg is able to figure out how to make all of this work to get these kids to want to bike with him all the way to the Grand Canyon. And I'm not gonna go into the details on how that happens because that would kind of be spoilers. But so they embark on this trip, and you've got, like, gang members, you've got a kid with an eating disorder. I mean, it's just absolute chaos right from the get go. And there's strong language and there's violence and there's references to things that are just.
[00:07:23] This movie is not for ones, for younger audiences at all, and it's not for those sensitive to certain subjects. And it talks about drug use and drinking, and they're talking about. And I mean, you even see, like, underage drinking and underage drug use, and you see all this happening, and it's just morally, it's just really kind of. It's not just riding that line, it's crossing it in many places.
[00:07:52] But along the way, it's like these kids, all they want to do is give up. They don't want to do this. They don't want to be riding bikes 762 miles. But along the way, there's so much of this story that comes out, and that is happening with this. And like I said, the story also deals with Greg and his brother Doug, and somebody close to them being in hospice. So that's also going on. So he's happy to deal with that.
[00:08:18] Like I said, all these stories are all intertwined, and it's.
[00:08:24] It's not quite the whole feel good Hallmark movie type thing. It doesn't necessarily have the quote unquote happy endings that you'd expect with a lot of movies. Don't worry, I'm not spoiling for that either. But it's not. It's not the ending that you would expect.
[00:08:40] Just.
[00:08:42] Sorry, I'm just trying to find the words for this. And you know me, I don't over edit my shows. You just, you kind of get my whole thought process on this.
[00:08:51] But along the way, these kids not only learn about determination and just the whole sticking with thing, and that the biggest thing that he's trying to get into these kids heads is that, you know, what overcomes hard luck, hard work. And that is just something that these kids have never really dealt with. And I'm saying kids, I mean, they're teenagers. They're borderline adults. And so all of this is happening. But above everything, with all of this, for me personally, there was something in this movie that just, it just kept bugging me. And Greg, he deals with some health issues, and he still loves to do his cycling and everything. And it's just no matter what you deal with in life, you can. You can push through and you can get better. But tarot, please stop. Sorry. I'm actually in my office without the boys, and now he's trying to. But Taro likes to open the door. I'm in here. And if he doesn't get the right grip on it, he had to pull through the door handle and go.
[00:09:48] Makes a bunch of noise. So. But I'm not trying to get off track, but there, there are things in life that you can't overcome with hard work. And being somebody who is disabled, I can't overcome my disability with hard work.
[00:10:03] I'm a chronic pain patient. And no, it's like, I'm not. I don't do the whole marijuana thing and all that it's like, you know, if you want to do it. I don't. That's a whole other story. But I'm a chronic pain patient, and I can't push through my pain. I can't get better by working hard. I mean, there. And he's dealing with some of this, and he believes, and he's pushing through, and he's just trying to be that, okay, I can do this, this and this, and I can just push through it. No, you don't. You can't. There are things in life that you cannot just push through with hard work, that you can't just put your nose to the grindstone and work your way through it. Okay? You can work around it. There's ways to. You can always find workarounds and somehow in life to work around things that are in your way and things that slow you down and things that stop you outright at times.
[00:10:57] But this movie just tries to almost downplay all of that because you can overcome anything as the thing in the movie. And, okay, yes, that sounds like a great message, but it's not. It's not the one that you might think in all of this. And you may be wondering, okay, why is she going into all of this detail about her own life? Okay, it's just. It's how I relate with this movie. And there were two other people in this movie at the same time I saw this, and it's just they.
[00:11:29] I don't know, they were just kind of almost having this same type of debate between themselves. Like one of their. Somebody close to them was an alcoholic, and so one of them was like, okay, yeah, they can overcome anything. And the other one was like, no, they can't. I mean, this is. There's just. It's a never ending cycle of stories that you can do with stuff like this. But the movie just tries to say, yeah, you can do anything. Just keep doing this. And, yes, we are capable of anything if we put our mind to it. We may have to do things differently. But it's not just about doing one thing to get through something.
[00:12:06] And this movie, yes, it's based on a true story. And like I said, it's just not gonna be what you expect. It's like you read what some of the other critics and stuff have written on this, and they're all like, oh, it's such an inspirational. It's such this. It's such that. No, I mean, this movie is downright depressing at times.
[00:12:30] I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you. This one is it's not for everybody. And it's so polarizing just because it takes such a strong stance on this. And when it's all said and done and when the credits start rolling, it shows you pictures of the people that are actually doing this stuff. And it shows you the pictures of the people that this movie was based on. And it tells a little bit of the story right at the very end. It shares a little bit of the actual story.
[00:13:02] And like I said, there's inspiration to find in this, but you've got to dig a lot harder than just what the story represents. So you might be wondering, okay, what did you give this as a score? Because it's like, okay, I probably sound like I'm all over the place, but I'm really not. Because that this is just so. Just kind of all over the place. And the fact that it's dealing with so many different topics instead of just focusing on the one and it's dealing with these morally.
[00:13:31] It's not even a morally gray area. It's just. There's some stuff in here that's just wrong, just plain and simple.
[00:13:39] But I'm only giving hard miles a 4.25 out of ten on the deputy scale. Now, technically, that's watchable but forgettable. And in a lot of ways, this movie is. This is one of those ones that, okay, if you can connect with some of these stories, you might have find something that's fine about it, that's memorable. But if you can't, this. If somebody asks you the next day, the next week, a month down the road, what if you. What? Like what movie you saw, this one isn't going to be one of the first ones that pops in your head. And, okay, I'm not saying that's going to be for everybody. There are going to be people out there that this is their favorite movie. I mean, that that could be said about all movies. I mean, good, bad and otherwise. But this one just doesn't deliver.
[00:14:26] And of course, I'm giving this a guilty rating on the deputy scale as well. So, like I said, it is a 4.255 being decent story, significant flaws, four being watchable but forgettable. And it's really close. Like I said, just looking at the entire story, the content, just kind of how everything is presented. It definitely comes in closer to the four than the 05:00 a.m.. I saying completely avoid this. No, like I said, this movie will have an audience. But I hope this at least gives you enough information to decide if this is one that you want to embark on. So of course, be sure to click those buttons to always get the latest and greatest movie deputy content. The movie that I'm coming with tomorrow for you is going to be the new Abigail. And like I said, if you're horror fans, be sure to tune in. Even if you're not a horror fan, there might be something that you'll appreciate. So I look forward to talking to you then. Until later, bye.
