White Line Fever: Motorama

Fans of the quirky road-trip and post-apocalyptic films like Repo Man (1984), Bagdad Cafe (1987) and Six String Samurai (1998)– something which often finds a niche in limited surrealism with its quirky and sometimes, indiscernible storytelling and kitsch settings– will likely enjoy the cult black comedy, Motorama (1991), although reaching more than the loyal fans who remember seeing it long ago would require rethinking the idiotic marketing campaign that seemed to dent its transition to DVD. The promotional materials years ago simply featured its cynical star, Gus (played by Jordan Christopher Michael) brazenly posing atop the stole red vintage convertible dressed in his red jacket and curious eye patch. The title of the film above him spell out like the game cards he collects in the film… M-O-T-O-R-A-M-A. But, writers beguiled prospective audiences, repackaging the film as a young love story, one in which Drew Barrymore, now featured on the DVD promos as a large, floating face in the background behind Gus, looking childishly seductive; her platinum blond hair decorated with a flower. The tagline now deceptively implies romance: “There’s only one way to win the girl of your dreams: floor it!” Obviously, the goal is to move units by promoting the most well-known star in a cast otherwise filled with b-movie cult regulars like Dick Miller and Mary Woronov. But trying to pitch a new narrative will only disappoint the audiences expending a love story involving the questionable (if not, improbable) chemistry of rugged Gus and the presumably dazzling dreamgirl. And others, who might be attracted to oddball niche comedies such as these (except where they are likewise 80s loyalists), might ignore it entirely.

Motorama is directed by Barry Shils (who usually produces rather than directs) and written by Joseph Minion, who also wrote the 1985 Scorcese comedy (yes, Martin Scorcese directed comedy) After Hours and later, the creepy 1989 black comedy, Vampires Kiss. Jordan Christopher Michael plays ten-year old Gus, who, long before the days of Josh and S.A.M. (1993) casually takes to the long winding highways of fictional states in a stolen red Mustang, leaving behind his abusive, neglecting parents (despite a great performance, it would be one of the few roles of Michael’s short film and television career, though unverified rumors claim he’s become a producer and director) and his path, in road-trip and semi-surreal comedy form is paved with unusual characters. This so far might hint a movie about a carefree kid getting mixed up in the inevitable hijinks.

Um… The Wizard (1989) it is not. In an interesting tale of temptation and redemption, Gus begins picking up game cards at gas stations. Find the letters that spell Motorama and win $500 million dollars from the Chimera Gas Company! But, once Gus has a few successes with the game cards he receives from gas stations along his impromptu route, he becomes obsessed with finding the rest that will earn him the prize and his encounters along the way reflect the transition from understandably cynical 10-year old runaway explaining the relative innocence of his actions to the “enlightened” gas station attendant named Phil, to a deceptive gambler who happily hustles an overconfident father. Somehow a brief adolescent daydream fills Gus’s head; the dream girl of course, played by young Barrymore. But by the end of the film, the 10-year appears noticeably aged and run down–after dodging an explosion his hair appears to have grayed. He wears an eye patch to conceal injuries received when getting caught trying to siphon gas from a seedy couple (which includes Mary Woronov). And strangely, he is eventually trying to rescue an older version of himself before future tense Gus drives off the road while, in a panic, trying to find that one last letter to claim his award money, loses control of his car.

Although this kind of tale might be off-putting or just simply confusing to the viewer not typically accustomed to movies like these, the narrative construction is the interesting element — the circular storytelling of character reflection. That is uses a 10-year old as its central character is perhaps its most distinctive draw. Unfortunately, while making the transition to DVD faster than probably more well-known cult films (The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps come to mind), it is a film that remains woefully absent in background information of any kind (considered bonus materials for the DVD, all that is included is a trailer of Motorama and a mismatched companion trailer for the idiotic David Spade comedy, Joe Dirt).