# What's with all the road movies this month?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-road-movies-this-month/78780>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 29, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-road-movies-this-month/78780 "2001-08-29T19:28:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-road-movies-this-month/78780/1 "2001-08-29T19:28:56Z")

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You know 'em, you’ve seen 'em. A “road movie” is one driven by one or two main characters on a sort of quest, deriving its humor from the people met along the way. Road movies have kind of petered out…or so it seemed.

August has seen an explosion in road movies, including **Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back** , **Rat Race** , **Bubble Boy** …so what’s the deal? Where did this trend start? Why is there such a perceived demand for these movies?

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**Author:** ![Acco40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Acco40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acco40)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-road-movies-this-month/78780/2 "2001-08-29T20:04:23Z")

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I don’t know, 'bout you, but I like them. **Dumb and Dumber** stands out. IMHO they help make the plot more palatable and present the opportunity to meet and greet with several humorous and crazy characters… and really, what more can you ask for?

I know, most are low-brow goofiness, but somehow it satisfies, it scratches the itch… it itches the scratch… it, oh well…

I haven’t seen any of the recent “quest” movies, but (from what I’ve heard) they are decent.

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-road-movies-this-month/78780/3 "2001-08-29T20:17:02Z")

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Why this month? Well, August is the month that they typically unload the real stinkers. That should answer most of your question. (I have read any reviews of Jay and Silent Bob, so that may be an exception.)