Interstate 60
Encyclopedia
Interstate 60: Episodes of The Road is a 2002
metaphysical
comedy
/drama
road film starring James Marsden
, Gary Oldman
, and Amy Smart
, with cameos
by Michael J. Fox
, Christopher Lloyd
, Chris Cooper
, and Kurt Russell
. The film was written and directed by Bob Gale
.
for an upcoming paper. One of them makes an argument that America is unique in that it has no real mythological character for granting wishes, such as a genie
or leprechaun
. The two men are soon joined in conversation by an old man at the bar claiming that America does, named O.W. Grant; the son of a leprechaun
and a Cheyenne Indian.
The man claims that O.W. is a mischievous fellow who enjoys playing tricks on others, but every so often, he takes a shine to one or two of them. When the two men ask what O.W. Grant looks like, the old man explains that he wears a red bow tie, and smokes a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. The old man leaves, telling the two men that O.W. Grant is usually found along Interstate 60. After he leaves, the two men check a nearby roadmap, and find no such Interstate, convinced that the old man was pulling their leg.
The scene then cuts to O.W. (for "One Wish") Grant (Oldman
), riding down a city street on a bicycle, smoking a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. A man busy talking on a cell phone (Fox
) doesn't see him and opens his car's door, slamming into Grant, causing him to fall from his bike and break his monkey-head pipe. Grant's bicycle is totaled when a truck runs over it, and the man's cell phone and suit are ruined. The man apologizes, but starts screaming and yelling about how awful his day has been now that his cell phone is destroyed. Grant, seemingly amused, asks him if he wished the day would start over.
The man screams a confirmation. Green smoke billows from Grant's pipe and the scene begins again (with the monkey-head pipe now broken from the previous occurrence). This time, Grant safely avoids the car door. As he watches, the man on the cell phone gets out of his car, and still enamored with the phone conversation, walks right into the path of the oncoming truck. Grant shrugs his shoulders, and mutters: "Some people just don't know what to wish for."
The story then switches over to Neal Oliver who works at a warehouse
in St. Louis, Missouri
, at night on the stocking crew that gets food ready to be delivered to local grocery stores. Although he has a rich family, and his dad works as a lawyer
, he works the warehouse job to not have to rely on his family to support him. While he aspires to become an artist
, he doesn't have enough faith in his work, and his girlfriend is a psychology
major who keeps analyzing him without offering any real support. He also has recurring dreams about a blonde-haired girl (Smart
), whom he keeps drawing and painting.
On his birthday, his family is gathered in a restaurant to celebrate. Among the gifts and smiles, O.W. Grant, dressed as a waiter
, serves them their cake. Neal blows out the candles and tells everyone that he wished for an answer to his life, to which his father presumptuously hands him an acceptance letter to a prestigious law school. Watching from a corner, Grant is intrigued by Neal's wish. As the family goes outside to look at the car (a new red BMW
convertible) that Neal's dad bought him (which suits his dad's taste more than it does Neal's), a bucket falls onto Neal's head, knocking him out. Later, he wakes up in the hospital, where a doctor named Ray (Lloyd
) comes in and does a quick sight test with Neal using playing card
s. He holds them up quickly and Neal has to guess the suit on the cards.
At the end of the test, Neal confidently asks if he got it right, at which Ray replies that he didn't, since several of the cards actually have a few red spades and black hearts in the deck. Ray then gives Neal a small lecture about how things aren't always what they seem. He leaves, and another doctor comes in confirming that they don't have a doctor named Ray on their staff.
Shortly after getting out of the hospital, more strange happenings occur around Neal. At a Chinese restaurant, his fortune cookie
'fortune' reads: 'Oct 15th. Are you sure?' The date is the same day of the law school interview that his Dad had set up. However, when one of Neal's friends looks at the fortune, the letters have disappeared.
While working at his warehouse job, he notices a billboard
with the same girl on it that he has been painting in his art pieces. Neal is curious to find out who she is, and calls the billboard company that placed the advertisement, only to have them say that the display is blank. Bewildered, Neal drives back to the location to find that the billboard has now changed to a new image with the girl and a telephone number. Neal gives it a call, and a recorded message tells him that he has an appointment for the next day at a specific time. The next day, Neal goes to his appointment on the 13th floor of the specific building, only to find that the building doesn't have one. Taking a cue from an ad in the elevator (which also has the girl on it), he presses the '10' and '3' buttons on the elevator, and ends up on floor 13.
Once there, he again meets Ray who gives him a package to deliver, but doesn't tell him what's inside; the only address is to a Robin Fields in a town called Danver in Colorado (not "Denver"). Ray then explains the rules of the delivery: if Neal leaves the 13th floor with the package, he has no choice but to deliver it. As well, he is not allowed to open the parcel or find out what is inside it. Neal is then given a contract, which he signs with a pen, and seals with a drop of blood per Ray's request. Once he has done so, Ray cautions him that there's a killer on the loose, and to be careful. However, when Neal presses for more information, Ray won't continue further. As Neal leaves with his assignment, Ray tells him that he'll find Danver by taking Interstate 60.
Neal checks a number of roadmaps, but there does not appear to be an Interstate 60. Taking a guess, he sets out West, only to encounter O.W. Grant along the roadside. Grant happily greets Neal, and hands him a bag containing a 'birthday present.' The present turns out to be a Magic 8-Ball
, which can answer any yes-or-no question that Neal asks it. Shortly after their meeting, Grant gives Neal some directions, and they are soon on the unlisted Interstate 60.
Traveling along the mysterious highway, Neal and Grant discuss such things as the humor found in causing people to recognize the gullible side of themselves, Grant's unfortunate accident that rendered him permanently sterile, and the certainty of knowing what to wish for. Grant departs soon after, leaving Neal to run into such characters as:
It's here that Neal is finally united with the woman, Lynn (Smart
), whom he has been painting and drawing. When he gets her released from prison, she turns out to be far from the perfection he expected, swearing in an uncouth and rude manner – but it turns out to be a ruse to make sure that Neal doesn't just want to get into her pants.
Once they are free, Lynn explains that she had previously met O.W. Grant, and had wished to find the right guy...though she hadn't counted on her wish leaving her in jail for one year. After exchanging conversation, they realize that they have so much in common and spend the night together at the "Fork in the Road" motel. Neal also makes a painting of the motel in the waking hours of the morning. Neal then leaves to ensure that he delivers the package in Danver, due to the contract he signed. However, Lynn stays behind, as a letter from O.W. Grant cautions her not to go.
However, when driving on the way to Danver, Neal's car is revealed to match that of a reported murderer on the loose. He abandons the vehicle, and the police get into a confrontation with the real killer in an identical car, which ends in a fiery car wreck. Neal asks one of the policemen who he was, and replies that he was a St. Louis law school student who went insane and murdered his own father.
After hitchhiking
a ride to Danver, Neal finally makes it to the Rainbow Club. Entering a seemingly-abandoned bar, he is reunited with the mysterious Ray, and is stunned when "Robin Fields" turns out to be none other than the whimsical O.W. Grant himself, whose insistence at holding people to their tasks prevented him from reclaiming his package earlier in the film. Upon taking delivery of the package (which holds a replacement monkey-head pipe for O.W.'s broken one), Grant uses his magic powers to "warp" Neal back in time, where he wakes up in the hospital before he first encountered Ray.
Leaving the hospital, Neal finally confronts his father and asserts his right to live his life without his father's interference, and then proceeds with his sister to an art gallery at her insistence, confused as to why he'd need to be there with none of his work submitted. Once there, he realizes that his painting of the "Fork in the Road" was submitted to the art gallery. A few moments later, Grant appears, reminding Neal of the value of honesty and humor. A girl who resembles Lynn (also played by Amy Smart) talks to him, interested in commissioning him to do a series of paintings on roadside motels and diners. As they chat, Grant is seen talking softly to Neal's sister. "You have a birthday coming up, right?" he says, smiling mischievously. "Don't forget to make a wish..."
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
road film starring James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
, Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
, and Amy Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
, with cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
by Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
, Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
, Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (actor)
Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
, and Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
. The film was written and directed by Bob Gale
Bob Gale
Michael Robert "Bob" Gale is an American screenwriter who co-wrote the science fiction film Back to the Future with writing partner Robert Zemeckis, and the screenplays for the film's two sequels. Gale also co-produced all three films....
.
Plot
The movie begins with two men in a bar, one of them talking about a thesis statementThesis statement
The thesis statement states the thesis or argument of the author in an essay or similar document. Usually no less than five sentences or six long, it is a focused section of text that clearly delineates the argument that is presented in the work and is usually found at the end of the first...
for an upcoming paper. One of them makes an argument that America is unique in that it has no real mythological character for granting wishes, such as a genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
or leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
. The two men are soon joined in conversation by an old man at the bar claiming that America does, named O.W. Grant; the son of a leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
and a Cheyenne Indian.
The man claims that O.W. is a mischievous fellow who enjoys playing tricks on others, but every so often, he takes a shine to one or two of them. When the two men ask what O.W. Grant looks like, the old man explains that he wears a red bow tie, and smokes a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. The old man leaves, telling the two men that O.W. Grant is usually found along Interstate 60. After he leaves, the two men check a nearby roadmap, and find no such Interstate, convinced that the old man was pulling their leg.
The scene then cuts to O.W. (for "One Wish") Grant (Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
), riding down a city street on a bicycle, smoking a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. A man busy talking on a cell phone (Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
) doesn't see him and opens his car's door, slamming into Grant, causing him to fall from his bike and break his monkey-head pipe. Grant's bicycle is totaled when a truck runs over it, and the man's cell phone and suit are ruined. The man apologizes, but starts screaming and yelling about how awful his day has been now that his cell phone is destroyed. Grant, seemingly amused, asks him if he wished the day would start over.
The man screams a confirmation. Green smoke billows from Grant's pipe and the scene begins again (with the monkey-head pipe now broken from the previous occurrence). This time, Grant safely avoids the car door. As he watches, the man on the cell phone gets out of his car, and still enamored with the phone conversation, walks right into the path of the oncoming truck. Grant shrugs his shoulders, and mutters: "Some people just don't know what to wish for."
The story then switches over to Neal Oliver who works at a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, at night on the stocking crew that gets food ready to be delivered to local grocery stores. Although he has a rich family, and his dad works as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, he works the warehouse job to not have to rely on his family to support him. While he aspires to become an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, he doesn't have enough faith in his work, and his girlfriend is a psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
major who keeps analyzing him without offering any real support. He also has recurring dreams about a blonde-haired girl (Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
), whom he keeps drawing and painting.
On his birthday, his family is gathered in a restaurant to celebrate. Among the gifts and smiles, O.W. Grant, dressed as a waiter
Waiter
Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server"...
, serves them their cake. Neal blows out the candles and tells everyone that he wished for an answer to his life, to which his father presumptuously hands him an acceptance letter to a prestigious law school. Watching from a corner, Grant is intrigued by Neal's wish. As the family goes outside to look at the car (a new red BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
convertible) that Neal's dad bought him (which suits his dad's taste more than it does Neal's), a bucket falls onto Neal's head, knocking him out. Later, he wakes up in the hospital, where a doctor named Ray (Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
) comes in and does a quick sight test with Neal using playing card
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
s. He holds them up quickly and Neal has to guess the suit on the cards.
At the end of the test, Neal confidently asks if he got it right, at which Ray replies that he didn't, since several of the cards actually have a few red spades and black hearts in the deck. Ray then gives Neal a small lecture about how things aren't always what they seem. He leaves, and another doctor comes in confirming that they don't have a doctor named Ray on their staff.
Shortly after getting out of the hospital, more strange happenings occur around Neal. At a Chinese restaurant, his fortune cookie
Fortune cookie
A fortune cookie is a crisp cookie usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and oil with a "fortune" wrapped inside. A "fortune" is a piece of paper with words of faux wisdom or a vague prophecy...
'fortune' reads: 'Oct 15th. Are you sure?' The date is the same day of the law school interview that his Dad had set up. However, when one of Neal's friends looks at the fortune, the letters have disappeared.
While working at his warehouse job, he notices a billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
with the same girl on it that he has been painting in his art pieces. Neal is curious to find out who she is, and calls the billboard company that placed the advertisement, only to have them say that the display is blank. Bewildered, Neal drives back to the location to find that the billboard has now changed to a new image with the girl and a telephone number. Neal gives it a call, and a recorded message tells him that he has an appointment for the next day at a specific time. The next day, Neal goes to his appointment on the 13th floor of the specific building, only to find that the building doesn't have one. Taking a cue from an ad in the elevator (which also has the girl on it), he presses the '10' and '3' buttons on the elevator, and ends up on floor 13.
Once there, he again meets Ray who gives him a package to deliver, but doesn't tell him what's inside; the only address is to a Robin Fields in a town called Danver in Colorado (not "Denver"). Ray then explains the rules of the delivery: if Neal leaves the 13th floor with the package, he has no choice but to deliver it. As well, he is not allowed to open the parcel or find out what is inside it. Neal is then given a contract, which he signs with a pen, and seals with a drop of blood per Ray's request. Once he has done so, Ray cautions him that there's a killer on the loose, and to be careful. However, when Neal presses for more information, Ray won't continue further. As Neal leaves with his assignment, Ray tells him that he'll find Danver by taking Interstate 60.
Neal checks a number of roadmaps, but there does not appear to be an Interstate 60. Taking a guess, he sets out West, only to encounter O.W. Grant along the roadside. Grant happily greets Neal, and hands him a bag containing a 'birthday present.' The present turns out to be a Magic 8-Ball
Magic 8-ball
The Magic 8 Ball is a toy used for fortune-telling or seeking advice, manufactured by Mattel.-Origin:While Magic 8-Ball did not exist in its current form until 1950, the functional component was invented by Albert C. Carter, who was inspired by a "spirit writing" device used by his mother, Mary, a...
, which can answer any yes-or-no question that Neal asks it. Shortly after their meeting, Grant gives Neal some directions, and they are soon on the unlisted Interstate 60.
Traveling along the mysterious highway, Neal and Grant discuss such things as the humor found in causing people to recognize the gullible side of themselves, Grant's unfortunate accident that rendered him permanently sterile, and the certainty of knowing what to wish for. Grant departs soon after, leaving Neal to run into such characters as:
- A woman looking for "the perfect fuck"
- The same man who told the two men in the beginning about O.W. Grant. Neal and O.W. encounter him as he walks into a diner and makes a bet that he can eat a gigantic amount of food in an hour without throwing up or relieving himself
- A dying (yet persistently honest) ex-advertiser (Chris CooperChris Cooper (actor)Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
) whose lung cancerLung cancerLung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
has given him an affinity for the truth...and dynamiteDynamiteDynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued... - A lonely mother looking for her slacker son, who turns out to be living in a city where the population is addicted to a government-controlled drug, EuphoriaEuphoriaEuphoria is an emotional and mental state defined as a sense of great elation and well being.Euphoria may also refer to:* Euphoria , a genus of scarab beetles* Euphoria, a genus name previously used for the longan and other trees...
; Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
is the local police chief with a penchant for dry humor - A Museum of Art Fraud run by Ann-Margaret that actually contains real masterpieces posing as fakes that are undetected by the visiting poseurs
- The town of Morlaw, where every citizen is a lawyer who spend their days suing each other, and imprisoning unwary travelers on trumped-up charges
It's here that Neal is finally united with the woman, Lynn (Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
), whom he has been painting and drawing. When he gets her released from prison, she turns out to be far from the perfection he expected, swearing in an uncouth and rude manner – but it turns out to be a ruse to make sure that Neal doesn't just want to get into her pants.
Once they are free, Lynn explains that she had previously met O.W. Grant, and had wished to find the right guy...though she hadn't counted on her wish leaving her in jail for one year. After exchanging conversation, they realize that they have so much in common and spend the night together at the "Fork in the Road" motel. Neal also makes a painting of the motel in the waking hours of the morning. Neal then leaves to ensure that he delivers the package in Danver, due to the contract he signed. However, Lynn stays behind, as a letter from O.W. Grant cautions her not to go.
However, when driving on the way to Danver, Neal's car is revealed to match that of a reported murderer on the loose. He abandons the vehicle, and the police get into a confrontation with the real killer in an identical car, which ends in a fiery car wreck. Neal asks one of the policemen who he was, and replies that he was a St. Louis law school student who went insane and murdered his own father.
After hitchhiking
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
a ride to Danver, Neal finally makes it to the Rainbow Club. Entering a seemingly-abandoned bar, he is reunited with the mysterious Ray, and is stunned when "Robin Fields" turns out to be none other than the whimsical O.W. Grant himself, whose insistence at holding people to their tasks prevented him from reclaiming his package earlier in the film. Upon taking delivery of the package (which holds a replacement monkey-head pipe for O.W.'s broken one), Grant uses his magic powers to "warp" Neal back in time, where he wakes up in the hospital before he first encountered Ray.
Leaving the hospital, Neal finally confronts his father and asserts his right to live his life without his father's interference, and then proceeds with his sister to an art gallery at her insistence, confused as to why he'd need to be there with none of his work submitted. Once there, he realizes that his painting of the "Fork in the Road" was submitted to the art gallery. A few moments later, Grant appears, reminding Neal of the value of honesty and humor. A girl who resembles Lynn (also played by Amy Smart) talks to him, interested in commissioning him to do a series of paintings on roadside motels and diners. As they chat, Grant is seen talking softly to Neal's sister. "You have a birthday coming up, right?" he says, smiling mischievously. "Don't forget to make a wish..."
Deleted scenes
The DVD includes several deleted scenes and the "bridges" where they would be placed in the film. They include-- Neal visits a government office where he seeks information about Interstate 60 that the client service officer repeatedly tells him does not exist. The officer explains the American Interstate Highway SystemInterstate Highway SystemThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
to Neal. Neal discovers that if I-60 did exist, it would be traveling west to east and be north of Interstate 40Interstate 40Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
and south of Interstate 70Interstate 70Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
.
- When told by the man in the bar about O.W. Grant at the film's beginning, a waitress tells Neal that she had never seen the man before but he had won a large amount of bets by consuming large quantities of alcohol in a brief time without throwing up or urinating. This is the same man who appears later in a diner and makes similar bets that he can eat large amounts of food without releasing them through similar processes. The man admitted he acquired this quality though a wish from O.W. Grant but did not enjoy it.
- After a co-worker tells Neal that work is the same as high school due to all the rules and punishments, Neal chats with another co-worker named Otis. Otis enjoys his job due to working night time hours makes him feel special. Neal asks Otis if he thinks work is like high school; Otis laughs that he never went to high school.
- Neal meets his father in his office saying that he doesn't want to be in a pigeon hole. His father says that everyone in the world is in a pigeon hole, even starving artists; there are good pigeon holes and bad pigeon holes so it is better be in a good one.
- At the beginning of his road journey, Neal receives a call on his mobile phone but shuts it off narrating that the only freedom left in the 21st Century is to be incommunicado.
- At the police station in the city where drug addicts are given a highly addictive but totally legal drug that they pay for by being in the town's work force, Neal has brought a mother searching for her son. The son has only an interest in the drug and no interest in his mother. Given a choice of staying behind and seeing her son and maybe having him work for her, leaving and never seeing her son again, or taking the drug and becoming a fellow addict, the mother asks Neal what he thinks she should do. Neal relates a story of visiting his grandmother in a nursing home. When she slipped into dementia, Neal said he still remembered the times they had together, and even though she didn't, it still made him happy; therefore, she should stay. The mother cries that she'll never be a grandmother and takes the drug.
- After leaving the hospital at the end of the film, Neal breaks up with his girlfriend who calls him a loser and that artists starving for their work only exist in the previous century.