I’m a big fan of films about music whether they be a documentary or a biopic about a famous singer or band. Sometimes there are just movies that feature fictional musicians and the songs they sing. The NEON HIGHWAY is one such film. It’s based on a real song but the story around the song is a fictional one. Even though it could be semi-autobiographical to some people who watch it. It may remind them of situations that have happened in the past in the music business. 

There is a flashback element to the film. It features Wayne Collins (Rob Mayes) who is in a band with his brother Loyd (TJ Power) they go to a country bar and sing a song they wrote called “The NEON HIGHWAY”. There were record label men in the audience and they wanted to produce the song with Wayne. The problem is the pair leave the bar and they get into a car accident from arguing while driving. The film fast forwards 7 years later and Wayne is a telecommunications repairman with a wife, Ginny Collins (Jennifer Bowles), and a son. She was pregnant in the cold open sequence. 

The film has much more going on than that though. It has an older country music singer Claude Allen (Beau Bridges) who is contacted by the Mayes character and tells him he needs money for his son’s college tuition. He knows his song is good and wants it to get produced. Like a lot of music industry people, Bridges’ character has altered motives in helping the Mayes character. It deals with stuff, I’m sure, music people can cooperate.  There are a lot of crooks in the music industry the same as in many other industries. There is more than meets the eye about trying to get a song to play on the radio or turned into a record.

The movie is directed by William Wages and co-written by Wages and Phillip Bellury. They completely understand the meaning of the song and how it is so integral to the story. The song was originally written and performed by Dallas Davidson. It has a life of its own in the story. The lines have so much meaning. It’s like the characters in the film are living these lines. That’s what it seems like to me at least.

Wages pulled a few strings as he was able to get a couple of big names in the country music industry to be in the film. Lee Brice as Lamont Johnson and Pam Tillis as herself. They both add an element of humor to an otherwise pretty serious story. Add in Sam Hennings as the owner of a hotel, who is friends with the Bridges character, and Wilbur Fitzgerald as the owner of a music studio where the Bridges and Mayes characters try to get the song recorded. He’s a tough guy though and drives a hard bargain regarding his history with Bridges’ character.

This story is an indictment of the music industry but it also has a heartwarming story at its core. This is a film about a man trying to provide for his family and he ends up getting wrapped up in a battle for the rights to this catchy song he and his brother wrote together. Some people support him and want to see him get notoriety for this song but there are also those who see dollar signs and are greedy.  There are two sides to this story. 

An unexpected thing about this movie was there is a tie to aother film that came out last year called Dreamin Wild. Where a record producer played by Chris Massina finds and old record and decides to relelease it halping the original artists  played by Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins in the process. Also Beau Bridges is in that film as well. These films are like brother of eachother if you will. They would make a great double feature.

The NEON HIGHWAY is a pretty good film. It features a story that viewers can get behind and information about the music industry. The song which is the same as the title of the film is very catchy and has a relevant message within its words. The cast of some newer, Mayes, and some older, Bridges actors as well as musicians, Brice and Tillis, is relatively pretty good. The overall story is the reason for seeing this film though. I learned a lot about the music industry and how cutthroat it is.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen