Film Review – End of the Road

Potential for something blistering is there for the taking in “End of the Road,” which puts Queen Latifah in Liam Neeson mode, offered an action role that requires a more physical screen presence. She plays a mother out to protect her family from the worst of the worst in Arizona, and the role suits her, offering interesting authority with some defined emotionality. For the first act, “End of the Road” builds some suspense and identifies concerns capably, as the screenplay attempts to merge domestic issues with criminal developments, with a road trip setting to keep things on the move. It builds well enough, but progress soon comes to a complete halt. There’s the sight of Latifah in butt-kicking mode, which is a decent distraction, yet the film can’t sustain tension or build compelling antagonists, and director Millicent Shelton (a television veteran) isn’t an action specialist, straining to do something different with a story that grows increasingly idiotic as it goes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com