Hitting the Road with the "Wild Hogs"

In the movie Wild Hogs the urge to hit the open road brings very different friends together for what turns out to be one wild ride.

Good friends Doug (Tim Allen), Bobby (Martin Lawrence), Dudley (William H. Macy), and Woody (John Travolta) make up the biker buddy group The "Wild Hogs" and they have the patches on their jackets to prove it. The foursome regularly gets together and rides to their favorite local bar for beers and laughs. On the surface it would seem that the four of them lived a charmed life. Doug is a successful dentist and family man with a nice house in suburbia. Bobby also has a daughter and a hard working wife. Dudley is a very intelligent self described computer geek and Woody is a businessman with a sexy swimsuit model wife. What more could they ask for? Turns out they could ask for quite a bit more.

Appearances are deceiving it seems. Doug is having trouble connecting with his pre-teen son while living on a steady diet of steamed veggies due to high cholesterol. Dudley is in his forties and nearly hyperventilates at the mere thought of talking to a woman. Bobby is an aspiring but stalled writer and the victim of a domineering wife who has just pushed him back into an old plumbing job. Woody is the one who seems to have it all together, but he has skeletons in his closet that his Wild Hog brothers are in the dark about. What happened, the guys wonder over their beers, to all the big hopes and dreams they used to have? What happened to all their excitement about life? Perhaps this is it for them. It's not all bad; they do have the local parade to ride in coming up after all. That will be exciting, right? The guys, riled up by their friend Woody, decide right then and there that they want to get more out of life than what their routine, 9-to-5, suburban existences are giving them. They are going to get on their bikes and head out for a no rules, no cell phones, and no problems motorcycle trip!

At this point the movie slips into some of the old tried and true (or boring and pathetic depending on your point of view) steps that many buddy or road trip movies do. The subject matter and approach are more mature than American Pie, thankfully, but there is no shortage of the sexual references and innuendo that are so standard in this kind of movie. In fact two of my favorite scenes from Wild Hogs are pretty heavy on both. One scene, which you've probably seen in the preview commercials, has the guys waking up in the woods in strange positions only to face a very friendly highway patrolman. Later on down the road they have an uncomfortable but hilarious encounter with a vacationing family at a swimming hole. This scene also has the only nudity in the film. I am still wondering if that was really William H. Macy's backside or if he had a booty double stand in for him.

If excitement is what these guys wanted this trip provides them with more than they bargained for. They set out thinking they would see some beautiful scenery, get away from work and family obligations for a week, and come home with some good stories to reminisce about for years to come. What they get is an unexpected war with the Del Fuegos; a real biker gang. After innocently stopping at the Del Fuego's bar things go pretty crazy pretty fast. Things come to a head in Madrid, a little town the guys stopped in and befriended on their trip. It's also a town terrorized by the Del Fuegos. The Wild Hogs have to make decisions about what kind of men and what kind of friends they really are.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. There are some cliché moments throughout, but I don't think anyone honestly thought this kind of movie would be free of them. The cast is really terrific, and they totally sell the idea that they are long time friends who, in spite of all their personality differences and personal troubles, really care for each other. I have to say that it's really nice to see John Travolta in a comedic role again. We all know that he can dance and play a pretty good bad guy, but he is often overlooked for the funny stuff. This movie clearly proves that he shouldn't be. It's just great to see Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence in any role at all.

My final verdict: *Decent plot that most of us can all relate to

*Excellent cast and flawless acting

*Nice soundtrack

*Not bad to see in theatre, but you could easily wait for the DVD