Wild Hogs on DVD

Starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy, Wild Hogs is a cute and charming, but ultimately unremarkable biker adventure film.

What is Wild Hogs about?

Doug (Allen) is a dentist, a family man and a good guy who just wants to reconnect with his son, and bring some excitement to his average daily life.

Woody (Travolta) was a rich businessman, but he's now bankrupt. He was married and now he is getting divorced. He wants to get away, and maybe disappear on the open road.

Bobby (Lawrence) is plumber who wants a vacation from his crap job - no pun intended, wild kids, and his bossy wife.

Dudley (Macy) is a computer geek desperately looking for a woman.

All of these guys get together, decide to take a trip on the open road on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and rekindle the youth they lost. The group even have "Wild Hogs" stitched on the back of their leather jackets.

On their road trip, the group encounter a dangerous biker gang, the Del Fuegos led by Jack (Ray Liotta). Woody ticks off the gang by blowing up their precious bar. They encounter a small, feel-good town, and get to know the interesting townspeople. Dudley falls for a beautiful woman named, Maggie (Marisa Tomei). The Wild Hogs learn that the Del Fuegos have been terrorizing the town. From then on, the group of middle-aged men go out of their way to defend the town and fight the biker gang.

What I liked and disliked

The film is cute. A tale of middle-aged men wanting to revive a lost era in their lives always makes for a charming movie. When I think of movies of this kind, I consider even better movies like City Slickers.

Acting from Tim Allen and William H. Macy is beyond expectation. John Travolta has his moments of greatness. Even Martin Lawrence, who I usually don't like watching was funny and believable as Bobby. The problem lies in the movie's chief demographic.

It's not a movie for kids 13 or younger and 14 to 21. It's not a movie for people, 60 and up. Wild Hogs should only be truly appealing for folks between the ages of 30 and 60. This makes the movie almost unremarkable. That one group of people love the movie, but can it really do anything for anyone younger or older? Plus, I don't know if this movie doesn't cross that thin line between charming and corny.

DVD Features

Audio commentary by Director Walt Becker and Writer Brad Copeland

"Bikes, Brawls and Burning Bars: The Making of Wild Hogs" featurette

"How to Get Your Wife to Let you Buy a Motorcycle" featurette

Freewheeling alternate ending

High-octane deleted scenes

Outrageous outtakes

Final note

Wild Hogs is worth renting no matter what your age. If you're under a certain age, just consider the fact that you might not understand enough about the main characters to get into this charming film. Consider trying to figure out the actions of your parents. And you might be made sick by some of the more cute and fuzzier moments, but Wild Hogs has a great spirit that should be experienced at least once.