Human Highway

Neil Young and "Kaw-Liga" in Human Highway

Neil Young's Human Highway is an amusing curio that can't transcend its being an indulgent whim of a rock star. When both manager and wife of said rock star appear in the film, it is difficult to regard it as anything other than a vanity project. Still, Young displays more visual imagination here than in the excruciating Journey Through the Past and Russ Tamblyn (goofy), Dean Stockwell (satanic), and Dennis Hopper (bedraggled) are always fun to watch. It is a tribute to Young's sense of humor that his portrayal of Lionel, an idiotic auto mechanic, is the most self-parodying performance by a rock star ever. Young has a gift for kitchen sink surrealism and Human Highway's best moments smack of a more lysergic Frank Tashlin. The mise en scene blends the awkward fakeries of soundstage musicals and model railroad dioramas. (Young was, at one time, a part owner of Lionel Trains) Fans of Young will appreciate explorations of themes that recur throughout his music: native American spirituality, anti-nuke agitprop, gearhead car culture, and a hankering for waitresses. Rock and roll fans may find the film and its music enjoyable, others will be befuddled by its moronic humor and primitivist film style.