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Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Dana Carvey ... see more see more... , Michael Lerner , Lara Flynn Boyle , Colm Meaney , John Neville , Traci Lind , Camryn Manheim , Roy Brocksmith , Norbert Weisser , Gabriel Barre , Marshall Erwin Efron , Michael Goodwin , Mark Jeffrey Miller , Marianne Muellerleile , George Nannerello , Richard K. Olsen , Monica Parker , D. Anthony Pender , Carole Shelley , Ann Tucker , James Bigwood , John Henry Scott

This adaptation of the comic novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle is the story of real-life Corn Flakes inventor Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins), an eccentric health nut in the early 20th century. ... read more read more...Convinced of the benefits of holistic health practices (mostly involving irrigation of the bowels and colon), Kellogg opens a spa in Battle Creek, Michigan that immediately attracts the well-to-do of his time, including Will (Matthew Broderick) and Eleanor Lightbody (Bridget Fonda). A young couple with sexual and marital problems, the Lightbodys aren't helped much by the forced separation of sexes at Kellogg's sanitarium, and the situation is further exacerbated by Will's obliging nurse (Traci Lind) and Eleanor's encounters with a group of German sex therapists. Also at the spa are Charles Ossining (John Cusack), an ambitious con man who sees a fortune in Kellogg's cereal, and the unwashed, cretinous George Kellogg (Dana Carvey), one of the doctor's several dozen adopted children. A spoof as obsessed as its protagonist with its scatological subject matter, The Road to Wellville was an unusual effort for director-composer Alan Parker, known better for darker dramatic material and musicals. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Flixster Users

39% liked it

6,020 ratings

Critics

41% liked it

17 critics

R, 2 hr.

Directed by: Alan Parker

Release Date: October 28, 1994

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DVD Release Date: September 10, 2002

Stats: 239 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (239)

  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    Great story, great cast! Another great Alan Parker film, it will have you laughing while eating your cornflakes!
  • arashxak
    March 23, 2009
    arashxak
    Another extravagantly underrated film, Funny & fun, A wonderful satire & a pretty good comedy with great perfs, I still feel that I've rated it a bit low, Don't miss this movie
  • matertenebraum
    October 31, 2008
    matertenebraum
    I can't believe some of the reviews I've read on this site about The Road to Wellville. Some people complain that it was crude and disgusting, others complain that it didn't have a coherent plot, and still others whine that it wasn't historically accurate (concerning Dr. Kellogg'... read mores methods). Those reviewers clearly missed the boat.

    As for those who thought the movie was crude and disgusting, what did you expect from a comedy set in a turn-of-the-century health sanitorium run by a well meaning but eccentric doctor? Such a movie is bound to contain scenes of patients vomiting, getting enemas, and having a sexual tryst or two, just as undoubtedly occurred in many health sanitoriums at that time. Furthermore, none of those scenes were graphic, so I don't understand anybody being offended by them.

    As for complaints that the movie didn't have a coherent plot, it didn't need one. It was a comedy, not a drama! The health sanitorium setting was a perfect vehicle for satirizing turn-of-the-century attitudes about health, and it was the dialogue and comedic situations that held the movie together and kept it moving, not its plot.

    Finally, for those who complain that the movie wasn't historically accurate about Dr. Kellogg's actual methods (such as his character's use of electric-powered machines for health therapy), the movie was a comedy, not a biography! It was meant to elicit laughs, and in that respect it was a smashing success. I haven't laughed so much during a movie in a long time.

    Some people should take Sargeant Hulka's ("Stripes") advice and "lighten up." Good comedy is not dependent on plot or historical accuracy to be entertaining; all that matters is that it's funny, and Wellville was one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 14, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    A charming comedy about the health fads which were sweeping America in the late 1800's. It kindof reminds me of all the crazes these days. The events are witnessed by Mr. and Mrs. Lightbody (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda) when they visit the huge Battle Creek Sanitorium run... read more by the destined-for-fame Dr. Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). A lot of gross and unusual health practices are exercised at the spa, and makes for a comic time. The Lightbody couple are separated for their individualized therapies, and meet very interesting and colorful characters. I found it a lot of fun, but I'd never actually go to a place like that; though I've been approached numerous times to do so. Meat and Potatoes!
  • jasontmartin3
    October 18, 2009
    jasontmartin3
    This is one of my top ten fav. If you have never seen it you must NOW! Such a good story with some truth behind it, org story with so meny things going on.I LOVE IT!!!
  • xcalibr377
    September 2, 2009
    xcalibr377
    uhhh..aka...The Road to Victorian Sex Camp. Anthony Hopkins fascination with bowl movements was awkwardly funny.
  • lcplbenee
    August 7, 2008
    lcplbenee
    I've got to say I enjoyed this because it sheds light into the little know dark world of the "Father of Corn Flakes"
  • 1980sgirl
    February 5, 2008
    1980sgirl
    Interesting little film that always makes me think of cashew chicken. That is what I was eating the very first time I saw it!
  • bexclark
    February 21, 2007
    bexclark
    Another period film, with Camryn Manheim in a brassiere, and partial nudity and health-craze references!

View All The Road To Wellville Reviews

Critic Reviews

Victoria Alexander
January 22, 2004
Victoria Alexander, FilmsInReview.com

Painful.

Ken Hanke
August 21, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Much maligned Alan Parker comedy that looks better all the time

Jonathan R. Perry
August 4, 2002
Jonathan R. Perry, Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Even a stellar cast can't save this meandering farce from a script that needs a high colonic.

Rob Gonsalves
January 1, 2000
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Off-putting at first, this self-consciously scatological comedy does grow on one. Full Review

Shane Burridge
January 1, 2000
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

One hilarious organic metaphor after another

Lisa Schwarzbaum
September 7, 2011
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

Todd McCarthy
August 8, 2008
Todd McCarthy, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

April 12, 2002
Globe and Mail

Click to read the article Full Review

Peter Stack
January 1, 2000
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

Click to read the article Full Review

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The Road To Wellville Trivia

  • Anthony Hopkins' "The Road to Wellville" took place in which city?  Answer »
  • Movie Trivia (Question 417318464) Anthony Hopkins Played the health zealot John W. Kellogg (real-life inventor of corn flakes) in which film?  Answer »
  • Who played Dr. Kellogg in the 'Road to Wellville'?  Answer »
  • What movie contains this quote? "Follow your heart. It is the one organ that will surely let you down one day so don't waste it while you are living?"  Answer »
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