Kiefer Sutherland’s Best, Most Unhinged Performance Is in ‘Freeway’

Kiefer Sutherland first displayed a menacing screen presence with his breakthrough career role in the 1986 coming-of-age drama film Stand by Me, in which he is frighteningly convincing as Ace Merrill, a teenage hood who seems genuinely intent on slashing one or all of the film’s 12-year-old protagonists with a switchblade. Sutherland followed his role in Stand by Me with his compelling performance as David, the manipulative teenage leader of a motorcycle gang of bloodthirsty vampires, in the 1987 horror film The Lost Boys.

While Sutherland is now undeniably best known for the role of 24 series protagonist Jack Bauer, arguably his best career performance is featured in the 1996 dark comedy thriller film Freeway, in which he plays Bob Wolverton, a friendly-seeming school counselor who befriends a teenage juvenile delinquent runaway, played by Reese Witherspoon, before revealing himself to be a depraved serial killer.

In contrast to the various overtly disgusting villainous characters Sutherland has played throughout his career, one of the joys of watching his magnificently despicable performance in Freeway is to observe how nice Bob appears to be in the film’s early scenes, in which Bob slyly gains the trust of Witherspoon’s character, in much the same way the Big Bad Wolf does to Little Red Riding Hood.

Kiefer Sutherland Plays a Gleefully Sadistic Psychopath in ‘Freeway’

Kiefer Sutherland’s best performances are connected by the seriousness with which he approaches even the most outlandish roles and situations. Sutherland’s crazed performance as serial killer Bob Wolverton in Freeway is especially shocking when considering how friendly and reassuring Bob seems to be when he first introduces himself to Reese Witherspoon’s character, abused teenage runaway Vanessa, who initially views Bob as being a caring father figure, until Bob reveals himself to be a serial killer, known as the “I-5 Killer,” and then attempts to rape and murder Vanessa.

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The agility and inventiveness of Sutherland’s performance is most impressively displayed after the resourceful Vanessa shoots Bob several times, leaving him wounded. After miraculously surviving the strategically placed gunshot wounds, the outrageously disfigured Bob emerges as a darkly hilarious caricature of exploitation and hypocrisy. Joined by his beautiful socialite wife, Mimi, played by Brooke Shields, Bob embarks on a moral crusade against the coddling of “human garbage” like Vanessa. When Bob is revealed to be a serial killer, a stunned Mimi commits suicide, while Bob follows the Big Bad Wolf’s example from Little Red Riding Hood and targets Vanessa’s grandmother.

‘Freeway’ Is a Modern Retelling of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’

Kiefer Sutherland wholeheartedly embodies Bob Wolverton’s Big Bad Wolf persona in Freeway, which transports the Little Red Riding Hood legend to an underserved neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Reese Witherspoon’s character, the illiterate and uneducated Vanessa, lives with her abusive stepfather and prostitute mother. After her mother and stepfather are arrested, Vanessa takes her mother’s rundown car, with the intention of living with her grandmother in Stockton. When the car breaks down on a highway outside Los Angeles, Vanessa is picked up by Bob, who offers to drive her to her grandmother’s home.

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In a precursor to Witherspoon’s iconic comedic performances in the films Election, Legally Blonde, and Sweet Home Alabama, Vanessa exudes confidence and control throughout Freeway, especially when confronted with Bob’s terrifying threat. After surviving her violent encounter with Bob and leaving him for dead, a blood-covered Vanessa calmly walks into a nearby diner to order breakfast.

Unlike her vulnerable babe-in-the-woods fairy tale counterpart, Vanessa is a deadly, fearless, foul-mouthed heroine who outmaneuvers Bob throughout their absurdly twisted cat-and-mouse game. Witherspoon’s star-making performance in Freeway is perfectly complemented by Sutherland’s delightfully hateful performance as Bob, to whom Vanessa says, “Those are some f*cking big, ugly teeth you got there, Bob,” during their final confrontation.

Sutherland Has Played Many Memorable Villains in His 40-Year-Long Career

Kiefer Sutherland’s villainous screen persona is typically defined by his gravelly, matter-of-fact voice, as seen with his mesmerizing performance as a murderous sniper in the 2002 thriller film Phone Booth, which generates most of its tension through Sutherland’s virtually invisible character’s cryptic, taunting words. However, his brilliant performance as Bob Wolverton in Freeway transcends this persona by showcasing his broadened range as an actor.

Through the virtuosity of Sutherland’s performance, Bob becomes an inspired comedic creation, in which the disgusting elements of Freeway are presented within the context of black comedy and pointed satire. This is on full display after Reese Witherspoon’s character, Vanessa, turns Bob into a disfigured monstrosity who becomes a symbol of mockery for Vanessa’s dark sense of humor. Sutherland’s ability to make Bob look and seem simultaneously hilarious and horrifying was noted by critic Roger Ebert in Ebert’s enthusiastic review of Freeway. Ebert wrote:

“Sutherland, who has played great villains before, outdoes himself this time. [It] turns out he [Bob] was not killed by the gunshot wounds, but only wounded in all the most inconvenient places. The doctors patch him together into a Halloween monster whose face was shot away, who can hardly speak, who smokes through a hole in his throat, and whose other infirmities and amputations are too distressing to catalog.”

Freeway is streaming for free on Tubi, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Plex, and CW.