End of the Road follows widowed nurse Brenda, her brother Reggie, and her two kids as they move from Los Angeles to the state of Texas. On the road trip, the family hears a murder happening in the motel room next door. Reggie steals a bag of money from the dead man, turning the four of them into the targets of a local crime boss, Mr. Cross. A helpful state trooper spends the first half of the movie trying to protect the family…. Or is he? Keep reading to find out who Mr. Cross is, whether the family survives, and, more importantly, what happens to the money.
The second Beau Bridges’ character appears at the Motel Sundown murder scene; something seems off about him. As it turns out, he is the film’s big bad, Mr. Cross. The reveal explains how he knew about the missing money when he approached Reggie and Kelly at the diner.
In the final act, while Brenda is busy fighting the rednecks who kidnapped her, her family gets taken hostage by Mr Cross and his wife. The elderly couple has been using his job as a Captain with the State Troopers to get away with being criminal masterminds. After our heroine gets away from the aforementioned rednecks, she receives a phone call from Mr. Cross, who orders her to take the money to his house to save her family. Of course, Brenda’s car breaks down while she’s less than 2 miles away from the geriatric house of drug lords.
Reggie doesn’t believe the villain would release him and his niece and nephew after getting the cash back, so he hatches a plan straight out of Home Alone: He fills up a bucket with bleach and lets it fall on Mr. Cross. They then fight off Mrs. Cross (played by Frances Lee McCain), who manages to stab Reggie. However, both geriatric criminals end up locked in the basement.
Reggie and the kids finally reunite with Brenda outside, who tells her brother to leave the money behind. The bag of money left at their doorstep wasn’t enough to dissuade the geriatric drug lords from chasing the family. The ensuing car chase is meant to be action-packed, but it’s kind of amusing instead. Even the scene where the two criminals meet their demise has a sure hilarity to it. That’s probably because it’s hard to see the sweet old southern couple as menacing, even when they are trying to be scary.
The film ends in a diner, as the four protagonists enjoy a well-deserved breakfast following their ordeal. Of course, Reggie reveals that he did keep a good chunk of the cash. While Brenda tried to convince him to “give it back,” they all realized no one would miss the money. So they decide to keep it. Cam calls it “restitution.” It’s a little on the nose, but still, it’s a well-made point.
Read More: End of the Road Review
