· The Road to Wellville · by Alan Parker ☼ online event

Although the story is inspired by actual events, the filmmakers take great liberties in the pursuit of absurdity. In the early 20th century, quack doctors and preposterous health advice flourished throughout America. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg ran a stylish health farm for the wealthy, and while he was genuinely eccentric, he’s played somewhat unfairly as a buck-toothed looney by Anthony Hopkins. Some of the practices shown did indeed occur at his institution, but some are copied from other practitioners for humorous effect. However, the overall action represents a representative sample of the methods actually employed during the era. Much of the movie follows the experiences of a fictional couple, played by Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda, who arrive for a wide variety of treatments.

■ Title — The Road to Wellville
■ Director — Alan Parker
■ Cast — Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick
■ Rating — R
■ ©1994 | 1h 58m | Comedy, Drama

■ Watch it free with ads on Fawesome:
https://fawesome.tv/movies/10695967/the-road-to-wellville
■ Watch it free with ads on Tubi:
https://tubitv.com/movies/551898/the-road-to-wellville
■ Available free without ads to Kanopy subscribers (details below):
https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/11187602
■ Available free without ads to Hoopla subscribers:
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12850173
■ Available free without ads to Amazon Prime subscribers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.e0b7f77c-9f2d-8d89-e72b-f03e265be318

■ Kanopy streaming service is available free to holders of DC library cards. DC libraries will issue cards to residents of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and other nearby areas. Visit any branch to obtain your card. Kanopy is also provided free to Loudoun County library card holders who live, work, or study in Loudoun County.

■ As with most of our online features, you can watch this one whenever you like. Members who watch at the scheduled time may enjoy exchanging comments with other members on this page. If you post a comment before the show, please avoid spoilers. Comments posted after the show may contain any content, but Oddball Cinema encourages members to always avoid spoilers unless there’s some particularly important details you need to mention.

■ Many of the movies on our online events from as far back as March 2020 are still available for viewing. However, titles sometimes move from one streaming service to another. If you find that the links on an old event no longer work, you can search for the current providers of any title here: https://justwatch.com