American Dresser

American Dresser has Billy Joel listed in the credits as a consulting producer. But don't worry -- the movie isn't packed with wall-to-wall Billy Joel songs. He's on-board because he's a huge fan of the subject matter: riding motorcycles. (Joel owns a motorcycle gallery in Long Island called 20th Century Cycles.)

This movie has Tom Berenger, all white-haired and potbellied, as a Long Island family man who plows through alcohol after losing his beloved wife (Gina Gershon) to cancer. When he sifts through old, personal stuff one night, he discovers an unopened 25-year-old letter. Its contents send him on a cross-country trip on his trusty dresser (translation: a decked-out motorcycle). Accompanying him is his ailing best buddy (Keith David), a fellow rider and Vietnam vet, and a stoic stranger (Carmine Cangialosi, the movie's writer-director) with secrets of his own.

When Berenger and his boys are out on the open road, flying through the highways and byways, you might wrapped up in their earnest, geriatric journey -- at least when it's not obvious Berenger and David are really riding on flatbed trucks. They come into contact with some cute, colorful folk, including Penelope Ann Miller as an accommodating loved one and Bruce Dern as another veteran rider. There are some pointless bumps in the road, like a brief, brutal detour to hicksploitation country complete with a corrupt police department (led by Jeff Fahey, of all people). But if you like the sight of damn-near-elderly easy riders, this Billy Joel-approved film is here for you.