The alienating effects of racism are explored in this auteurist debut from editor, producer, writer, director, and star Abraham Lim. Set and shot in Kansas City, Roads concerns the inner rage of Johnson Lee (Lim), an Asian-American man who -- spurned by the death of a loved one and the casual racism all around him -- has withdrawn from farm-belt society. He takes to dodging freight trains at night, a pastime which quickly gets him in trouble with the law. Sentenced to picking trash off the sides of roads, Johnson becomes friends with the road crew's foreman, Daryl Logan (Gregory Sullivan). As Daryl and Johnson share their stories of bigotry, they come to a higher understanding of the modern-day Midwest. Legendary filmmaker and Kansas City native Robert Altman co-produced Lim's low-budget labor of love.
~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide