Stuck (2007)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers (WGA):

John Strysik (screenplay)
Stuart Gordon (story)

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (Turkey)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A young woman commits a hit-and-run, then finds her fate tied to her victim.

Plot Keywords:

Hit And Run | Fight | Loosely Based On Real Events | Soiling Pants | Inspired By True Events

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Mena Suvari	...	Brandi Boski
Stephen Rea	...	Thomas Bardo
Russell Hornsby	...	Rashid
Rukiya Bernard	...	Tanya
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon	...	Petersen
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Sam
Wayne Robson	...	Mr. Binckley
R.D. Reid	...	Manager
Patrick McKenna	...	Joe Lieber
Sharlene Royer	...	Tiffany
Bunthivy Nou	...	Gloria
Suzanne Short	...	Receptionist
Wally McKinnon	...	Beat Cop (as Wally MacKinnon)
John Dartt	...	Cop
Liam McNamara	...	Thin Young Man

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing content, sexuality/nudity, language and drug use.

Runtime:

85 min | Canada:94 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada | USA | UK | Germany

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | Australia:MA (DVD release) | Australia:MA (2008) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Company:

Prodigy Pictures

Trivia:

When the Receptionist calls Thomas to his appointment, she mistakenly calls him "Mr. Brado." This suggests that the reason he is not "in the computer" is a clerical error on the part of the job agency.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Bardo does hit the windshield, it breaks rather large, jagged pieces. Automotive windshields are made from a laminated safety glass. They do not break in sheets, but instead "spider-web" when they are struck.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[At the care facility, a patient offscreen calls for Brandi]
Mr. Binckley: Brandi! I want Brandi!
Gloria: He did it again.
Brandi Boski: He did?
Gloria: I tried helping, but he keeps asking for you.
Brandi Boski: Yeah, he does that.

Movie Connections:

Version of Hit and Run (2009) (V)

The best B-movie since BOUND

9/16/2008 Addendum: IMPORTANT! This review applies ONLY to the 94-minute FESTIVAL cut of this film. I see that the DVD version is only 85 minutes ... do NOT buy or rent it based on this review.

* * * *

It's movies like this one that will keep me going to the 'Midnight Madness' program of the Toronto Film Festival forever. I saw it at last year's, and have been looking forward to a repeat viewing ever since. I love it when a low-budget film can soar above the corporate mega-movies on a clever script and a cast that gives it 110%, and this is definitely one of those movies. It gave me everything I could want in such a film – sex, drugs, and violence, with some jet-black humor for dessert. (Note to PG-13ers: AVOID!) It probably won't make a big splash when it's released theatrically, but I'd put money on it achieving cult status after coming out on video.

This is easily the best work that director Stuart Gordon has done since REANIMATOR – I'd go so far as to say that it's his best ever. It's a suspense-horror-comedy full of situations that make you laugh and groan at the same time … one that's also refreshingly NOT top-heavy with f/x. The Midnight Madness program has a firm policy that a film has to grab your attention within the first 15 minutes in order to qualify for inclusion, and this film meets that requirement with room to spare. What's more, it never drags for a minute.

The story is based on the bizarre true life tale of a woman who hit a homeless man with her car and let him slowly bleed to death while stuck in her windshield. Gordon calls this "the way the story should have turned out." The homeless man in this case is played by the reliable Steven Rea, whose sad eyes give him a head start on eliciting sympathy. He's newly homeless, and his fall to the bottom is cleverly punctuated by him repeatedly hearing a timeworn cliché uttered by a succession of unsympathetic characters. The woman is played by American BEAUTY's Mena Survari, and this is her richest role since that one. She finally gets to play a character who actually evolves over the course of a film, instead of just doing 9-5 duty in another eye candy role.

I can't overemphasize how impressive the bang for the buck that Gordon gets with this film is. He also makes an amusing Hitchcock-style cameo (one that I'll bet Hitch himself wouldn't have minded making). There was genuinely enthusiastic applause at the screening I went to when the movie ended and the cast (except for Rea) came on for a lively Q & A. If movies lately seem a bit too tame for you, this is very likely just what the doctor ordered.