OK as a Low-Budget Thriller
Added 8/29/2009
Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari) is a committed nurse. She is having a good day because she's got a promotion at home for senior people. Brandi goes to a night club after work, meets her boyfriend who is also a drug dealer, and drives home under the influence. On her way she runs over a man, Thomas Bardo, (Stephen Rea), and she runs away terrified, with the victim stuck in the car windshield. She puts her car in the garage, but to her surprise, he is still alive, asking for help. So what will she do?
The premise is interesting--"Stuck" is inspired by a true event that happened in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2001. The story is basically a thriller and there are many twists and turns intended to keep us guessing what is next in store. Many things happen and some of them are really surprising - or impossible - but definitely nasty.
In spite of gores and broken bones, tension fails to rise as it should because after all nurse Brandi's choices are limited from the beginning and she only delays her decision. To make a feature-length film out of this thin idea, the script of "Stuck" relies on poorly-conceived plot devices that only stall the story--side story about Thomas recently evicted; social satires (apathetic and bureaucratic workers at employment services) and occasional dark humor. You may giggle at Mena Suvari's love scene (brief nudity if you are interested) or a lovely dog licking the poor guy's fractured bone. But sorry, I was bored.
Or perhaps we should take her character and everything else as a parable. Maybe. But as a social commentary or character study, "Stuck" is too shallow to take seriously with stock characters and the leading lady's overacting. Inconsistencies within a character can be intriguing, and Mena Suvari's character, first seen as a dedicated nurse, then as an irresponsible hit-and-run driver, has a potential for insightful thriller. But instead of giving more details about her character and much subtler treatment of them, like in "The Collector" and "The Crying Game," Stuart Gordon-directed film seeks an easy way out - cheap thrills just like the heroine of the film.
"Stuck" has an intriguing concept, which could have been developed better with a simpler, more straightforward approach. The result is a confusion, not without fun, I admit, but ultimately unsatisfactory.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Clever and Unforgiving
Added 7/8/2009
"Stuck" will stick with you for quite awhile after you see it.
Great acting by Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea and a very clever story"read synopsis"..Brandi played by Suvari is unapologetically Sociopathic in her attempt to cover up the fact that she has hit a man "Rea" while intoxicated and he is stuck in her windshield like a love bug .
What ensues after that is terrifying and darkly humorous at the same time,but all the while I felt much sympathy for Rea's character,He was already down on his luck ,couldn't find a job and this was his first night living on the streets..and her car was the last thing he needed to come across and likewise as he was the last thing she and her car needed to come across..It turns into a cat and mouse game between Suvari's character Rea's and Suvari's thug boyfriend.
it plays out quite cleverly and was fun to watch.
There's a line in the movie that stuck with me, after Suvari's character left Rea stuck in the windshield and told him she was calling help but decided against it and went to bed.The next morning when she found he was still alive she looks at the bloody beat up Rea stuck in her windshield and say's"why are you doing this to me?
Chilling..
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Do not go gentle into that good night
Added 5/8/2009
If you'd like to be disgusted, search for the name Chante Mallard. What you'll find is the story of a drug/alcohol intoxicated woman, who hit a man named Gregory Biggs with her car while she was driving home. After the collision she completed her trip, parked in the garage, and proceeded to callously let Biggs bleed-out (officials believe he would have lived if given medical help) while she had sex with her boyfriend and no doubt did whatever else her morally decayed black heart desired.
Since no audience would appreciate simply seeing a man slowly bleed to death while stuck in a car windshield, the makers of this movie took some liberties with the truth. I'm ecstatic they did.
Thomas Bardo (Stephen Rea) is down on his luck. Evicted, jobless, possession-less, he doesn't even have a place to sleep. When police wake him from slumber on a park bench, he's forced to make his way toward a mission.
Meanwhile, Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari - miscast because Mallard is an obese black woman) is a soulless, selfish drug-abuser who is getting trashed and partying the night way. (Suvari really manages to pick out character roles that make me despise her) Many other reviewers may view her as "balanced", but since she's a drug-using drunk driver, and is a white girl with corn-rows - which never looks good - I'm going to go ahead and say that she's incredibly unbalanced and vile.
As if it were a surprise, she's blitzed out of her mind (thanks to X and alcohol), effing with her cell phone, swerving all over, and she blasts Bardo, mangling his legs and lodging him in the windshield. Drunk or not, people with a shred of humanity stop there and help the man. But not this intellectually, morally, and spiritually defective sociopath. Instead, she goes home and has the least appealing non-rape full-frontal nudity, sex scene in cinema history.
Ahh...the resolution. In real life, as I said before, it's boring. This movie, however, provides the resolution that Ted Kennedy sees in his nightmares. Brilliant. I won't ruin it, but the tight directing and believable acting accentuates Bardo's rage against the dying of the light.
Overall, I recommend this for people with mild tempers and no heart conditions.
COMMENTARY
Knowing the case beforehand, I watched the majority with a snarled lip. Such social apathy really brings out my misanthropy. This single instance serves as a harsh critical analysis representative of the insidious cultural decay that has wreaked havoc on the community, family, and morals of our society. It's an overtly sexual, me-first MTV-generation where every child is a precious little snowflake, nobody has respect for family, elders, or authorities, and selfishness all but negates personal accountability. People like Mallard are deserving of a special place in hell, and the fact that there is no doubt at least one person with sympathy for her only reflects society's decay. It's sad that the movie ending isn't the real ending, and that vile scum like Mallard are allowed to live, let alone be given the possibility of parole. With any luck (crossing my fingers), karma will make the rest of her life a horror movie.
6 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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Uniquely critical of the human race
Added 3/9/2009
This is truly a great film. It gets the viewer engrossed in the condition of a homeless man - played by Stephen Rhea - who has had everything taken from him - by apathetic people (who put efficiency and rules ahead of this man's unique circumstances).
The other main character is also sympathetic and makes you want to watch her - at first. However - when tested by the moral challenges posed by having our homeless friend trapped in her car's windshield - the apathy and evil demonstrated by the second character (a young nurses' aide) overwhelm the viewer with pity for Stephen Rhea's character. The film is a wonderful validation of the apathy and selfishness so pervasive in our society. I highly recommend this film - which is a very courageous unapologetically frank work of art.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Based on a true event, riveting story.
Added 2/7/2009
Several years ago a woman hit a pedestrian who got stuck in her windshield. She parked the car in her garage and told no one.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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OK as a Low-Budget Thriller
Added 8/29/2009
Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari) is a committed nurse. She is having a good day because she's got a promotion at home for senior people. Brandi goes to a night club after work, meets her boyfriend who is also a drug dealer, and drives home under the influence. On her way she runs over a man, Thomas Bardo, (Stephen Rea), and she runs away terrified, with the victim stuck in the car windshield. She puts her car in the garage, but to her surprise, he is still alive, asking for help. So what will she do?
The premise is interesting--"Stuck" is inspired by a true event that happened in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2001. The story is basically a thriller and there are many twists and turns intended to keep us guessing what is next in store. Many things happen and some of them are really surprising - or impossible - but definitely nasty.
In spite of gores and broken bones, tension fails to rise as it should because after all nurse Brandi's choices are limited from the beginning and she only delays her decision. To make a feature-length film out of this thin idea, the script of "Stuck" relies on poorly-conceived plot devices that only stall the story--side story about Thomas recently evicted; social satires (apathetic and bureaucratic workers at employment services) and occasional dark humor. You may giggle at Mena Suvari's love scene (brief nudity if you are interested) or a lovely dog licking the poor guy's fractured bone. But sorry, I was bored.
Or perhaps we should take her character and everything else as a parable. Maybe. But as a social commentary or character study, "Stuck" is too shallow to take seriously with stock characters and the leading lady's overacting. Inconsistencies within a character can be intriguing, and Mena Suvari's character, first seen as a dedicated nurse, then as an irresponsible hit-and-run driver, has a potential for insightful thriller. But instead of giving more details about her character and much subtler treatment of them, like in "The Collector" and "The Crying Game," Stuart Gordon-directed film seeks an easy way out - cheap thrills just like the heroine of the film.
"Stuck" has an intriguing concept, which could have been developed better with a simpler, more straightforward approach. The result is a confusion, not without fun, I admit, but ultimately unsatisfactory.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Clever and Unforgiving
Added 7/8/2009
"Stuck" will stick with you for quite awhile after you see it.
Great acting by Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea and a very clever story"read synopsis"..Brandi played by Suvari is unapologetically Sociopathic in her attempt to cover up the fact that she has hit a man "Rea" while intoxicated and he is stuck in her windshield like a love bug .
What ensues after that is terrifying and darkly humorous at the same time,but all the while I felt much sympathy for Rea's character,He was already down on his luck ,couldn't find a job and this was his first night living on the streets..and her car was the last thing he needed to come across and likewise as he was the last thing she and her car needed to come across..It turns into a cat and mouse game between Suvari's character Rea's and Suvari's thug boyfriend.
it plays out quite cleverly and was fun to watch.
There's a line in the movie that stuck with me, after Suvari's character left Rea stuck in the windshield and told him she was calling help but decided against it and went to bed.The next morning when she found he was still alive she looks at the bloody beat up Rea stuck in her windshield and say's"why are you doing this to me?
Chilling..
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Do not go gentle into that good night
Added 5/8/2009
If you'd like to be disgusted, search for the name Chante Mallard. What you'll find is the story of a drug/alcohol intoxicated woman, who hit a man named Gregory Biggs with her car while she was driving home. After the collision she completed her trip, parked in the garage, and proceeded to callously let Biggs bleed-out (officials believe he would have lived if given medical help) while she had sex with her boyfriend and no doubt did whatever else her morally decayed black heart desired.
Since no audience would appreciate simply seeing a man slowly bleed to death while stuck in a car windshield, the makers of this movie took some liberties with the truth. I'm ecstatic they did.
Thomas Bardo (Stephen Rea) is down on his luck. Evicted, jobless, possession-less, he doesn't even have a place to sleep. When police wake him from slumber on a park bench, he's forced to make his way toward a mission.
Meanwhile, Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari - miscast because Mallard is an obese black woman) is a soulless, selfish drug-abuser who is getting trashed and partying the night way. (Suvari really manages to pick out character roles that make me despise her) Many other reviewers may view her as "balanced", but since she's a drug-using drunk driver, and is a white girl with corn-rows - which never looks good - I'm going to go ahead and say that she's incredibly unbalanced and vile.
As if it were a surprise, she's blitzed out of her mind (thanks to X and alcohol), effing with her cell phone, swerving all over, and she blasts Bardo, mangling his legs and lodging him in the windshield. Drunk or not, people with a shred of humanity stop there and help the man. But not this intellectually, morally, and spiritually defective sociopath. Instead, she goes home and has the least appealing non-rape full-frontal nudity, sex scene in cinema history.
Ahh...the resolution. In real life, as I said before, it's boring. This movie, however, provides the resolution that Ted Kennedy sees in his nightmares. Brilliant. I won't ruin it, but the tight directing and believable acting accentuates Bardo's rage against the dying of the light.
Overall, I recommend this for people with mild tempers and no heart conditions.
COMMENTARY
Knowing the case beforehand, I watched the majority with a snarled lip. Such social apathy really brings out my misanthropy. This single instance serves as a harsh critical analysis representative of the insidious cultural decay that has wreaked havoc on the community, family, and morals of our society. It's an overtly sexual, me-first MTV-generation where every child is a precious little snowflake, nobody has respect for family, elders, or authorities, and selfishness all but negates personal accountability. People like Mallard are deserving of a special place in hell, and the fact that there is no doubt at least one person with sympathy for her only reflects society's decay. It's sad that the movie ending isn't the real ending, and that vile scum like Mallard are allowed to live, let alone be given the possibility of parole. With any luck (crossing my fingers), karma will make the rest of her life a horror movie.
6 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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