Stuck

Introduction

Stuck was inspired by the true story of Chante Jawan Mallard who, in 2001, drove into a homeless man, embedding him in her windscreen and drove home, parked in the garage and left him to die while she had sex with her boyfriend.

Filmmaker Stuart Gordon, best known for Re-animator, followed the case and wanted to turn it into a film but couldn't do anything until after the trial, as which Mallard was sentenced to 50 years in jail. He wrote a story and teamed up with screenwriter John Strysik to turn it into a finished article for Gordon to direct. With Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea in the leads, Stuck is a low budget film that has done the festival circuit and been released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the US.

Brandi is a care worker in a nursing home who is told by her manager that she is being considered for a promotion and is asked if she would come into work on the next day, a Saturday. Although she worked the previous Saturday and has plans for Friday night, she doesn't want to jeopardise her chances of becoming nurse manager so reluctantly agrees.

After a night on the town with her boyfriend Rashid and best friend Tanya, she decides to drive home despite being the worse for wear from drink and ecstasy. On the way she literally runs into Thomas who has just had the worst day of his life having been made homeless.

This is no ordinary hit and run as Thomas is now wedged in her windscreen and, thinking about the consequences of going to the authorities, decides to drive home and park the car in her garage.

Video

Although this isn't the sort of film to show off your setup, the picture is clear with good colours and black levels. The special effects make up on Stephen Rea, who spends most of the film trapped in a windscreen and garage with no access to medical attention, is excellent, with some wince-inducing shots of his broken leg and the windscreen wiper impaling him on the car.

*The pictures contained in this review are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the image quality of the disc.*

Audio

A very good Dolby Digital 5.1 is overpowered by the sheer quality of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. This is a dialogue-dominated film but has some moments where the surrounds are used - and used well. The opening shot of residents in the home with pumping gangster rap is a fantastic juxtaposition of image and sound and part of the odd humour that is so familiar with Stuart Gordon's work, and this film.

Extra Features

The commentary with Stuart Gordon, John Strysik and Mena Suvari is an informal and jovial affair, as you'd expect, but there's plenty of information imparted by the participants and it's probably to Gordon and Strysik's credit that they spare Suvari's blushes and don't mention her sex scene where you get to see what was hidden under those rose petals in American Beauty!

The rest of the bonus material consists of some interesting featurettes, looking the story that inspired Stuck, the special effects and make-up, some behind the scenes footage and interviews with Gordon and Strysik.

There is also footage from the AFI Dallas International Film Festival which includes a Q&A session after a surprisingly empty screening, an interview session with Gordon and Rea and the Irish actor being interviewed outside. Rea isn't the most ebullient of speakers and much of this footage is notable by the brevity of his answers.

Conclusion

From the artwork and rather gory subject matter, I expected a film that was high on effects and low on character. Fortunately this is not the case and it's almost a non-Gordon like film, with surprising depth and maturity. Stuck isn't all doom and gloom as Gordon uses Samuel Beckett's duality of tragedy and comedy - there is a lot of comedy in Thomas' plight - in order to create moments of levity in what could otherwise be a very tough watch. Both Thomas and Brandi are stuck, whether it's in a windscreen or a mess of their own making.

Gordon cleverly doesn't condemn Brandi despite the horrific nature of her behaviour. He puts the viewer in her position, asking them what they would do if they were full of alcohol and drugs, had just hit someone with their car and any 'responsible' behaviour would undoubtedly end them in jail. Suvari is a fine actress (though the last film I saw her in was the Day of the Dead remake, in which she was woefully miscast) and she does an excellent job of portraying Brandi's dilemma, switching from a woman in real emotional turmoil to a completely selfish human being.

Rea is similarly good, with his hangdog expression showing all the despair and woe in the character but then there is an inner steel and determination to survive once he finds himself not only wedged in a windscreen but locked in a garage.

Both Brandi and Thomas are victims of the culture of success - Brandi has to work to get a promotion and can't afford to be late, let alone be found responsible for a DUI accident whereas Thomas was sacked in a downsizing exercise and is reduced to pushing a shopping cart around the streets containing the only clothes he could salvage from his apartment and a photograph of his son. The audience's sympathy is obviously with Thomas but you understand Brandi's predicament without being forced to approve of her actions.

For a low budget and largely unknown film, I was surprised to find Stuck available on Blu-ray, albeit in North America, and it is a film well worth seeing. I can't find a UK date for the film's release - apparently it's only been shown at the Dead by Dawn Film Festival in Scotland - so it seems unlikely that a theatrical run and DVD/BD release is on the horizon. Thankfully though this US Blu-ray disc is all region.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend at least a rental but as that option's not available for those of us in the UK, a 'blind buy' is on the cards, especially if it drops in price.