Customer Reviews

Trucker

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Trucker is a DVD movie about an independent-minded truck driver Diane Ford, accustomed to enjoying a carefree life marked by one-night love affairs, hard drinking, and long haul days on the road. But her life changes dramatically when she suddenly has the responsibility of caring for her eleven-year-old son Peter - whom she has not seen since he was a baby. Peter's father is incapacitated in the hospital; now Diane's life is turned upside down, as she struggles with caring for a boy as distrustful of her as she is of him. Difficult choices lie ahead for her, and she must come to grips with a future that holds more challenges and pitfalls than she has ever imagined. A thought-provoking and emotionally moving saga about the culmination of a turning point in one's life, highly recommended. 93 minutes, closed captioned, rated R.

This can be one of those films where a reviewer can write paragraphs of material about the narrative, performances, nuances, subtlety of emotions, and loads of other wonderful stuff, but when the credits suddenly appeared I had to wait a day to scribe some thoughts.

A character/performance film all the way, with Michelle Monaghan being given her first chance at carrying a film - and without hesitation I think she did an outstanding job. The story follows our main gal as she trucks for a living, unburdened by any emotional or long term physical relationships. She is suddenly given the responsibility of having to take care of her estranged boy, last seen when he was an infant. The rest (and majority) of the film covers their new relationship and the pitfalls they both face with her road life. Very dry at times, but some genuine moments and strong showings make for a solid film. Would have liked to see more happen with certain roles (I liked Serenity so it was nice to see Fillion) but I suppose the ending had to be ambiguous.

The picture clarity is average at times, clear in a few outdoor spots and the sound is a weak 5.1 with most everything directed through the center channel. The supplements are extremely weak and should not have even been added:
* Actress Prepares for her Role, less than 2 minutes. A music montaged slide show of Michelle walking around a truck stop - forgettable.
* Behind the Scenes Slideshow, less than a minute. Same thing - forgettable.

Would have hoped for some stellar supplements from Monterey as I am a big fan of their work (especially Humble Pie, Local Color and The Village Barbershop) but this will have to stand alone as a character film. 4 stars for Michelle but zero for anything else.

TRUCKER

STARRING: Michelle Monaghan, Jimmy Bennett, Nathan Fillion, Benjamin Bratt, Joey Lauren Adams and Mathew Lawrence

WRITTEN BY: James Mottern

DIRECTED BY: James Mottern

Rated: R
Genre: Drama
Release Date: 09 October 2009



Trucker is the kind of film that explaining the details of to someone who hasn't seen it, makes it sounds like a clichéd mess. It's not. It has oodles of moments that could have been falsely tuned and resulted in scenes that have us rolling our eyes; but as they are handled with care, our eyes are instead affixed to the screen.

The upsetting phone call just as characters walk in the door with cheery faces; the moment where two best friends are shocked to learn they have feelings for one another even though we know they do after only two minutes with them; and of course the over the top "I love you" moment between the two main characters, all come to mind.

Trucker deals with all three of these overly abused cinematic scenarios, as well as countless others. But right when we are leaning on them, expecting them do exactly what we've seen those moments do in a million other movies; Trucker sidesteps with them, and instead has us fall over unexpectedly. We're smiling as we climb back up to our feet.

Some moments tear you apart, and my eyes were stinging with tears for a good third of the movie at least. It's put together brilliantly especially when considering that this is writer and director James Mottern's first picture. With any bit of movie-magic luck, it will be far from his last.

One of the things I liked most about this film is how it doesn't make a big deal about its plot points. It doesn't try to showcase them as overly cinematic; it just rolls with them, making them realistic and relatable which in turn transitions into cinematic anyways.

I've been watching Michelle Monaghan for quite a while now, wondering when someone was going to give her a shot at the title. She's certainly earned it, by practically carrying movies with her supporting performances in Made of Honor, Eagle Eye, The Heartbreak Kid and Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, to name only a few. Despite the fact that she was seriously overlooked for an Oscar nomination, her journey to land leading roles will be a downhill breeze from here on out.

Monaghan plays a trucker named Diane, and we love her but hate her. She's a sweetheart, but she does some really stupid things and continuously lets us down. Her redemption comes from both her acknowledgement that this is the way she is, and her slow transition into something more.

When an old flame becomes ill stricken, Diane's 11-year-old son Peter (Jimmy Bennett) is dropped off to her by the ex's new girlfriend. The dying ex-lover and Diane made an agreement years ago, that she would have nothing to do with their son and that he would raise him. Diane isn't suited for this type of life you see; she drinks, she smokes, she sleeps around, she's on the road for weeks at a time and she simply doesn't like to get close to people.

Naturally she takes the youngster in for a few weeks, and he begins to grow on her. But not in the way you'd assume. He's more like an unwanted appendage or growth that she HAS to deal with.

Being as stubborn as his mother, Peter takes her attitude and dishes it right back. Peter's a bright kid, played perfectly by Jimmy Bennett, and we get the sense that if she'd only love him, he'd be an angel. But he's not about to be that easy on her. And after all, she doesn't love him. She makes sure he knows this, and that she didn't want to have him.

She doesn't say these things in an attempt to hurt him; it's just her way. She's brutally honest. And while that's not the way to raise a child, Peter is luckily smart enough to appreciate her at least for her honesty. And while she may not say it, her actions show that she cares for him. He and we sense she's a good person, but needs work. And maybe, just maybe, Peter will be able to help her out with that.

Lately I've had the very good luck to stumble across some terrific films starring actresses whom I've really admired in supporting roles: Michelle Williams in WENDY AND LUCY, Melissa Leo in FROZEN RIVER, and Brittany Murphy in THE RAMEN GIRL. I was a bit giddy with my streak of movie-success when I stumbled across TRUCKER starring Michelle Monaghan -- the terrific actress from KISS KISS BANG BANG and GONE BABY GONE. Foolishly, I spent a good seven bucks on it, gambling my movie-luck would continue. Oh well.

TRUCKER is written and directed by James Mottern. Monaghan is one of the executive producers. The film was selected for several film festivals, and has won some critical praise for Monaghan's performance.

But unfortunately I find the script here to be unworthy of Monaghan's talents as an actress. The "characterization" of Diane Ford, female trucker, consists entirely of tough-girl cliches and photogenic posing: She drinks; She smokes; She scowls; She drives drunk; She hangs with her married male buddy in bars. She has sweaty girl-on-top sex with strangers in tacky motel rooms, then stomps off into the night while the poor puppy-eyed guy still wants to cuddle, doing everything but actually throwing money at him to make clear her scorn. All this proves how tough she is, as does the fact that she never needs to wear a bra, sometimes fails to wear pants, and makes it through the whole movie looking like she hasn't washed or combed her hair for a over a week.

Well, this has to stop, so the Movie dumps her long lost eleven-year-old brat Peter on her doorstep. Peter's dad is dying of cancer, and is portrayed as a sort of martyr/victim throughout the film, which ignores the fact that he apparently raised his son to treat women with complete contempt. Peter calls his mother "Bitch" as a matter of course, steals from her purse right in front of her, and when he is actually angry either calls her a "lot lizard" or tries to hit her with a baseball bat. His main task is to scold her for her transgressive and unfeminine behavior, explaining to her that women shouldn't be truckers, and if they cannot stay at home they should at least want to.

This is a plot-less movie, focusing instead on human interaction. Which is fine, except none of the human interaction rings true -- not between Diane and Peter anyway. Diane seemed so implausible that she initially struck me as a poorly written male character simply recast as a hot female -- and I only changed my mind about this due to the pointed sexism of the script, not because Diane ever became more true-to-life. Likewise, I am no expert on eleven-year-old boys, but Peter's prim reactionary lectures and precocious psycho-analysis ("You act like you're so tough . . . but you're the scaredest person I know") sound really fake. Doesn't he at least think her TRUCK is cool? If so, he hides it well.

Compare to the German film BELLA MARTHA (aka MOSTLY MARTHA). This film has a similar plot to TRUCKER, but the performances are so terrific that whenever the woman and child are interacting, you don't feel like you are watching performances. This is possible because the script is actually plausible, and portrays a believable child who acts her age. In contrast, Monaghan and Bennett try hard, but the contrived script shoots them down. Bennett's only believable scenes are with Nathan Fillion (and those are pointless filler).

Then there is our climax -- the attempted rape scene, where Diane is violently attacked by her chum's brother-in-law during a home invasion/robbery, and gets rescued by Peter, wielding his baseball-bat again. I agree with the reviewer who finds this "nauseating" and stupid. But beyond that -- there is some very nasty subtext implying that rape is the WOMAN'S responsibility. "That is not who I am," Diane tells the guy after the kid clonks him, as though it was HER behavior at issue. Given the context, the implication is that rape is the righteous punishment for trashy female behavior, but that by accepting her role as mommy, and saying "No" when her married chum came on to her, Diane has become a "good woman" and thus un-rape-worthy. Diane doesn't call the police or go to the hospital after this incident. Apparently she is not quite good enought to deserve that. Or maybe, as the other negative reviewer observed, this is a film that thinks a "good woman" doesn't defend herself -- legally or otherwise.

Well, that's what I got out of this film. The only "positives" are nicely framed shots of the photogenic Monaghan, some nice South-Western scenery, a nice soundtrack, and some good work from Nathan Fillion. If you want a movie about a tough and flawed single mother, the subplot in FROZEN RIVER about Melissa Leo's relationship with her teen son is twenty times better than anything here, and it's not even the best part of that film. But if you want vile misogyny veiled by cheap sentiment dressed up as an art-house flick and spiced up by Monaghan tromping across the highway in her skivvies, then you MIGHT like this just fine. But you also might be really bored anyway.

Whoa! Did you see Michelle Monaghan in The Trucker, whom she portrays? I haven't seen this great of acting since anything I've seen by Hilary Swank. Yep, Monaghan is right up there with the greatest.

The story of a lone female trucker is a story of survival. Not just surviving a world of economic hardship, but surviving oneself. The balance between life and work achieved over ten years is now challenged by the arrival of her eleven year old boy, whose dad is dying of colon cancer. The change of character as portrayed by Monaghan is nothing short of brilliant. Though she's been hardened by circumstances of her life it is still difficult to imagine a mother, who has abandoned her son in favor of having her freedom regardless of its difficulties. The raw harshness of a mother upon a son as if he is a stranger is thawed out ever so slowly, but a woman cannot forget being a mother as she briefly smells the face of her sleeping son on the couch. Fighting to win inner peace, and to love herself through what she's procreated is a divine balance that wins the hearts of a viewing audience.

I like seeing a good indy flick. I like the big stuff too but sometimes you need a break. This is a good break.

Here's the scoop. Michelle Monaghan drives a big rig over the road. Sometimes for days at a time. She finds out a husband she had some 11 years earlier, and with whom she bore a child, is in the hospital with the big "C." Dad's girlfriend is tied up with some familial things so Michelle has been elected to take care of her child whom she has not seen in 10 years. Is she up to it?

This isn't a new idea by any means but it's done up really well here. At the center is Michelle. Who would believe this tiny waif of a girl as an over the road driver? She pulls it off in spades. They show her doing her thing with the truck. Filling the tank, working the engine, connecting and disconnecting the various cables and she's entirely believable. Even her physical attitude is spot on. She's an independent loner who you could easily call selfish. She wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it. She will be beholden to no one. Her son is a real pistol. He's got a foul mouth, is also a loner, and gives her all kind of hell. He will not make things easy for her. On the fringe is Nathan Fillion as Runner. He's married but loves Michelle. He's been hanging out with her and drinking with her for 4 years but the two haven't had sex. He'd love to, but she knows better. He does what he can to make the boy feel welcome and help the two bond. Benjamin Bratt plays the dad. Joey Lauren Adams plays his girlfriend. They do a decent job with small roles.

A couple of the scenes are a bit forced but most feel good. You know pretty much what has to happen but it's cool to see how it's handled. You like the characters and their struggles. The American Southwest works well as a setting. The various deserts, mountains, rivers, and even scrub add to the overall mood. All the production values are in line with the script and though the music is pretty heavy on the country side, there are a couple of tunes to appeal to the more indy minded.

If you like a good indy movie, check this out. You should enjoy.

First I must admit, I am a Nathan Fillion fangirl. Got this movie just because he was in it, but it took me 5 months to get around to watching it. I have to say the description of the movie on the amazon page makes it sound like a real downer of a movie. Plus, I didn't know of Michelle Monaghan, the lead actress, so I put off watching it. Well, now I am a fan of hers. I think she pulled off the character perfectly. You wouldn't expect to pull for a woman that left her husband and baby to work as truck driver. You sense the character has some inner demons and that she hasn't quite dealt with them yet. The arrival of her son, 11 years later, starts to crack her tough, independent facade. She is 28-29 years old at the time and finally starts to reflect on her life and future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and was glad it wasn't as depressing as I feared it might be. Not that it is a humorous laugh fest, but it has its moments. The lives you see on the screen could be lives people are actually living.

Some of the naysayers of this movie really got up in arms over a particular scene in the movie (no spoilers here), but I disagree with their viewpoints of it, and think that Diane (Monaghans character) acted totally within character in how she handled it. Life is unpredictable and when crap happens, it's way too easy for others to critique how someone else handles something when they weren't even there. Armchair quarterbacking I saw.

And of course, Nathan Fillion was totally awesome and as good looking as ever. 2 good reasons to watch the movie, a good (chick-ish)flick, and Fillion!

There's absolutely nothing flashy about Trucker... and that's exactly what makes it so darn *good*.

It's just a simple story about a single mom making her living as a truck driver who constantly travels across the country, and one night her young son comes to visit her after the boy has been living with his father previously. The reason the 10-year old little boy comes to visit his mother is because his father is dying of colon cancer and he needs somewhere to stay.

Now the mother has NO idea her son is coming to visit her, let alone actually has to spend a considerable amount of time with her.

The woman who plays the mother is named Michelle Monaghan, and let me tell you something- I've never seen her in any other film prior to this one (at least I don't *think* I have) but she totally nails the "What am I supposed to do?" mother/adult role, concerning how she's supposed to react towards her son since she apparently had no experience with kids before this.

She seemed shy around her son, and uncertain what to say, what to do, and most importantly, how to discipline her mouthy and occasionally out of control son.

The little boy delivers a terrific performance as well. The movie mostly focuses on the mother though. You see she's a truck driver with a troubled past (which explains why she's not together with her sons father). Actually, the way the storyline is delivered, she seems to *still* be stuck in that little routine of hers with absolutely no desire to change (except for the ending of course, which I won't spoil).

The storyline mainly focuses on building up trust with her son, and attempting to win him over.

Overall, this movie has a very quiet and down to earth style about it, which is what makes it so great. Trucker should be a more popular film.

A mother has left the (to her) cloying world of motherhood and become an over the road trucker. The child's father has had custody for the last ten years of his 11 year-old's life and is loved deeply by his son. When he contracts cancer and his wife's parent dies, the father turns to the trucker to take care of the son while he enters the hospital to either recuperate or die. The mother and son begin with recriminations, anger and harsh words, move on to understanding and end up loving one another (all as one would hope and expect).

Michele Monaghan as the mother, Diane, carries the movie and she does so expertly. James Mottern's direction is strong, the production values high, particularly considering the twin facts of a 19-day shoot and a one and a half million-dollar budget. This is a small film, but done very nicely with superb performances all around. It is a story about love and responsibility, the latter a slippery notion for Diane, who has abandoned her son but built an economic life by scrimping to complete the payments on her truck and making progress on the mortgage-free ownership of her one-bedroom house somewhere in a place like Barstow. Her self-indulgent private life, which consists of hard drinking and one-night stands, is about to change and we enjoy her (and her son's) somewhat uneasy but altogether predictable transformation. This is a small gem.

I watched this movie by accident. I read the summary of the film and was mildly curious about it. When it came on I couldn't turn it off. It runs like an indy film, not a lot of flash and bang, no car chases or expensive stunts or CGI effects, and no blaring sound track showing off how great the latest Dolby system is. It's the story and the acting that makes this movie. It could stand on its own as a great story, but when they cast Michelle Monaghan in the lead role it changed everything. She makes this movie. It's impossible to stop watching her or not care what happens to her.

Everyone else has already summed up the story for you, so I'm just going to tell you, whether you know who Michelle Monaghan is or not makes no difference. I had no idea who she was. But in this movie playing this role she is amazing. I watched it from beginning to end and then immediately went online to buy it. It's a great little movie with a perfectly chosen cast.