“Stuck” – Susan Granger reviews
Inspired by a bizarre, true story, this twisted thriller chronicles how an unfortunate pedestrian, a homeless man, is accidentally hit by a car driven by a telephone-chatting, hard-partying chick and his body becomes impaled in her windshield.
Rather than calling 911 or rushing him to a nearby hospital, panicked, pill-popping Brandi (Mena Suvari) drives home, hiding the car in her garage, callously dismissing pathetic pleas for help from Tom (Stephen Rea), who lost his job and has just been evicted from his apartment. Suffering extensive injuries, Tom’s obviously a goner, and Brandi’s got her own problems. A conscientious worker, she’s up for promotion at Silver Cedars Elderly Assisted Living, and a hit-and-run accident could hurt her chances. Besides, as her drug-dealing boy-friend, Rashid (Russell Hornsby), says, “Anyone can do anything and get away with it. Look who’s in the White House.”
So psychopathically selfish Brandi leaves moaning Tom lodged in her windshield. But rather than die, his survival instinct allows him to gradually regain enough strength and stamina to struggle out of the shattered shards of glass and wreak revenge.
Since director/writer Stuart Gordon – with co-writer John Strysik – is best known for “Re-Animator” (1985) and “From Beyond” (1986), it’s not surprising that he dishes out fast-paced, viscerally heavy doses of gushing blood and grisly gore along with sly subtext of social commentary. All of the characters are ‘stuck’ in a de-humanizing ‘system.’
As for casting, in real-life, the woman was an African-American. Why Gordon chose Caucasian Mena Suvari – her hair in cornrows – eludes me, particularly since many of our finer actresses of color are looking for work. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Stuck” is a ludicrous, horrifying 3. To describe this as ‘bleak’ and ‘brutal’ is an understatement.
