Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
Crwthod
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
sfiver
The two times I've seen this movie I've missed the first ten or so minutes. Often those initial scenes can lay the entire foundation of what follows.Simply stated, I liked the film. The "belated" mother and "angry" pre-teen concept is rarely explored. It is normally the child/father reunification, which I suppose is more common. It is very rare for a mother to abandon her infant leaving the child's total care to the father.The film's overall synergy is the intimate portrait through the screenplay and extremely honest dialog between mother and son. Its downfall rests in the same place.Michelle Monagan's "Diane" is not fully believable as the runaway mother turned rig-driver. I place this malfunction on the director. Her seemingly instant acceptance as Peter's mother is hollow. However, when that bump (although it is apparent throughout the film) is overcome it becomes a bittersweet love story. Young Jimmy Bennett's "Peter" is relatively excellent. When the two characters are left alone, which is a great deal of the picture, the film works best.Dying father "Len Bonner" (very curious name) played by Benjamin Bratt offers nothing to the overall story and script. His screen time could not be more than 8 minutes. His importance to 11-year old Peter appears distant and unrealistic. It would've been justifiable to simply have buried him at the beginning of the picture.Overall "Trucker" is a worthwhile watch, if for nothing else than for Jimmy Bennett. I'm guessing from the IMDb stats that he was about 12 or 13 when this film was made. Further research shows he currently plays the nerdy, teen-age genius on TV's "No Ordinary Family." His career is one to watch.
Cat21299
This movie has so many political overtones.I wasn't able to get into it.The shirt on the kid, the president in blood and the immigration comment. Come on,what the does that have to do with a female trucker and her estranged kid. The movie's director needs to take a refresher course on staying true to a movie's plot and stop trying to making political statements.The actor ,Michelle Monaghan is a good actress, but Adam Sandler made better use of her in The Heartbreak Kid.This site is seriously in need of a make over, why do we have to have so many words in a post and then you won't allow an exclamation.Geez , the time I wasted on this site will make you shout.
Jay Harris
James Mottern wrote & directed,It is first theatrical effort.I feel he will be a force to be reckoned with over the next few decades.This is a drama of the first order,It is not a happy film.It is a simple story of sad lonely people. None of them are where they want to be. Due to the cleverness of the writer & the superb acting by a non big-name cast, we go along with it and are drawn into what is occurring.Michelle Monagham's performance is an award winning one. This is not a big studio release so thusly it has no big 'PUSH' for any awards.Eleven year old Jimmy Bennett is excellent as her son. Nathan Fillon (TV featured performer)is her caring neighbor. Benjamin Bratt as her ex husband & the lads father is equally great.The cinematography & song score are also first rate.THis is an art house low budget movie so as expected it did not have a decent theatrical release.I highly recommend this drama for all those who appreciate real good film.There is some violence towards the end,BUT this important & not just put in the film.Ratings: **** (out of 4) 97 points (out of 10) IMDb 10 (out of 10)
kuchynata
I was able to see this film at the Austin Film Festival 2008. Saw it twice actually, since Natnan Fillion's number one fan wasn't able to go the night I had it on my calendar. Despite problems with the script (didn't always ring true) and definitely with the dialogue (again, problems with truth, and reality), Nathan, Michelle, and Jimmy give fine performances. Dialogue weakness, I would guess, would be a tough thing for an actor to overcome, but Nathan sails through it with flying colors. I would have liked to have asked the director why he chose sepia tones for some of the scenes - they simply didn't fit with the message/action on screen. I'd ask, but he'd probably not answer, like in the Q&A at the Sunday evening screening. (What, me bitter? No.) If I had to guess, I'd say that the director makes some rookie errors since this was his first narrative; and, it appears he was more interested in being an "artiste" rather than telling the audience a story. Overall though, I enjoyed the picture, particularly Nathan Fillion, Michelle Monaghan and Jimmy Bennett.
