Stuck (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Theatrical Release: May 30, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Best known for his horror classics RE-ANIMATOR (1985), FROM BEYOND (1986), and DOLLS (1987), director Stuart Gordon turned to character-driven thrillers in the early 2000s with KING OF THE ANTS (2003) and EDMOND (2005). STUCK continues in that vein, exploring humankind's potential for... Best known for his horror classics RE-ANIMATOR (1985), FROM BEYOND (1986), and DOLLS (1987), director Stuart Gordon turned to character-driven thrillers in the early 2000s with KING OF THE ANTS (2003) and EDMOND (2005). STUCK continues in that vein, exploring humankind's potential for cruelty toward one another. Inspired by real events, this is a bloody and disturbing revenge film with a pitch-black sense of humor and a handful of fine performances. Tom Bardo (Stephen Rea) is having a bad Friday. He's out of work and preparing for an interview at the employment agency when he is suddenly evicted from apartment. A computer glitch then causes him to spend the entire day waiting for his interview, then is turned away. With nowhere left to go, he finds himself sleeping on a park bench, only to be rousted by a cop. Enter Brandi (Mena Suvari), a corn-rowed nursing assistant heading home after a night of partying. Talking on the phone and driving under the influence, Brandi hits Tom, sending him crashing halfway through her windshield. Afraid of the consequences, she chooses to drive home, park the car in her garage, and not tell anyone. But Tom, despite this indignant end to a terrible day, still has some fight left in him. Based on true events that occurred in 2002 in Fort Worth, Texas, STUCK boldly plays on the grim absurdity of the situation. John Strysik's smart script pokes fun at the macho posturing of thug culture and the sad implications of a society where there are no exceptions to the "no snitching" policy. Suvari gives a wild, fun performance, and Rea's likable Tom is a prototypical underdog. Funny, painful, and crowd-pleasing, this is truly and proudly a B-movie, and a worthy addition to Gordon's impressive body of work. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby, Rukiya Bernard, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon
Screenwriter: John Strysik
Story: Stuart Gordon
Producer: Stuart Gordon, Christian Arnold-Beutel, Robert Katz, Jay Firestone, Ken Gord
Composer: Bobby Johnston
DVD Info
Release:
Oct 7, 2008
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Widescreen 1.78
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 2.0 - English
- Subtitles - English SDH, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Trailers - Theatrical Trailer
Pre-order it on DVD
Reviews
Stuck gives a boost to the dramatic elements of the story, while preserving the stern lesson about a society crumbling under the weight of self-interest and moral decay.
It makes for a taut little horror story, in which the 'monster' is not identifiable by horns or fangs.
You might hope for fiction to bring insight to senseless cruelty, rather than augment the ignominy of the original crime.
Director Stuart Gordon has insightfully shown the humorous side to a very un-humorous--even heinous--story of our fellow citizens behaving at their absolute worst.
Stuck lost me the moment it started going for cheap laughs. Are we really meant to snicker at his suffering and at this awful, awful woman?
"Stuck" does what any good B movie should, working its way under your skin with a mix of gory jolts and outrageous humor, while cutting uncomfortably close to the bone in its look at how people really behave under pressure.
Gordon's fantastic finale is immensely satisfying, more than compensating for the prior weaknesses.
There's no shortage of scenes that you'll watch through your fingers, groaning -- but you'll watch all the same.
A black-hearted ripped-from-the-headlines number that looks and feels like it could have walked out a '70s grind house just yesterday.
A splatter flick that stays a splatter flick. In spite of some glimpses of genius, this film never strays far enough from the genre into potentially promising moral territory.
...will attract the Stuart Gordon fans and those familiar with the real events that made national news back in 2001.
Screenwriter John Strysik could have written the script for Stuck on Post-Its. It slaps endless reminders of social significance over the fictionalized case of a female driver who hit a pedestrian and left him snagged and disabled in her windshield.
Stuart (Re-Animator) Gordon's murky misuse of Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea makes John Carpenter movies look like Art.
Gordon is a masterful storyteller when he's clicking on all cylinders. It's his best film in years.
Director Stuart Gordon ripped the 2001 story of Chante Mallard from the headlines and has fashioned a startling morality play while serving his fan base with blackly humorous, squirm inducing gore.
The movie's tone shifts all over the place until it's such a blur you're not sure which parts are working and which aren't.
Even though it may seem a long haul at just 85 minutes, it pays off by the time things finally start spiraling into hell.
Unlike the worthless torture porn that is destroying the genre, Stuck is a horror movie with a reason for being.
Stuck is a shot at making a cult film that doesn't quite come off, which is too bad because Gordon is an intriguing filmmaker whose work is worth a look.
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