Tom Bardo (Stephen Rea) is having an extremely bad day. He’s been evicted from his apartment. A job interview appointment turned into a three-hour wait to fill out a form. Now homeless, he’s been kicked off the park bench on which he planned to sleep. The police direct him to a mission that’s across town. Tired and carrying all of his possessions in a shopping cart, Tom shuffles down the sidewalk to try to put this day behind him.
Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari), on the other hand, is having a pretty good day. She’s been notified that she’s in the running for a promotion at the retirement home where she works. To celebrate, she’s gone out for a night of partying with her friend and co-worker, Tanya (Rukiya Bernard.) And, while at the bar, she hooks up with her boyfriend, Rashid (Russell Hornsby), who’s going to stop by her house for some more partying after he makes a beer run.
Drunk and distracted by her cell phone, Brandi gets behind the wheel and tries to drive home. She clearly shouldn’t be driving. After nearly missing two other people, Brandi hits Tom, who’s crossing the street on his way to the mission. Tom goes head first through her windshield and becomes lodged in it. His head and upper body are in the interior of Brandi’s car while his legs are dangling outside on the hood. Dazed from partying and fearful of getting in trouble for driving under the influence, Brandi doesn’t take Tom to the hospital. She drives home and parks in her garage. Brandi goes into her house and tries to figure out what she’s going to do, while Tom wakes up and tries to free himself before he bleeds to death.
Stuck’s screenplay was written by John Strysk from an idea by director Stuart Gordon. Gordon, who is best-known as the director of the horror cult classic, Re-Animator, tries to put a comedic spin on this gruesome scenario in an attempt to make another cult-worthy film. He fails horribly. In addition, as if to appease Gordon’s horror fan base, Stuck also contains a hefty amount of gore, specifically an extended and completely unnecessary sequence where Tom tries to pull a windshield wiper blade from his side.
For the audience, the film’s bout with schizophrenia makes Stuck hard to sit through much less enjoy. The oddball characterizations of Brandi, her co-workers, neighbors, and friends are frustrating. While some might claim Stuck is meant to be some sort of commentary on inhumanity, I found it hard-to-believe and irritating that almost everyone in the film, except Tom, is portrayed as a moron.
What keeps Stuck from being a complete waste of time is the satisfying ending. At least it wasn’t frustrating.
Stuck is loosely based on an event that happened in Texas in 2001. Chante Mallard was driving home from a night of partying and struck Gregory Biggs, a homeless man, who became lodged in the windshield. In addition to providing the inspiration for Stuck, Mallard’s story has also been fictionalized for TV’s Law and Order and CSI.
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
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