Reviewed by Robert Hull
Stars Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby, Rukiya Bernard,
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Lionel Mark Smith, Patrick McKenna | Written by John Strysik
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 85 minutes | Directed by Stuart Gordon
Like a nervous boyfriend on a first date some films just can’t get it right. The words don’t come out as intended or the moves are clumsy. Such is the way with Stuck. It’s "inspired" by true events; so isn’t actually a true story, and it’s neither the psychological thriller it is billed as, or the satire online reviewers have claimed it could be. Instead, file it under unintentional comedy – perhaps the worst of all film categories.
As first dates go it doesn’t start out too badly. Brandi (Suvari) works at an old people’s home, she’s caring, popular, and being considered for promotion. That the promotion might come at the expense of her limited free time isn’t important as she celebrates with drug-dealing boyfriend Rashid (Hornsby) and her best friend Tanya (Bernard).
Across town things don’t look so good for Thomas Bardo (Rea). He’s ousted from his accommodation and jobless. In the space of a few hours he’s living on the streets. What happens next is unbelievable. Pilled-up from her night out Brandi drives home. She’s not looking as Thomas crosses the road against the traffic lights. She hits him. He gets stuck in her windshield. She drives home and parks in her garage!
The horror of this moment is not missed. It is shocking. But the fact that Stephen Rea spends the next 30 minutes acting with his legs sticking out of a car windshield – occasionally managing to beep the car horn – is incredible for all the wrong reasons. It is believable to have a character panic and to not know what to do but Brandi’s subsequent change, during a 24-hour period, from kind carer to psycho-bitch never feels plausible.
The explosive ending delivers the inappropriate conclusion that Stuck’s lack of consistency demands, failing to provide anything other than a neat tidy-up. Low budget or not, the filmmakers should have spent more time exploring how to portray an horrific situation without it becoming farce. No one really ‘escapes’ the film with any credit, and using our date analogy, then Stuck has made an inappropriate comment, unconvincingly pinged at a bra strap and has received a stinging slap to the face. No, it wouldn’t be ‘fun’ to do this again.
EXTRAS ** Audio commentary with director Gordon, star Suvari and screenwriter Strysik, plus a "making of" documentary.