Stuart Gordon has one of the most eclectic resumes for anyone ever dubbed a “Master of Horror.” He originally made a name for himself in the horror community with the iconic “Re-Animator” back in 1985 and followed it up with other noteworthy genre entries such as “From Beyond,” “Dolls,” “Castle Freak” and “Dagon.” In addition to gore and sex filled flicks he’s also helmed kid’s movies (”The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit”) and silly yet enjoyable Sci-Fi fare like “Robot Jox,” “Space Truckers” and “Fortress.” His past two films “Edmond” and “King of the Ants” traded in the supernatural and Lovecraftian origins of his popular films for edgy drama. While his adaptation of Mamet’s one act play “Edmond” was a bit to over the top to be taken seriously (mostly due to Mamet’s notorious one-dimensional characters)”King of the Ants” was a disturbingly effective piece of work. Gordon keeps that gritty theme alive in his newest film “Stuck” that is not only his best directorial effort since “Re-Animator” but also one of the best films of the year.
Inspired by a true story, (a real true story not like “The Strangers” fake true story) “Stuck” tells the tale of Tom (Stephen Rea) a man down on his luck spending the his first night homeless on the streets. After being rousted from a park Tom begins to wander the streets pushing a shopping cart he was bestowed by a kindly bum that took pity on him. At the same time Brandi (Mena Suvari) an employee at a local nursing home is speeding through the night, drunk behind the wheel of her car on the way home after a night of clubbing. While zipping though an intersection she becomes more interested in her cell phone than the streets she’s driving on and the next thing she knows Tom is stuck in her windshield. Brandi panics and drives all the way home with Tom sticking out of her gore coated car. She parks the vehicle in her garage and when she realizes that she actually made it home without being seen, decides to leave him there. As he’s clinging to life she goes inside, takes ecstasy, screws her drug dealing boyfriend and falls asleep.
The next morning Brandi goes out to the garage hoping to find Tom as dead as the rest of the bugs on her windshield. Unfortunately for her Tom’s still alive and unfortunately for Tom she decides to knock him unconscious and leave him there until he has died from his wounds while she goes to work. Brandi considers getting him help, but she’s up for a big promotion at work and doesn’t want to jeopardize her chances of getting a raise in pay. The next time Tom wakes up he realizes that nobody’s going to help him out of this situation and it’s up to himself to get his broken, bloody body out of the windshield and the locked garage. “Stuck” is a movie that points out just how selfish and horrible human beings can be when they think that nobody is watching. There are several moments from the film that I’d like to give as an example but I would hate to ruin any more of the wonderfully chilling and effective moments in “Stuck.”
One of the main highlights of the film is Stephen Rea’s subtle performance as Tom. I’ve generally regarded Rea as one of cinema’s hammiest working actors who spends more time chewing on the scenery then elevating the films he is in. But in “Stuck” he portrays the soft spoken Tom perfectly and never gives in to his usual temptation of overtaking every scene he’s in. On the other side of the coin however is the film’s weakest point, Mena Suvari. With the exception of “The Slums of Beverly Hills” there’s never been a film I’ve enjoyed that featured her, she is essentially talentless, devoid of timing and hasn’t delivered a believable performance in her entire career. None of this has changed with “Stuck,” but for once she’s in a movie that has a great script and a director talented enough to make her performance inessential to the final product. But in the end if Gordon had cast almost any other actress in the role of Brandi “Stuck” would have been an even better movie than it already is.
Even though the story of Chante Mallard, the woman whom this story is based on, has been told in episodes of both “CSI” and “Law and Order” “Stuck” does a much better job of it, simply by not being either of those moronic television shows. There is an unnerving tone of black humor running through “Stuck” that at times boarders on all out cam. But thanks to the strong performances from Rea, Russell Hornsby as Brandi’s boyfriend Rashid and a brilliant cameo from character actor Lionel Mark Smith (who sadly passed away earlier this year) as Sam the benevolent bum “Stuck” maintains its integrity and never dissolves into camp.
The only other problem I had with “Stuck” outside of Suvari’s performance would have to be Gordon’s choice of casting a white actress in a role that should have been played by an African American actress. Chante Mallard, the woman that Brandi’s character was based off is black, Mena Suvari sports cornrows in the film, has all black friends, a black boyfriend and has fingernails that belong on the cover of Jet magazine. Yet Gordon only cast African-Americans in supporting roles and not the starring one, it was an odd decision that reeks of an attempt to keep “Stuck” from being viewed as a “Black” film by the general public. It’s a move that was undoubtedly done in order to ensure a higher revenue for the film, (white people don’t watch black movies or TV shows…R.I.P. UPN) but at the cost of the reality of the film itself. This in the end backfired considering the two best performances in “Stuck” were given by Smith and Hornsby who are both African American. I would have much rather seen either Thandie Newton or Gabrielle Union as Brandi. Hell, to be honest I would have rather seen Raven-Symone in the role, proving that anyone, even a former member of “The Cosby Show” would have been better than Mena Suvari. Too bad Gordon didn’t have Tempestt Bledsoe’s number in his Blackberry.
