True, Trucker was not on my original list of flicks I was seeing, but that’s because I was unable to procure tickets. Therefore, I decided to try the rush-tickets line, arriving about 45 minutes before the show. Lo and behold, someone in the regular line had an extra ticket, so he gave it to me … for free! The rush-ticket system DOES work - as long as you show up early.
Movie seen: Trucker
What it is (description from TFF Web site): Michelle Monaghan is riveting as a tough-talking, devil-may-care truck driver who is faced with raising her estranged 11-year-old son after his father (Benjamin Bratt) is hospitalized. This eloquent and uplifting story also features Joey Lauren Adams and Nathan Fillion (Waitress).
Viewing partners: none
General festival notes: The side exit of the AMC 19th Street theater dumped us right into the press line for Bart Got a Room. I saw William H. Macy being interviewed, which was a cool celebrity sighting for a couple of reasons: 1) Earlier that morning, my co-worker Nicole told me Macy was one of her favorite actors. 2) More than once, my agent friend Jason said Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, were the nicest actors with whom he’d ever worked.
Review: Trucker recalls the 2006 Ashley Judd indie Come Early Morning: coarse, hard-drinking woman doing a man’s job well when a more feminine aspect interrupts. Evoking a gritty Diane Lane, Michelle Monaghan convincingly portrays Diane Ford, a truck driver so disconnected she can’t even bring herself to call her estranged 11-year-old son (Jimmy Bennett) by his name.
Writer/director James Mottern hits the perfect tone with Trucker’s fadeout and takes Diane’s relationship with love-struck friend Runner (charming Nathan Fillion) to a surprising climax. Mottern also successfully captures the tired Riverside, Calif., setting and its encircling crossroads of interstates, although the abundant natural sunlight can lead to distracting haziness.
Alas, Mottern doesn’t have a sure-enough grasp of character development. Is it the job that leaves Diane this empty, or something else - say, depression? (Diane tells Jimmy that when she’d hold him as an infant, she felt as if she was only half there. She left when he was 1.) While Jimmy has justifiable anger about the abandonment, glimpses of the loving relationship with his dying father (Benjamin Bratt) make it difficult to accept the invectives the boy hurls at Diane.
Overall, Trucker is a shaky but promising debut, boosted by Monaghan’s performance.
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