Review of Stuck! (2009) by John M — 02 Jun 2009

This one surprised me good. I was pretty sure this movie would be quite bad, but I still decided to check it out because of the fun premise. It has Mena Suvari in the leading role, how good can it possibly be, right? Right!?

I am glad I gave it a chance, as I discovered an effective little film. Maybe I am a bit sick in the head, but I was chuckling aloud at the pitch black humor that was evident in many of the scenes. Suvari actually gives a good psycho performance, and Stephen Rea always delivers the goods and was great as the victim. And from a technical standpoint, Stuck has one of the best accident scenes ever in my opinion.

I love this sort of small scale, well written, well acted flicks. This time, for example, the "hostage" did really nothing wrong, but frustratingly didn't get away because some realistic circumstances, like neighbors don't giving a damn about other people's problems. Just like in real life. There were many such moments, and it's lovely that I didn't have to slap my hand to my forehead even once. The ending tops it all off with a satisfying conclusion.

For me, this was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2008. Psychological horror/thriller/satire of our society that feels refreshing amongst all the by-the-book shit that's out there.