Stuart Gordon's New Film STUCK!

Director Stuart Gordon just keeps on getting better with each subsequent film. After rejuvenating his career with his two episodes for the short lived cable series “Masters of Horror” (in which he contributed the H.P. Lovecraft inspired “Dreams in the Witch-house and the Edgar Allen Poe “The Black Cat”) and the indie films KING OF THE ANTS and EDMOND, Gordon continues to impress with his new film STUCK.

Inspired by a true story in which a nurse Brandi (Mena Suvari) while drunk and high on acid after leaving a night club runs down an out of work and down on his luck Tom (Stephen Rea) plunging him straight into her windshield. Distraught and in shock Brandi drives home in a panic state with Tom still hanging through her windshield. Unable to decide what to do as the situation escalates because she continues to deny Tom medical attention, Brandi’s psyche goes from elderly help nurse to homicidal woman who will stop at nothing to protect herself even if it means killing an innocent man. Gordon and screenwriter John Strysik (Gordon provided the story the screenplay is based on) do a better than average job on the screenplay as it could have easily become a farce under less capable hands.

Gordon, having toed the line of black humor in many of his films, most recently in KING OF THE ANTS and EDMOND, has proven that he is the right person for the job in this film. Gordon knows when to bring out the humor and when to bring out the tragedy without either becoming a caricature thus diminishing the impact of the film. Gordon does a fine job with presenting the story of a tragedy that should have never been allowed to happen in the first place by adding a bit of social commentary to the film that neither makes it too heavy handed nor too incidental to the story.

Both Suvari and Rea should be commended for there great performances. Rea is always great to watch but Suvari shines in the role of the conflicted Brandi who goes through a psychological breakdown. She hasn’t been this good since AMERICAN BEAUTY.

STUCK is truly a disturbing look at society and social responsibility as only Gordon can do it.