augustinavondale Most films eventually s$%# the bed by the third act. This one does, literally, in the first five minutes. . . Intrigued? I'll press on. Stuck is the story of two polar opposite characters that find themselves at odds with each other through a random and cruel series of events. Based on a true story from Fort Worth, TX sometime in the early '00s, screenwriter John Strysik and director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond) rip this bizarre true crime from the headlines and build a unique yin & yang of character and motivation, examined through angles of compassion (lack thereof) and macabre violence. Stuart Gordon has never been more on top of his game.First we meet Brandi Boski (played by Mena Suvari, looking hilarious in cornrows). She works as an R.N. for a convalescent home. The opening credit sequence (perhaps my favorite in recent memory) hilariously juxtaposes the sad reality of a sterile care facility for the elderly, with an abrasive hiphop soundtrack underneath and an animated title graphic. I am immediately won over and ready to be entertained and enlightened. Brandi learns she is a front runner for a promotion, suspiciously, as she's asked to work on a Saturday by her boss (played by Nurse Ratchet). Then we are introduced to Thomas Bardo (interesting factoid: the name Bardo was chosen as the Buddhist term for "intermediate or transitional state of being"), a down on his luck unemployed middle aged man who is carelessly thrown out of his temporary housing having run out of unemployment benefits. Now homeless, he is prowling the same street Brandi is careening down in an inebriated state, celebrating her potential promotion. Thomas is impaled through Brandi's windshield as she drives home (miles away) and parks him in her garage while he bleeds out. Fairly quickly the film puts us in a hopeless position and from the get- go things consistently get worse, for everyone. What do they say about comedy? Tragedy plus time. Tragically, we're in real time and the laughs hit hard and to the bone (like the windshield wiper in Bardo's gut). The humor acts as a coping mechanism for the unrelenting s%^$ storm that blows across the screen. It's nervous laughter, really. Why doesn't Brandi take the injured man to a hospital? Each decision she makes is the wrong one, made out of self preservation. She really wants that promotion, and an extra couple of dollars an hour is worth the blood on her hands (and in her car). After a series of agonizing attempts to free himself, the conclusion is satisfying and awesomely unfaithful to the real event the film was based on. We have to keep championing these tight, clever little movies. I think this film made something like 8 dollars upon it's Blockbuster exclusive DVD release, whereas the flavorless and over-budget umpteenth Godzilla remake is on its way to making over a billion. It is Stuart Gordon's last film and that could be why. He should have made three more by now if you ask me. Let's pay more attention to the nooks and crannies, and hopefully we won't get STUCK!-Aaron Sausedo

adi_2002 Brandi works as a nurse and is about to receive a promotion but after returning from a drunken night she hit's a man crossing the street. He remains on the car hood and being afraid she takes him home in garage. Now she will do anything to conceal the accident, more than that, with the help of her boyfriend wants to get rid of the victim but things take an unexpected turn. Is a weak film, I do not understand how those neighbors who saw him covered in blood did nothing to help, have not called anyone if they were afraid to call the authorities to the risk of being deported. Man hit by car seems to have both feet broken somehow managed to keep right up to the end of the movie.Why Brandi did not help, especially after he said he would take all the blame on him and it will not be held answered in any way. Her answer was short: "I do not know." I wish the film to be stuck after 20 minutes.

Rodrigo Amaro This is one of those rare occasions where I was waiting for something to appear on TV, didn't know anything about the picture but there was something there to make me stay until the end. And I can only thank myself for doing so!In "Pulp Fiction" there's a segment called "The Bonnie Situation" where Harvey Keitel has a small amount of time to clean up the mess made by Travolta after accidentally shot Marvin in the face. That whole scenario was absolutely insane but funny. What "Stuck" makes is incredibly larger than life, ten times twisted and a little bit funny, but it does also involve a situation with a car and lots of blood. Here, Mena Suvari plays an nurse having the best day of her life until she accidentally hit and run a man (Stephen Rea) who was having the worst day of his life after being evicted from his house. OK, hit and run doesn't sound like a nice description since the guy got stuck on her car window and she drove him home, out of desperation of being seen by someone who might denounce her.Can it get any worse? Yes, it can and it doesn't get better after one bad decision after another made by this woman who simply doesn't help this injured man, who tries in the best possible way (considerally being stuck on a windshield, with a broken leg and losing more and more blood) to get out of there. It gets more dramatic when she calls her boyfriend, a drug dealer, to get rid of her problem. Intense, tense and insane!Fans of the "snowball effect" situation will be highly thrilled with this story. It has plenty of absurd but it looks real, there's a sense of reality,we can imagine this bizarre scenario happening (not so much for the ending which is awesome and a little bit unexpected). We can put ourselves in the character's shoes, specially on Suvari's character (we would act and think better than her, our moral would be nicer than hers).A good study on how acting without thinking can get you in lot of trouble becoming an unforgettable thing in your conscience, "Stuck", just like the situation it presents, it's a point of no return. The main difference is that you wanna get stuck with it through the whole time along with Rea and Suvari and their top notch performances. 10/10

Wizard-8 Going around these user comments and outside reviews, I see that some people have labelled "Stuck" as something of a black comedy. Actually, I didn't see it that way. While the movie does have a share of darkly humorous moments, I felt most of the movie was treated straight, as a thriller. And as a thriller, I really enjoyed this movie. The performances are top notch, especially Russell Hornsby playing the boyfriend who talks tough but turns out to be otherwise. There is a lot of suspense as we wonder throughout if the unlucky protagonist will get out of his painful and unfortunate situation or not. Although the movie does seem a little stretched out at times, and the ending is somewhat abrupt, the movie is never boring and will keep you watching until the end.