Trucker

"Trucker" shows a woman living half of a life opening herself to a whole one


Synopsis:
A woman, who lives a solitary existence as a truck driver, struggles to come to terms with the fact that, maybe, she's ready to grow up after-all when her 11 year old son is dropped off at her doorstep.


Review:
'Trucker" starts out with some pretty ham-fisted character development. It lays out what's "wrong" with our protagonist, Diane, by showing her having sex with a good looking young guy. He wants to see her again, but she's having none of it. She's out the door and back on the road, not the least bit interested in connecting. She arrives home to a pile of mail under the door. She's rarely home. She ignores the answering machine. She's a hard drinker who physically drags her drinking buddy from his truck onto his porch. OK, we get it. She's hard.


I was a little concerned that "Trucker" was going to be a bit on the obvious side, but after all of this down and dirty character establishment, it settles down a bit and gets into a groove. Her son shows up without warning, because she's been ignoring her answering machine, when his step-mom has to leave town to attend to a family emergency. His dad is in the hospital. So, Diane is the only one who can take care of her son, who she hasn't seen since he was an infant. He clearly thinks poorly of the woman who abandoned him as a baby, and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him.


Now, it's really hard to write at length about this because it's not that complicated, but it's beautiful to watch. Diane is an impulsive creature that isn't really happy with herself although she insists everything is just how she wants it. She believes that everyone that matters wants more from her than she's willing to give and she pushes back, hard. But, in all reality, they really just want her, not a role that she's supposed to fill. Her son doesn't necessarily expect her to be a regular mom, he just wants her in his life. Runner, her best friend, who is clearly in love with her, only wants to be close to her. Diane fights and fights while slowly accepting that she's not who she thought she was. By accepting how she fits into other people's lives and their need for her, and not what she represents, or is supposed to do, she begins to think about what she chooses and how it affects those that love her. And, by choosing, she starts to become more than a piece of a person, never fully there, and more of a fully formed human being. It's great to watch it happen.


The film is shot well. The characters are convincing, and they are interesting to watch. There's some humor, but it's most surely a serious film. It's an odd sort of coming of age film that may hit home for some. I really enjoyed it and thought Michelle Monaghan did a fantastic job as Diane and is the most remarkable thing she's done by far. Nathan Fillion is his normal, affable, self, which is never difficult to watch.


"Trucker" is definitely worth watching if you're OK with observing several "normal" people trying to figure out how to live better lives and struggling a bit to do it.