SummaryBased on a novella from Stephen King, mystery writer Tess Thorne (Maria Bello) seeks revenge against a serial killer (Tim Harris) who attacked her.
SummaryBased on a novella from Stephen King, mystery writer Tess Thorne (Maria Bello) seeks revenge against a serial killer (Tim Harris) who attacked her.
Big Driver is slimmer in content, as well as form, than “Misery,” but it is nonetheless gripping. The television adaptation, however, doesn’t adjust for the power of a graphic depiction of assault, rape and sodomy. And that violence, when juxtaposed with the jaunty, Cabot Cove tone, undercuts the movie’s message of payback and empowerment.
A few horror-story cliches seep in, but with Bello playing a character who is strikingly unglamorous and at times not even sympathetic, Big Driver should deliver for its audience.
Even cameos by Olympia Dukakis and Joan Jett can't make up for a silly story that hangs way too much on a sass-talking GPS and Tess narrating unnecessary exposition out loud to her bemused-looking house cat. [17 Oct 2014, p.64]
It’s too simple and straightforward for its own good. Adapted by screenwriter Richard Christian Matheson, the narrative travels from A to B to C with nary an unexpected twist or subtle discovery.
While Bello is a gifted actress (and this really plays like a one-character study much of the time), as vehicles go, it’s more of a garbage truck than anything else.