Riding the Bullet (2004)

Purely Joyful Movie!

How sad is this?

Great Film overall

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Receiving news his mother is dying, a college student decides to hitchhike out to go see her, but as he gets closer and closer to his goal he begins to feel a dangerous supernatural entity is playing games with him and vows to put an end to them before it's too late.This here actually wasn't that bad at times. the film is incredibly enjoyable and entertaining whenever there's something that occurs out on the road as a mind-game, as not only is something actually happening but the set-ups are unique and really enjoyable. Stumbling across the highway accident one is really good, as the supernatural payoff is highly entertaining among the believable chaos and panic at the scene, and the rabbit attack is a glorious one because of the film's sole use of animals amongst all the macabre imagery. Also interesting is the chase in the pick-up truck which starts off pretty tensely through the field before going into the junkyard, as well as the interplay in the car for the final ride as the word-play works wonders in the suspense of the situation followed by a couple great gore gags to keep it going. Likewise, the ending is pretty tense with the hospital race coming at the end of the last rather good car sequence on the road, and all of these fun scenes really start to pile up after awhile to make this quite enjoyable. Along with the general plot-line which is pretty unique and really creative, these here are what work for the film as this one here didn't have all that many flaws. One of the main ones here is that the film features a rather irritating trick of resorting for a flashback here at every opportunity, making for a very irritating habit of getting confusing when it shouldn't. The fact that it shows the family history as much as it does is one of the problems, but here it just throws useless scene after another detailing it, then it decides to throw in the flashbacks which barely makes it any better by going to a time that doesn't help revealing important information about the story or why anything is happening, and all they do is add to the confusion which is a really hard task to accomplish. What is also tough to understand is the motive for the main villain who initially appearing as a sort of Grim Reaper-like figure that spends half the running time talking away with the supposed victim and never tricks them into killing or any other vile activities as there were plenty of available times to do that to pad out the film's running time which really makes little sense here. Otherwise, the only other flaw here is the film's rather dreary pacing since it spends so much time driving around that this is locked in on a singular location for so much of the time that it feels repetitive quite easily which makes this one feel boring at certain points along the way. These are what hurt the film. Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Nudity.

First off, let me put my pants on... (just NEVER gets old, does it?) Next, let me just say that I am not a BIG Stephen King fan. When I was younger (so much younger than today...) his first books REALLY grabbed me and I thought he was THE frigg'n best Horror author, that I knew of at the time anyway. But... that was 30+ years ago. The guy is VERY talented, don't get me wrong; and he certainly has an excellent imagination and is able to come up with some great ideas and stories.Now, let me break away from a deeper analysis of King himself and get to the film here at hand. Regardless of how I feel overall about King, this movie, just as a movie, is a lot of fun and surprisingly well done compared to many of King's other adaptations. IF you have a good imagination and can allow yourself to fall into the story and the mind of the main character, THEN you should really enjoy it. Nice use of mood, lighting, and style. It has been quite a while since I have seen one of Mick Garris' other King adaptations, so I really need to go back and watch some of them. Apparently opinions about his approach to King's work are VERY divided.This is one of those MANY films where if you are a stolid 'Realist' and don't get into any form of Fantasy at all, then you likely will not be very impressed with this movie. This is really more along the lines kind of like a Fairy Tale, in a way. Not that flowery or anything, but the mood and style suggest that type of story.Since I have a DANGEROUSLY active imagination, I responded pretty well to the story. It isn't really typical of the type of Horror films that I like; I generally don't enjoy the more self-aware, sarcastic type of Horror films that you see quite often now. But, this one keeps that aspect in check where it doesn't take you out of the story and allows you to get caught up in what the main character is going through, thinking, and feeling. A cute little mechanism in the film is that you never really quite know what is real because there are many instances where what is depicted is one of several flash-forwards of what the main character is thinking MIGHT happen. So, that does have the tendency to keep you on your toes. I thought it was kind of a clever device, one at the time that had not been used much before (I don't think it was until 'Lost' came along where they really started using this technique a lot more)Geez, I can't believe that I am writing this much about this movie : ) Anyway... Compared to say 'CREEPSHOW', which I really do like, this film is a bit more adult and serious as opposed to being quite as 'Comic Booky' And, it doesn't use humour as overtly as that film did. I personally like my Horror to be more serious rather than self-referential; however, if it is done really well, I occasionally like an entertaining Horror / Comedy. This movie is serious enough to tip the scales a bit more toward the kind of film that I prefer.FWIW, the thing about Stephen King, and I'm SURE that many others will disagree if they really like his work, and the very reason why I gave up on him (or more honestly got tired of him) is that to me, almost EVERY story follows the exact same pattern. This film adaptation didn't as much though, and that is probably why I like it. What it is, is this: In almost every story of his without fail, the majority of innocent people (or in the case of this film, innocent animals) get killed or maimed or mistreated brutally, for no apparent reason than either to shock or just show how mean the perpetrators are. Now, in the beginning, I can see how his approach was indeed novel and 'refreshing' in that it came across as 'Realistic' and the endings were more bittersweet and not your usual 'Happy ending' Okay... But, I began to notice that year after year, book after book, I was seeing the same kind of people, the same kind of themes, the same kind of 'edgy' cynicism about people and such, and I just got tired of it. I mean, in the worst cases, EVERY authority figure is an @sshole, EVERY close relationship is fraught with something wrong or bent, and even in this film, there are almost ALWAYS some frigg'n mean, mindless Rednecks persecuting someone. I mean EVERY dang time. People are ALWAYS mean, good people are killed off, the constant and unrelenting cynicism just got frigg'n OLD after a while. Sure, let's be 'Realistic' if you want, but does EVERY ending have to be all heavy, and not happy, and fraught with serious losses although the 'good guy' won...? EVERY damn time...?!! I guess the constant and persistent mean-spirited nature of almost all of the characters just got to me. You honestly come away from his books thinking that NO ONE, except maybe the 'Hero' is EVER motivated by any decency or compassion in any way. It just gets kind of boring when you know what to expect from the characters EVERY single time... Just my wretched and lowly take on it. It's like, 'Yeah, you are a GREAT writer... But how about PHUK'n surprising me once in a while...?':)Anyway, sorry about my dissertation on Stephen King... But, that notwithstanding, taking this film all on it's own, I really enjoyed it and found it decently entertaining. It has a great, almost Fairy Tale sense of fun, and if you have a good, active imagination, you should have a pretty nice Ride On The Bullet...

Want to create some really dreadful fiction? If so arm yourself with plenty of flashbacks and plenty of pointless premonitions too. That's what this movie is made up of, there's no real story and the ending is the kind of mawkish crap you'd get from a fifteen year old bashing out their first novel.I couldn't really get into any of the characters, especially the protagonist who just seemed to be whiny and other than having his joint stolen by the grim reaper had little to moan about in the grand scheme of things. I didn't really warm to his mother either even though she's supposed to be super cool. What kind of mother gives her son five across the eyes for not wanting to ride a roller-coaster? I threw up all over the back seat of the car when I was a kid after riding the spinning tea cup ride and very little was said about that.In short it's just not a very engaging movie, it has a couple of interesting moments but they are few and far between.

I liked this Stephen King adaptation of his short story taken from 'Everything's Eventual', the author's most recent collection. Mick Garris ('The Stand', 'The Shining (TV)') has not strayed too far from the path with this macabre tale of a hitchhiker who is offered rides from a handful of weird and wonderful characters one Halloween night.The year is 1969 and Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) learns that his mother (Barbara Hershey) is dying of cancer, so instead of going to see Lennon and McCartney, the troubled teenager is forced to hitchhike back to his hometown. He is eventually offered a ride by a young man with a sinister secret. Parker is then forced to confront all the demons from his past if he is to survive what could be the last ride of his life.Like the original story, the film has all the makings of a campfire tale. There are lonely stretches of highway flanked by tall pine trees - roads that are interspersed with graveyards and other dark places one shouldn't venture into after the sun sets. There are carnivals and rollercoasters. There are plenty of laughs as well as scenes that will chill your soul to the bone. Even Death himself makes an appearance.Terrifyingly entertaining, 'Riding the Bullet' will also make you question what really is important in life.Also stars David Arquette and Cliff Robertson.Matthew J Lee-Williams, Review.