Stretch

Kevin Stretch is the sort of guy who has life dump all on him. He lost the girl he loved to a football player, drank life till all feel apart and then finally became a limo driver too cover his gambling debts and to help restore his new life.... Driving the rich, famous and irrational wasn't what he expected. He takes them to all manner of destinations. Some go to work, others to family and then the rest often go to play. He isn't very convinced that it can get better or worse but then one wild night comes along to teach him otherwise.

This is the sort of film that grew out of a very funny tag line or single sentence idea. I can imagine a varied group of script writers, directors and producers listening to the tag line and being simply over the moon. It is sheer simplicity, a man in a limo and his wild night. They add some pieces like, he has to do something, rescue something, have a love interest and all. Then this was pitched to a script writer, who wrote a script and then taken to a studio boss, who grinned and nodded. Seemed like a good idea at the time but as often many good ideas are little more than dressed up awful ideas, the final reaction says it all. Universal originally dumped the idea upon completion. I guessed because they had read the synopsis, loved it, commissioned it and then hated the final product.... It was to be sold on, then this failed so it was shipped down to straight to video and might end up in twenty years a cult hit. This is a film that could do this as it has many ticks, in the box of cult culture that is.

The film itself is a mix of good, great and drab. The action sequences are good, though they are few in number. The script is great and it really shines when it sets about mixing black undertones of humor with great flashes of dynamic language. I laughed at the quick fire jokes and innuendo slices, that seem to float out of no where. Ed Helms is excellent at these and shows up everyone else. He has the caustic wit down to a tee and it zings here superbly. The other great is the fun and games of events that seem to appear from no where and then float on by. I liked this because it gave the unexpected an ability to jump out and surprise you. Studios would have hated this, if I am being honest but then they hate things they cant calculate.

The drab sadly is what you take away from this film. Patrick Wilson is not really a lead actor and falls under the weight of what this means. He is dire in places and comes across as caring so little that he might die that if he did you would notice his absence. I don't want to be horrid or nasty or anything of the like. I want to be nice and honest and as such have to say this. He is the drab reason the film failed and in truth it may have been just his direction or the story but he does little to convince you that he is anything but taking the pay check. Sad really as he can act and for me made Watchmen far less dire than people gave it credit for....