Trucker

This little gem of an independent film was already released in 2008 but failed to make the impact it deserved. While critics praised it, the public by and large overlooked it. Thankfully, writer/director James Mottern’s directorial debut has now been ‘re-discovered’ a second time around. Audiences can judge for themselves as to why Trucker was the winner of numerous prestigious international film awards in 2009.

Starring Michelle Monaghan in a star-making performance, the film’s heroine is Diane Ford (M. Monaghan), an independent and ballsy truck driver whose lonely long-haul journeys are occasionally spiced up with one-night stands, binge drinking and an ongoing fling with Runner (Nathan Fillion). She enjoys her successful and carefree life, until one evening her estranged 11-year-old son Peter (Jimmy Bennett) shows up. Peter’s father and Diane’s ex, Len (Benjamin Bratt), has been taken to hospital terminally ill, and Len’s new leading lady feels that it is Diane’s turn to look after her own flesh and blood while she needs to go away for a while to make ‘arrangements’.

Diane agrees, albeit reluctantly, and soon feels her new responsibility is a threat to the very freedom she’s fought so hard for. The situation is not made any easier by the fact that Peter is just as reluctant about staying with a mother who abandoned him when he was a baby. Diane comes to realize that while her life suddenly takes somewhat of an unwelcome detour, mother and son might possibly learn from one another and even come to love each other.

Trucker is a charming and simple film that deals with big and heartfelt emotions, without ever getting soppy. Low on action but instead filled with believable characters that we all can relate to and care about, this is a debut from a promising director who obviously understands the human condition inside out.