Riding the Bullet

It always intrigues me when a film virtually disappears at the box office and a few months later it's premiering on television. I think to myself "can it really be that bad?" and I must watch it. Well, Riding the Bullet wasn't that bad, but it didn't deserve a theatrical release, not even a limited one. Mick Garris (The Stand) has been directed in television for so long that his big screen efforts feel like TV movies. Riding the Bullet felt like it was made for the small screen. I have a feeling that if the source material had been longer, Garris would have tried to pull a mini-series out of it. Garris has had success and failure with adapting Stephen King's work and I have to say that this falls somewhere in the middle. This is a case where the parts are better than the whole. I really enjoyed the scene where George Staub has a flashback to his own death that's done as if we're watching a film within the film. And then I hate all of the "gotcha" moments where what's happening on screen is just in the main character's head. I suppose it's an attempt to trick the audience but it happens way too much. Virtually every 7 or 8 minutes this happens and, honestly, it takes me out of the movie. I have to disagree with Tobe Hooper. This is not the best Stephen King movie. Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, and Barbara Hershey are leading the cast, while Cliff Robertson, Nicky Katt, and Matt Frewer put in some cameos. Let's wish Mick better luck with Desperation.

MickGarris, director of Riding The Bullet, is no stranger to adapting the work of Stephen King for the screen, having previously tackled TV versions of Quicksilver Highway, The Stand, and The Shining, and the big screen adaptation of Sleepwalkers. Of all the directors that have turned King's blockbuster books into movies, Garris seems to be the one of those best able to capture King's literary style on film. This is great news for fans of King's work, but not so great for me; I've always struggled with his books, finding them something of a chore to work through. Naturally, this is also how I felt about Garris's adaptation of Riding The Bullet.

Troubled teen Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) is hitch-hiking to see his mother in hospital. On the way, he encounters many strange people and before his journey is through, he is forced to confront his demons and make some life-changing decisions.

I must stress that this is not a horror film; there are spooky moments, but these are not necessarily supernatural, and are more likely the result of the lead character's fertile imagination. To me, the film was more about not wasting the gift of life, dealing with guilt, and the importance of making good choices.

Garris attempts some particularly strange visual gimmickry during the telling of this tale, but I personally found his quirky directorial style to be annoying, and a truly awful performance from David Arquette certainly didn't help matters; only one or two genuinely creepy moments manage to stop this from being a complete waste of time. It is ironic that, for a film about 'making good choices', the makers of this movie sure seem to have made some bad ones.

This is not one of the worse adaptations of Stephen King's work, but it's another one that makes the successful ones (De Palma's "Carrie," Reiner's "Stand by Me," and Kubrick's "The Shining" come immediately to mind) seem all the more remarkable. Jonathan Jackson does a fine job of playing a self-absorbed and death-fixated jerk. David Arquette does a fine job of playing a weirdo, which I know comes as a shock, but this one is threatening. It's nice to see Barbara Hershey and Cliff Robertson working, but the film is an incoherent, drug-trippy, red-herring-loaded road movie in which each succeeding segment and flashback builds to a huge.... mind-numbing yawn. If you fast-forward to long segments you may miss some details but in the end, you won't care.

A young hitchiking, Jonathan Jackson, leaves his College girlfriend, Erika Christiensen, and back home on his way to the hospital to visit his mummy, Barbara Hershey, who is dying by a sickness. Along the way he is picked up by a mysterious stranger, David Arquette .As while the rides continues, the young man finds out an awful secret and he has to take a creepy choice. The dead travel fast.

A surprising and twisted movie about an eerie choice that is given to a young man and it can mean life or death. Based on a story of the same title by Stephen King, containing some self-biographic elements which was exclusively written for the internet. It displays thills, chills, fantasy and horrifying events . An engaging and provoking story written/produced/directed by Mick Garris in which our starring has to contend weird appearances , while his doppleganger advises him fateful decision. Starts Jonathan Jackson who is assisted by a fine support cast, such as David Arquette, Barbara Hershey , Cris Gauthier, Matt Frewer, Barry Levy , Nicky Katt and the veteran Clift Robertson in one of his last films.

It packs a thriling and terrifying musical score by Nikolas Pike. As well as atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Robert New. The motion picture was professionally directed by Mick Garris, but being inferior than other Stephen King entries .Garris is an expert on terror movies writing, producing and directing several films and TV episodes , Television miniseries of this genre , such as : Sleepwalkers, Tales From the crypt, Quicksilver Highway, Masters of horro, Ravenswood, Bag of bones, Nightmare cinema, The Shining, Psycho IV, Witches of East End, Amazing stories, Freddy's nightmares, Desperation, Sleepwalkers, among others. Rating : Passable and acceptable 5.5/10. The picture will appeal to Stephen King aficionados and completists.

Not being a big King fan, I don't think I could've asked for more. I've seen IT, I've struggled through the long run of "The Stand", but it is this film which stands out more than any of the other adaptations of Stephen King's work.

A chilling narrative of a man traveling across country in the 70s, Riding the Bullet succeeds where many other movies have failed by presenting a personal conflict, that is, one which exists within the main character's mind.

I don't think I could've asked for a much better acting job from any of the cast, either.

8/10.