Big Driver

As I may have said countless times when reviewing a Stephen King adaptation, I am a huge fan of the author's works and love most of the movies made from his books.  Since before the recent rash of films adapted from his novels, there were quite a few that weren't really worth a look.  Believe me, there were some so terrible, I didn't have the heart to review them here, let alone admit it to myself.

However, starting with last year's It, King's work seemed to turn into a new branch of a gold mine, giving us quite a few flicks—albeit, Netflix originals—and a sequel to the aforementioned It and a few other rumored productions that may start up soon.

Recently, I had dove in to a short story collection of Mr. King's, titled "Full Dark, No Stars," to see about reading the first story contained within before the movie version was released on Netflix.  The story, "1922," was pretty good and well written.  So much so, that I decided to read all the stories in the book, one right after the other—"Fair Extension," "A Good Marriage" (which also has a film adaptation that ran on Netflix, but I've yet to see), and "Big Driver."  That last novella was actually the second story in the book, but I'd left if for last, choosing, instead, to read the other two first—"A Good Marriage" because I was familiar with the actors in the film and wouldn't have a tough time visualizing the characters in my head, and "Fair Extension" due to the length of the story itself (32 pages).

Somehow, and I can't remember where I'd read it, but I saw that "Big Driver" was made into a movie.  Now, this story, in no way, is anything supernatural or a full-fledged horror story, but it does contain something that would be horrible to anyone who'd have the misfortune to experience such a frightening and life-changing ordeal.  Just the fact that it was a Stephen King adaptation, I knew I had to see it as soon as possible, and checking Netflix, seeing it was available on DVD, I had it sent to me right away.

Before going into this film, let me give you this very short synopsis for Big Driver...

A famous mystery writer, Tessa (Maria Bello), sets out for revenge after a brutal sexual assault.

As I'd looked into the film, before it arrived in my mailbox, I noticed something that lowered my expectations for it and it was the fact that the film was first televised on the Lifetime Network, so I knew the subject matter was going to be altered a bit.  Reading the story before seeing this movie conjured up scenes like what I'd witnessed in the I Spit on Your Grave remake a few years back, which made the payback easily something you could cheer for as you see the heroine of the story get her revenge.  I knew Lifetime would not show the movie as it was intended, from book-to-film, so I held little hope that the movie would be any good.  Another letdown, in the form of checking the IMDb score, was that the film received an average of 5.6 out of 10, so I really didn't think I'd be able to finish the film.

Though, on the plus column, the film had a few recognizable faces—one was an actress from a previous Stephen King adaptation, another was an Oscar winner, and one was a music icon.  I'm speaking of Maria Bello (from Secret Window), Olympia Dukakis (Oscar winner for Moonstruck), and Joan Jett (music legend inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015).  With this cast in mind, I was more than willing to give the flick a try.

So...as a whole, the film plays out like the novella, condensed, of course, like most films are when based on a book.  Watching it with Stephen King goggles, I enjoyed it thoroughly and thought it was an above-average adaptation.  It's when I try to see the film as a King novice, especially looking back at it and re-experiencing it again in my mind, that I may see some problems or confusion.  For instance, in the book, the lead character of Tessa is introduced to us as the author of a successful string of books that centers around a group of old women who identify themselves as the "Willow Grove Knitting Society," a small congregation that solves crimes.  The leader of the group, who Tessa identifies with the most, always comes to the forefront of her mind, especially when she tries to think her way out of a jam.  It's conveyed in the book as just Tessa's imagination coming forward, much like the GPS voice talking to her...it's very obvious that she's using these figments of her imagination to help her out in some way.  But sitting back and trying to live vicariously through a King beginner, watching the movie unfold as it does, I have to wonder if all this is obvious.

Although I had put the movie down, initially, as a Lifetime movie and automatically figured it may be dumbed down, one aspect I'd like to point out is that the filmmakers didn't feel the need to wash out the colors of the movie so that it looks like a bleak story from the get-go.  The cinematography looks great, with a lot of visual style here and there.  The start of the film gave us a bird's eye view of Tessa setting out on her journey to the speaking engagement she's set to participate in and another shot in the second act had it down to a worm's eye view when Tessa is at her most vulnerable.  It may have been a subtle context shown by the director or cinematographer...or maybe they were just lucky with those shots.

As it says in the synopsis, the story is about Tessa being brutally attacked, and it's very uncomfortable to see.  Even though I mentioned that the movie is a Lifetime production, the act of the Good Samaritan turning rapist is still very graphic in nature, there's no getting around that as the act is a motive for Tessa's actions later.  The language and material, naturally, had to be written with the afternoon audiences in mind, no four-letter words or nudity involved in this one, but the message gets across.

In the book, there is a lot of dialogue going on within Tessa's mind, giving us what she's thinking and cluing us in on her strategy and feelings towards her plans.  You may or may not be able to get this from Bello's performance, but I think it wasn't conveyed well enough where—in the book—Tessa gets to a very low point where she accepts death; in the film, however, I don't think that comes across too well.

Everyone's performances are good enough to make the situations believable (except to hear the rapist say "How about I screw you?" instead of what he actually says in the book), but let's face it—this film wasn't destined to be an Academy Award Contender.  It's simply a mystery thriller, surrounded by horrible circumstances, but it's all wrapped up as a nice revenge story.

Surprisingly, this is not director Mikael Salomon's first dip into the Stephen King adaptation universe.  Although he has many credits to his name—more than 50 as a director—his first King film was 2004's Salem's Lot television movie remake.  He also directed two episodes of "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: the Stories of Stephen King."

Finally, I think this would've been a nice flick to include a little Stephen King cameo, perhaps during the scene where Tessa finds herself at the biker club...but I didn't see him anywhere in this film.

Anyway...let's get right down to it.  What's my final "bit" on Big Driver?

The film starts off as your usual Lifetime movie, with girl talk between friends, an author speaking at a library, but soon takes a turn for the rape/revenge sub-genre.  It's neutered a bit, but the point is driven home, with our main heroine being driven to vengeance very quickly.  The film is short and to the point, no lessons learned, no messages given, just and eye-for-an-eye standard movie.  If you're a Stephen King fan and like to see how his books translate to film, the movie is worth a watch.  Would I purchase this to add to my Stephen King collection?  Probably not.  Would an average moviegoer, with no knowledge of King's stories, enjoy this?  Hard to say, but I'm thinking they wouldn't.  I guess if you're a fan of the leading ladies, maybe so, but I'd wait until it's re-runned on Lifetime or some other channel.

Thanks for reading!

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