Big Driver

I liked this movie for being very real. Meaning it reminds me to experience of any personal real life problems, being in trouble, surviving, worrying, or being in or near somebody with accident. Feelings of fear, worry, shock, survival, harsh nature. Also good that it is negative because it raises our awareness on the negative topics like rape, crime, injustice. Bit mysterious and unpredictable, just like real life is. But definitely too empty, too little characters, and most things are missing such as more people, government, more locations, more story. Everything happened like some bad dream or being in a fog, unclear, which makes this movie very real and negative but too empty.

Good dialog, good story line, good acting. Characters are developed in an interesting way. My husband and I, who generally prefer action flicks, got this because of Maria Bello, and high marks on this site. Maria, as always, does a great job here. Though this is not really an action film, it kept us entertained and we both enjoyed it. A few somewhat "superficial" moments early in the film, but it gets serious soon. And, as in any other film, there are moments when you say "Just do this or that!" and at least one thing is left unexplained, but it does not spoil the film. Great ending, with a vague reference to an earlier Maria Bello film I'm sure you'll recognize.

First let me say that the books from Stephen King are always better then the movies they made from it. The movies from his books that were well made are The Shining, Carrie, Stand By me, The green Mile and maybe a couple more. But most of the time the movies don't even come close to the actual quality or suspense of the novel. Anyways, for this movie I didn't read the book so it is difficult to compare them. The movie was okay, a typical revenge movie with typical Stephen King characters. Maria Bello gave an okay performance playing the leading role of the raped woman. The music and sound effects were a bit mediocre. It will not be remembered as the other good adaptations of his books but it's an all right movie for TV. Overall I would give it a 6,5 rating.

This is written after my second viewing, not having remembered the first viewing when I first got a copy of it, judge that how you like.

Unabashed fan of anything Stephen King and almost anything that Maria Bello is in, this is a good watch. It starts off at a pedestrian enough pace, has a shocking bit that he viewer has to digest then powers on and builds to the climax like almost all Stephen Kings writing does with twists along the way.

Some of the story is a little predictable, but the acting by all concerned is well above average which made the movie quite believable. No silly mistakes and drawn out sequences where the villain gains a temporary upper hand like most revenge movies was a nice change.

Overall an enjoyable movie, but not for the faint hearted.

'Big Driver' is a dark and unexpectedly violent made-for-television adaption of horror master Stephen King's novella of the same name from his 2010 collection 'Full Dark, No Stars.' I haven't seen many Lifetime movies so far, but this one is probably one of the best ever. The movie is dark and graphic but it also includes some comedic elements at the right times. The movie clearly doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a good thing, especially since it's an adaption of of a novella by Stephen King, whose stories are known for their often not all too serious tone and quirky humor. In that regard its very fitting that rock queen Joan Jett has a small role in 'Big Driver.'

The movie has a great revenge story, an evocative setting, and an excellent cast led by Maria Bello ('A History of Violence') and including the fantastic Ann Dowd ('Compliance'). Also highlighted must be Will Harris' ('In Time') both charismatic and terrifying performance as the titular villain Lester 'Big Driver' Strehlke. I don't really remember seeing him in anything else besides 'In Time', but I guarantee that you won't forget him after seeing his performance as Big Driver. Good job! Director Mikael Salomon already directed another Stephen King adaption, namely 2004's two-part television movie 'Salem's Lot', which was a decent effort. Salomon is probably best known for directing the 1998 action movie 'Hard Rain,' which has received generally negative reviews, although I've always liked it. I see stylistic similarities between 'Hard Rain' and 'Big Driver'. Both movies feature good actors in an exceptional setting and both are pretty grim at times and witty at others.

'Big Driver' has the right combination of darkness and humor, which is a feature of every great Stephen King story. I'd say Salomon did a good job bringing King's novella to the screen. It's definitely one of the better Stephen King adaptions and one of the best ones made for the small screen.