Big Driver

Watched the movie despite the reviews because of Steven King's writing it. Couldn't believe I'd seen the same move - it was a good exercise in psychology. To briefly over the story, a successful author is raped. She avoids telling anyone because she fears retribution, both professional and personal. She soon start hunting her assailant. Some of her behavior isn't helpful or rational. Many times you catch the 'heroine' hallucinating, so was she making it all up? Is she the real killer? The tension was well-done. The plot twists were credible and added to the suspense. So what were the detractors watching?? OK, it wasn't a big-budget movie, but it was certainly entertaining.

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.

"I'll let the cops know but not tonight. All I know is if I see him again I'll kill him." Tess Thorne (Bello) is a famous mystery writer who is invited to speak to a group of fans. On her way back home she blows a tire. When someone stops to help her she is relieved but that turns to fear. After she is knocked out she wakes up to him raping and beating her then he leaves her for dead. She manages to escape and return home. Rather than calling the cops she decides to investigate on her own. She starts off on her quest for revenge. First thing I have to say is that this movie actually wasn't that bad at all...for a Lifetime movie. I wasn't sure how they could convert a Stephen King book into a Lifetime movie and I will admit that they did a pretty good job and Maria Bello does a pretty good job. Much like the Lizze Borden movie they did with Christina Ricci it wasn't that bad...but again...not that bad for a Lifetime movie. Overall, defiantly felt like a made for TV movie but I have seen worse. I give it a B-.

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.

If you're at all familiar with the work of Stephen King then you wouldn't even need to be told this was an adaption of one of one of his short stories to know it. It has his signatures written all over it from the talking GPS, the elderly character from one of our heroines book who is an extension of herself, the dark humour - it's all there. I'm told this sticks very faithfully to the book and I've always felt adaptations of King's work are at their best when they do this.

It's very similar to Jodie Foster's 2007 film 'The Brave One'. A woman taking revenge for a heinous crime committed against her. These days the revenge genre, when the lead character is a man, has become a little stale so filmmakers are having to think up creative ways to keep it interesting with unique killing styles and traveling half way across the globe to find their prey. It seems the female lead character is still fresh enough though that the revenge can be enacted in a pretty straight up and down way.

For a TV movie the quality is certainly all there. The acting is very decent and the story never drags nor feels rushed. Maria Bello impressed me in the lead role. She was gritty and believable and never makes you turn against her which is very important in this type of film. It never really does anything original enough to be considered great which is the only thing holding it back. But overall a good watch.