It's November 1st. Or Samhain. Today is the day where the membrane between the living and the dead is supposedly at its thinnest. I've picked a film where that's an obvious plot point.
Anyone who's in the know knows. What? Never mind. Mike Flanagan has the reputation of being the king of the King adapters at the moment. At one time however, Mick Garris wore that crown, and for good reason. Whether on the big screen (Sleepwalkers), the small screen (The Stand) or independent cinema (Desperation), he did a hell of a job adapting Steve's work.
One of the lesser known projects he did, Riding the Bullet, (and carrying big admiration from story source King, Bullet was the world's first mass market e-book), is a damn fine independent film. This was released almost direct to DVD nearly two decades ago.
It's Halloween eve, 1969, and our lead, Alan, played by a guy who's probably not quite deeply skilled enough to handle the role, Jonathan Jackson (for some reason, I always thought Jonathan Tucker would have been a real nice choice here) has just had his girlfriend give him the "playing the field" speech. He's decided suicide may be a good idea. This leads to a fracas between Alan, his girl, and his friends which may be relieved by the sudden arrival of tickets to see John Lennon. That is until Alan finds out mom had a stroke. Crushed by the news, Alan has to leave his friends and the tickets to hitchhike from Orono, Maine to Lewiston to see her.
That's where the story begins. Hitchhiking brings awareness of many things. The value of life, our time on Earth, and where do we go (or deserve to go) afterwards. As weak as Jackson is, the supporting roles carry the day for him. David Arquette, Barbara Hershey, Cliff Robertson and others pepper the steak with life and spice as the journey begins to seem surreal and dreamlike, with spots of well-established humor flaked in. They appear just when you least expect them, though some may feel they miss the mark, in my eyes they really establish color in what could otherwise be an almost too bleak story.
Riding the Bullet is a pretty damn good flick, not just for its horror elements, but the existential angles that make it more than just the simple ride it could have been. Nice character arcs and supporting subplot pop-ups that are more than they seem, make this one to pay attention to and be savored.
