Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan) lives life on her own terms, working as a long-haul truck driver, she owns her own rig and spends weeks on end on the road and has no real commitments. Her only relationships revolve around one night stands with random strangers and drinking with best friend Runner (Nathan Fillion) who despite being married doesn’t make much of a secret of his feelings for Diane. All this changes when her ex-husband, Len (Benjamin Bratt) is diagnosed with cancer and goes into hospital for an operation. She is forced to care for their eleven year old son Peter (Jimmy Bennett) who she hasn’t seen since he was a baby.
With Michelle Monaghan and Nathan Fillion, the most underrated and underutilised actors in Hollywood this movie was destined to be something special. First time writer/director James Mottern has sculpted a story with a certain honesty and integrity built on the foundation of an interesting and engaging main character. This is further elevated by perfectly casting and fantastic acting from that cast. The idea of “truck drive reunited with estranged son” is not an original one, most notably tackled previously in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Over the Top (1987) a movie so thin on plot it had to introduce an arm wrestling subplot to fill its 90 minute runtime. For its plot, Trucker has no such problems as it sticks to the strained relationship between mother and son; and strained it is! Devoid of motherly instinct or affection, Diane repeatedly refers to Peter as “dude”, his most used name for her is “bitch”. A certain bond has to be created between this pair as much for the realism of the situation as the needs of the plot and story arc, but how far can it develop? Diane’s greatest desire is for her independence, Peter’s only desire is to be reunited with his farther. What the film lacks in depth and scope it more than makes up for in intensity, focus and the often brutal honesty of character.
If any more proof were needed that Michelle Monaghan should be given a leading role in a major Hollywood movie (and not a crappy rom-com) this is surly it, and if Nathan Fillion finds his way to be her co-star all the better.
Four Stars out of five
Made in 2008 and only receiving a limited UK cinema and DVD release this year.
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