Trucker

“This is who I am and I’m not going to change.” Michelle Monaghan plays Diane Ford, an independent female trucker. She owns her own rig, she’s working on the house, and she loves her solitary life as a long haul trucker. But her unapologetic life hits a bump in the road when her desperately needed sleep is interrupted by a pounding fist on the door. On the other side is a woman she barely knows, and beyond her is the eleven year-old son Diane abandoned over ten years ago.

Diane is incensed. She had a deal. But when she discovers that her ex-husband, (Benjamin Bratt) is in the hospital being treated for cancer, she relents and allows the child back into her life, if only for a while. Diane travels light and one of her few friends is her married neighbor Runner, (Nathan Fillion). So far their relationship is platonic, but their friendship is a threat to his wife and the rest of his family. Diane doesn’t care. As long as she’s not screwing him, she feels it’s nobody’s business. But now with her son back in her life, Diane must examine her egocentric behavior and face consequences for the first time, in a long time. Her earlier selfish act is now staring her in the face in the guise of a boy named Peter, (Jimmy Bennett). It is time for some self-examination and some personal sacrifices. This time she can’t walk away.

Trucker is a engaging story of a woman who refuses to be boxed in even if it costs her on a personal level. Living life on her own terms she must now look at herself from the eyes of her friend and her son, and decide who she really wants to be. This film harkens back to the films of the seventies where character and introspection could drive a film. The sound track enhances this movie beautifully and the directing is light and unsentimental. Trucker is certainly a movie worth the drive.

Rating: First Run The story of an apologetic woman