Riding the Bullet (2004)

Riding the Bullet: Directed by Mick Garris. With Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, Cliff Robertson, Barbara Hershey. When a man finds out his mother is dying and tries to hitchhike his way to the hospital, he is picked up by a stranger with a deadly secret.

“It always intrigues me when a film virtually disappears at the box office and a few months later itu0026#39;s premiering on television. I think to myself u0026quot;can it really be that bad?u0026quot; and I must watch it. Well, Riding the Bullet wasnu0026#39;t that bad, but it didnu0026#39;t deserve a theatrical release, not even a limited one. Mick Garris (The Stand) has been directed in television for so long that his big screen efforts feel like TV movies. Riding the Bullet felt like it was made for the small screen. I have a feeling that if the source material had been longer, Garris would have tried to pull a mini-series out of it. Garris has had success and failure with adapting Stephen Kingu0026#39;s work and I have to say that this falls somewhere in the middle. This is a case where the parts are better than the whole. I really enjoyed the scene where George Staub has a flashback to his own death thatu0026#39;s done as if weu0026#39;re watching a film within the film. And then I hate all of the u0026quot;gotchau0026quot; moments where whatu0026#39;s happening on screen is just in the main characteru0026#39;s head. I suppose itu0026#39;s an attempt to trick the audience but it happens way too much. Virtually every 7 or 8 minutes this happens and, honestly, it takes me out of the movie. I have to disagree with Tobe Hooper. This is not the best Stephen King movie. Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, and Barbara Hershey are leading the cast, while Cliff Robertson, Nicky Katt, and Matt Frewer put in some cameos. Letu0026#39;s wish Mick better luck with Desperation.”