{"id":23078,"date":"2014-10-20T23:15:29","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T03:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=23078"},"modified":"2016-11-01T23:21:55","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T03:21:55","slug":"riding-the-bullet-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/20\/riding-the-bullet-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding the Bullet (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ridingthebullet\"<\/a>You can\u2019t even really call \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d a horror film, when all is said and done. Like most of Stephen King\u2019s semi-autobiographical tales, Mick Garris\u2019 adaptation is a contemplation on mortality and nostalgia from a more innocent time. \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d is less about scaring, and is more focused on a selfish stoner, with an Oedipus complex and a fixation on death. And King conveys his fear of death by trying to dig in to the audience\u2019s fear of death. I imagine the character in \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d is closer to King than any other story he\u2019s ever written, but that\u2019s merely an assumption on my part. \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d has interesting intent and good performances, but it\u2019s more a tragedy bereft of scares.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Once you realize the entire atmosphere is merely just clunky symbolism for death and fear of dying, the mystique and fangs of the movie are immediately taken out. Every aspect of the narrative conveys some idea about growing old and or dying alone; there\u2019s even a really goofy moment when Alan hides from a group of rednecks by encasing himself in a fridge that obviously resembles a coffin. Set during Halloween of 1969, Alan is a young college student who is faced with a changing political climate including the draft, and has a turbulent relationship with his girlfriend Jessica (Erika Christensen is lovely but lacking a purpose). He\u2019s a closed off individual who is brilliant at art, but is obsessed with death. This stems from the mysterious circumstances involving his own father\u2019s death, which his mother has kept vague since he was a child.<\/p>\n

When Jessica decides she wants to break up with Alan, Alan opts to commit suicide in his bath tub. Circumstances change with Jessica, but his botched suicide attempt lands him in the hospital. When he receives word of his mother landing in the hospital from a horrible stroke, Alan ventures out to see her before she dies, and gets much more on his trip than he realizes. \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d is a mostly middling and silly effort that doesn\u2019t really succeed in touching on our fear of mortality and losing our dignity as we age. It instead seems to exploit those fears for horror movie fodder and can never decide on dark comedy, camp, or pure horror. When I picture the manifestation of death, David Arquette is the last person that comes to mind. \u201cRiding the Bullet\u201d is a very sub-par series of clunky ideas about mortality, none of which amount to a decent horror film.<\/p>\n