Trucker

A female big rig driver changes her approach to life when her domestic situation undergoes a dramatic shift in James Mottern's feature film debut, Trucker. Seemingly footloose and fancy free, San Diego-based Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan) likes to go out drinking and dancing with her best friend, Runner (Nathan Fillion), when she isn't working, sleeping, or picking up strangers for one-night stands. After her ex-husband, Len (Benjamin Bratt), checks into a hospital for cancer treatment, his wife, Jenny (Joey Lauren Adams), who has other family matters to deal with, drops Diane's 11-year-old son, Peter (Jimmy Bennett), off at her doorstep for a few weeks. Feisty and foul-mouthed (much like his mom, the pair spend most of the film circling each other warily, like wolves in human form. Of course, it doesn't help that Diane hasn't seen her son for 10 years, but after she takes him on a run to New Mexico, and then enrolls him in school, a fragile bond begins to build. Trucker doesn't explain why Runner doesn't get a divorce from his joyless marriage—clearly, he would rather be with Diane—but Mottern, former producer of the Slamdance Film Festival, knows which blanks to let the audience fill in for themselves, and his screenplay calls to mind other films about independent-minded single mothers, such as Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Monaghan has often wasted her talents on inferior fare (such as Made of Honor), but here she gives her best performance to date. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes photo montage (3 min.), a brief “The Actress Prepares for her Role” photo montage with star Michelle Monaghan, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a solid indie film.] (K. Fennessy)