Stuck

Ever wondered what The Breakfast Club would be like if it was set in a train and to a mediocre musical score? Yeah, neither did I, but that didn’t stop Michael Berry from directing and writing the 2017 musical drama, Stuck.

The film focuses on six individuals, all from different aspects of society, and thrust together into the carriage of a train due to a technical malfunction. As time passes the group slowly begins to open up about their lives and adversities, causing tension to rise between themselves. The troupe includes: the beautiful Alicia (Arden Cho), the pianist Sue (Amy Madigan), the headstrong Eve (Ashanti), the artist Caleb (Gerad Canonico), the labourer Ramon (Omar Chaparro) and Lloyd (Giancarlo Esposito) – the narrator and homeless man who instigates the conversation between the other passengers.

This film was the highest highs and the lowest lows. It started off slowly and gradually picked up traction as the story pushed forward. Each character had their moment in the limelight, bouncing dialogue off each other, singing their prerogatory songs and dancing around the others. The flow teetered the line between natural and mechanical, with certain characters having better chemistry than others. My favourites were definitely Ramon and Lloyd, with Eve and Sue in the middle, and Alicia with Caleb coming in dead last.

The music itself was all right. It’s no Wicked or Les Miserables but there are some catchy tunes here and there that provided viewers with enough entertainment throughout. Esposito, also known for his role as Gus on Breaking Bad was clearly the star performer during the music numbers as Lloyd. He plays the vagabond with amazing gusto that can almost be reminiscent of the Genie from Aladdin, and clearly outshines the other cast members around him.

But like I said, the highest highs and lowest lows, and here’s the low: Alicia and Caleb’s storylines are stupid. There’s really no nice way to put it. Alicia’s musical number reveals a much darker secret about her previous experience with sexual assault and also divulges the reason for her austere personality. However, the issue becomes apparent when Alicia begins to sing, the fatale’s song is incredibly sexualised, which I feel is an extremely inappropriate and crude manner to depict such a severe topic. Rather than set a poignant or sombre tone about the survival of a victim, the film instead turns it into a stripper show, getting Cho to dance around a pole while disco lights swing. It’s messed up, and I don’t think this film – whose main goal, I assume is to connect with the viewers emotionally – should be making such a huge error in their interpretation of assault.

On top of that, Caleb is initially shown to stalk Alicia wherever she goes – which is how he ends up in the carriage together and singing some really bizarre superhero song – eventually confessing that he simply wanted to draw her. Even with his redemptive apology towards the end, the film places the two together, hinting at the possibility of a romantic relationship and future. I mean, really? To me that’s just the most ridiculous concept. First you make a girl who’s been harassed in the past pole dance and then she just falls for some random guy who’s been stalking her during the past few days leading up to the film? Talk about girl-drops-defensive-persona-so-writers-could-include-a-love-story ex machina. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?

Ultimately, Stuck hovers around the watchable area of film but exactly doesn’t elicit any inspiration for second viewings. I liked the concept and the music was acceptable, but I feel like the crass imagery they portrayed with Alicia’s situation just caused an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach when it ended. Take my advice, if you want a film about different and interesting people coming together in everyday circumstances just watch The Breakfast Club instead.

Stuck  
American Essentials Film Festival
Till Sunday, 20 May 2018
americanessentials.com.au/films/stuck