TRUCKER isn't entirely awful!

I had taken a day or two off from writing these reviews, and I was trying to remember everything I had seen. I knew I was forgetting one, and wracked my already-considerably-wracked brain going through my shelves trying to find what it was.

Yes, it was TRUCKER, a little indie film that had been on my radar for a few years due to the presence of KISS KISS BANG BANG-alum Michelle Monaghan and Our Last Great Hope, Nathan Fillion. This should have been right up my alley - a valiantly struggling indie film with a killer cast and a nice intimate narrative scope.

Unfortunately, unable to recall much about the film leaves me in the unfortunate position of having to assume that it didn't do too much for me. Here's a brief summary of what I do remember:

- Michelle Monaghan is really pretty.

- Michelle Monaghan is really pretty, even when she's pretty sad and grumpy most of the time.

- Nathan Fillion shows up for a scene or two to talk about becoming a man, but he's a hypocrite because he's cheating on his wife with Ms. Monaghan. I'm not really sure what his purpose is in the movie until the movie makes him a symbol and blatantly tells me why he's here in the third act.

- Benjamin Bratt plays one of the least convincing cancer patients I've ever seen.

This is not to say that TRUCKER is entirely awful. I seem to remember a scene or two between Ms. Monaghan and her estranged son that resembled a realistically portrayed relationship. The cast is fine, but the script is weak, jumping days and weeks ahead in the story and never able to settle into a single discernable mood or arc. The resolutions are incredibly weak and feel tacked on to achieve some sense of finality.

TRUCKER isn't the worst indie I've ever seen, but it's certainly one I'll never watch again.

IRON MAN 2: Better the second time

OK, I'll admit it: I've got a giant man-crush on Robert Downey, Jr. And I don't think I'm alone.

Ever since 2005's KISS KISS BANG BANG (a film that you need to see), Downey Jr. has been putting together a string of strong performances in both quiet (Charlie Bartlett, Fur, A Scanner Darkly) and loud (Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man) ways. I'd challenge you to name an actor who's been doing better, more interesting work over the last five years. Hell, I'm even willing to forget that he was in that SHAGGY DOG excuse for a movie (he's right there at 0:54 for a mercifully brief two seconds for those that want to skip the obligatory "Who Let the Dogs Out?" music cue). The man strikes me as one of the most intelligent working in the craft today.

All of which is a long, overlinked way of getting to my IRON MAN 2 review.

The first time I saw it I was considerably underwhelmed, if that's a word (I can't help it with the links today). Among my list of complaints? The action was geographically confusing, the film was overly infatuated with the Pepper-Tony banter, and that Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell weren't given enough to do. But most of all, I really disliked what I perceived to be the darker, more serious tone of the sequel.

The second time around? I had fun. I love the world-changing conversation between Tony and Nick Fury that takes place in a crummy little donut shop. I love the design. I love looking at Scarlett Johansson. I love the dude with the strawberries. I love that Tony synthesizes a new element. I love Scarlett Johansson in a tiger-print dress (although I'm not sure how she pulled a wardrobe change that fast). Etc.

I still have complaints, but they're small in the larger story. I still think the action is not particularly well-filmed (but then again, I didn't like when Genndy Tartakovsky did the pre-vis for Episode II either - someone has to explain to this man the difference between what is acceptable in animation and reality), and that Favreau has a tremendous affinity for Tony and Pepper's back-and-forth will-they-won't-they thing that is never particularly deserved, and that Mickey Rourke is essentially collecting a paycheque, but you know what? This is a big, comic-book movie in the best sense of the word. I'm sure this will be subject to quite a few fond re-watches in the years to come.

In my golden years, if you will.