Kirkepiscatoid

Tobias Haller was talking about the powerful emotions this film evoked for him on Facebook, and now I know why. (NOTE: This movie is rated R. It has a degree of gore and one pretty graphic sex scene, but all in all I don't think it detracts from the movie.) It is based on a true story, roughly paralleling the story of Chante Mallard, who hit a homeless man while intoxicated and drove home, leaving the injured Gregory Biggs stuck in her windshield to die the next day.

What I will say about where the movie veers from the real life story (without spoiling the plot) is that in the movie, it's more the way Gregory Biggs would have liked it to turn out, I think.

If you have ever done one stupid thing in your life while being intoxicated, this movie will hit you hard.

This movie is a stark reminder to what lengths people will go to in order to try to cover up their transgressions, and the dark inhumanity that people are capable of when they're afraid their transgressions will be discovered. About the only person with any redeeming social value is the poor homeless guy who gets hit by Mena Suvari's car. Every other major character in the movie
shows what worthless specks of humanity people can be. The Hispanic family, whose son discovers the man, does not call the law, afraid of deportation. The boyfriend thinks the thing to do is tie him up, put him in a garbage bag, and pop a cap in him.

Although many of the characters are "eye rolling stereotypical" (gangsta boyfriend, white girl with cornrows who hangs with African-Americans, illegal Hispanics, vicious female boss, and way-too-swishy gay guy with a Pomeranian), it is still a very graphic and vivid story.

How many times, in the heat of wrongdoing, do we go to extraordinary lengths to cover it up? that is the deeper question.

How many times have I been so worried that I'd be "found out" in something or another, and it turned out I got in a worse pickle by trying to cover it up?

How many times have I been in denial for some of the wrongs I committed; made them "someone else's fault" even when to take it to that level proved to be ridiculous?

One of the things I am learning is to "just fess up when you screwed up." Obviously, my screwups are not as dire as the premise of this movie, but this movie will drive it home. I have decided I'd rather be castigated for being too honest, too open, too quick to ask for forgiveness, than to deal with the "hiding" anymore. This movie drove that home for me. Rent it!