I adore Maria Bello, and I loved Stephen King’s book of short stories, Full Dark, No Stars, which includes Big Driver. None of the stories have a supernatural explanation for the evil unfolding within its pages. Big Driver is about a mystery writer who embraces her dark side to get revenge for an unforgivable wrong done to her.
Big Driver is a Lifetime movie, but most Stephen King adaptations are not that great so I won’t blame the network for this adequate adaptation. The source material is there. Bello does a great job, and people are finally noticing how excellent Ann Dowd is in The Leftovers. There is an emotionally resonant scene between Bello and Joan Jett. Indeed it is the most powerful scene in the entire movie. Bello effectively used her props, living and inanimate. Sally Fields, I’m talking to you. Always play with the cat! The precipitating event is unfortunately a common occurrence so I can’t even say that it is not a realistic scenario or too sensational.
The majority of Big Driver felt two-dimensional, rushed and like a TV movie. The majority of the dialogue feels forced though you can sense that the actors keep a realistic rhythm to anchor it. People don’t talk like that. The majority of the actors are not on the same level as the aforementioned ones. They are not bad, but they are not transcendent. The first third of Big Driver depicts the writer’s normal life as very bright, cheerful and energetic. The second third of Big Driver is mostly a depiction of how the writer sees how things are after the traumatic event, not how they actually are. The scenes are blurry. The people in the convenience store seem vaguely sinister and threatening. The writer is understandably paranoid and is going a bit mad. The last third is much more focused and a little rushed.
The tonal shifts don’t coalesce. From the beginning, Big Driver should have consciously been from the writer’s perspective. There are early hints in the dialogue of her potential for madness. Before the event, her imagination should have been depicted more often. Big Driver needed more Olympia Dukakis. Big Driver devolved into a typical revenge fantasy instead of evolving into one. It wasn’t satisfying.
Watch Big Driver if you love Bello or King, but don’t be surprised if you’re not blown away by the actual movie.