She's a hard-living, hard-loving, tough son of a bitch. From the very first scene where we watch Diane (Michelle Monaghan) having an orgasm in a motel on a one-night-stand, writer/director James Mottern, pounds her personality flaws into our skulls. Diane drives a semi on long-haul trips, has sex with strangers, drinks herself into oblivion and only displays emotions of anger and unhappiness. How can we save this poor woman from herself? Cue the cute little moppet to save Diane and the day.
While in the middle of one of her drinking binges, Diane's 11-year-old son, Peter (Jimmy Bennett), is dropped at her doorstep by Jenny (Joey Lauren Adams) Diane's ex-husband's current girlfriend. Seems that Diane's ex, Len (Benjamin Bratt), is in the hospital and it's clear that he may be there for a while. Jenny has to go out of town so Len is requesting that Diane take over as parent for a short while. Guess what? The kid is adorable but unhappy. Really! What a surprise! Diane, being the horrific mother she is, wants no part of the kid and does nothing to hide this fact from her son. All she cares about is getting in touch with her ex and straightening this mess out. Mother-of the year material she ain't.
It comes as no surprise that we are about to witness a metamorphosis and growth of Diane as a human being. Len, it turns out, is very sick and may die. This makes it difficult for Diane to dump her son but it's still something she is trying to do. What a sweetheart. Cue the montage of mother and son growing together and learning to love each other. Believe me, no spoilers here.
"Trucker" is as manipulative as they come. It offers zero surprises. It offers very little of anything. Ms. Monaghan does a serviceable job as the piece-of-garbage mother but she is such a miserable human being that I think the only thing that would have made me smile would have been young Peter killing mom and burying her in the backyard. It is a far better and more believable ending than the tripe that we are given.
