/10
Wrecked
Wrecked is an indie thriller that stars Adrien Brody who wakes up and is trapped in a crushed car with no memories of what happened. It is often compared to 127 Hours and Buried and rightfully so, it does share many of the same core elements. A man is alone, trapped and is trying to escape. It may not be on the same level of suspense or emotion as those two films, but it is modestly compelling nonetheless.
A man slowly regains consciousness covered in blood and what appears to be a car wreck that somehow resulted in being in the woods. A quick glance around the car and he sees a man in the backseat who does not seem to be moving. We have no idea who it is, but neither does he. He makes no real attempt to talk to said person nor does he seem to have any real emotional connection with this person.
To make matters worse, he is stuck between the smashed front end of the vehicle against his legs and the seat. Not helping his situation is the door is jammed tight and will not budge. Only things in reach are available to him, searching around the front seat he finds a pistol.
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It is confirmed that the main character does not know the deceased man in the car when he manages to stretch back and remove the man’s wallet. He discovers the man is George and rhetorically asks if the two are friends. He does not remember anything, including this own name which is apparent when he etches “Hello my name is” and stops there. He must not carry a wallet himself.
After beating on the door for several days he finally is able to un-jam the door. His weak body falls straight to the ground but most importantly, he is free. His leg is severally wounded which currently makes standing or even walking an impossible task.
As he does his best to bandage his leg, he hears of the car’s radio that George, Raymond and Eric are wanted for a robbery of a bank and that they are considered armed and extremely dangerous. The car’s description matches perfect. He finds that the truck is filled with cash. Suddenly, he is starting to find out what is going on, but there are many questions still left unknown.
He befriends a stray dog that serves as his only companion. He asked the dog if it is a good dog or a bad dog. Interestingly, that is precisely the main point of the film, to find out if the main character is a good guy or a bad guy. He makes a tough decision when a small amount of food becomes available and he must decide to keep the little amount to himself or share with the dog. Sharing the food with the dog perhaps proves he does have a good side to him even though he is a fugitive on the run.
Adrien Brody does a pretty good job staying on screen for the entire film by himself much like James Franco in 127 Hours and Ryan Reynolds in Buried. Not only does he not have any human supporting actors but he must crawl through the woods because he cannot stand. He also did all of this own stunts including being swept down a river.
Director Michael Greenspan shows that he is able to create a fair amount of suspense from little dialog or actors and from a story that is not all that unique. Wrecked was shot in order in just 18 days. Improvements could have been made but ones that could be overlooked for a first time director. This film showed potential for a very promising start of a career.
Wrecked definitely felt like a short film that turned into a full-length feature film. The beginning and the end were enjoyable but the middle lacked enough content to fully achieve a high arch of a story. Still, you find yourself waiting to see what the outcome is and it may not be what you expected. The biggest downfall is that the film is mostly watching him survive out in the woods instead of building more of a storyline.