Day 219 of the challenge! Riding the Bullet tries to be a dark and nostalgic tale about mortality, but is never as edgy as it wants to be.
Liked:
There are a few moments that stand out (especially near the beginning) for just how freaky they are.
Some of the editing and camera work is pretty neat. We transition seamlessly between several different shots and short scenes in clever ways that obviously took some planning.
Overall, I like the concept, just not crazy about the execution. I for sure need to read this one ASAP too.
Didn't like:
Tonally, it's all over the place. The film tries to inject some humor to make up for the incredibly depressing atmosphere and pretentiously edgy main character we get in Alan, but it never gels correctly, making for some jarring and out of nowhere jokes that aren't all that funny.
Riding the Bullet doesn't do much with the themes it's trying to explore. There's some heavy handed preaching about life and death, symbolism with the roller coaster and the overall atmosphere, etc, but nothing profound is every actually said.
It's too modular. We keep going from one similar sequence to the next, making the movie feel like a series of stitched together TV episodes. Alan gets in a new car, stuff happens, he leaves, repeat.
It looks like many of the countless horror movies made in the late 90s and early 2000s. There's no distinction as far as style goes. Just blends right in and disappears. Kind of sad to think about considering the film talks place in the late 60s. Missed opportunity? Oh yea. The modern metal soundtrack doesn't help matters there either.