Man, I love Craig Brewer. I don’t know if there’s some backlash on him after Black Snake Moan, but I liked that movie well enough and I simply love Hustle & Flow. I think Brewer is doing the thing that Quentin Tarantino seems unable to accomplish: actually synthesizing his influences into something instead of creating a pastiche of them. His latest influences to be synthesized: trucker and car chase pictures.
Brewer has signed on to direct Mother Trucker (great title), based on a Maxim article about a man who escapes from jail, steals an 18 wheeler and hauls ass across the south to accomplish one goal: see his dying mother one last time. All the while the cops are hot on his tail. Tell me you can’t just see this movie in your head. I love every aspect of it.
Brewer will also write the film for the New Regency. He’ll be at Sundance with his new musical internet show, $5 Cover, about musicians in Memphis. I’m hoping to be able to catch up with him there; if I can, I’ll try to get more on this.