Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan) is a hard-nosed truck driver who leads a carefree life of all-night bar benders and one-night stands until her estranged 11-year-old son shows up at her door one evening. Not having seen his mother since he was a baby, the blunt but ruminative Peter (Jimmy Bennett) wants as little do with her as she does with him, and their contentious relationship seems to have little hope for resolution. But with Diane's ex-husband Len (Benjamin Bratt) hospitalized, and his new partner (Joey Lauren Adams) unwilling to take on the babysitting burden herself, the two are stuck with each other-at least for a while. Motherhood comes hard for callous Diane, who resists the new responsibility that jeopardizes her hard-earned freedom. However, with the support of a handsome and doting neighbor (Nathan Fillion), she eventually steps reluctantly into her past and looks sidelong at her future, which is not as simple or straightforward as she had once believed. James Mottern makes a solid debut as a writer/director with this superbly crafted, gritty, and intimate family drama. Monaghan's (Gone Baby Gone, The Heartbreak Kid) tour-de-force performance as Diane is not to be missed. Disquieting and authentic, Trucker's ultimate beauty is in its redemption, and it is destined to have audiences in it for the long haul.

James Mottern