The Hitcher (2007)

Sean Bean
Sophia Bush
Zachary Knighton
Neal McDonough

Directed by Dave Meyers

Plot: Grace Andrews and Jim Halsey are a collegiate couple who are tormented by the mysterious hitchhiker John Ryder, a.k.a. The Hitcher. The young couple hit the road in a 1970 Oldsmobile 442, en route to spring break. But their pleasure trip soon turns into a waking nightmare. The initial encounters with Ryder are increasingly off-putting for Grace and Jim, and they bravely fight back when he ambushes them. But they are truly blindsided when he implicates them in a horrific slaying and continues to shadow them. The open road becomes a suspenseful, action-packed battleground of blood and metal as, in trying to elude not only Ryder but also New Mexico State Police Lieutenant Esteridge's officers, Grace and Jim must fight for their lives and face their fears head-on.

Review: I was a big fan of the original Hitcher and had mixed feelings about the remake. The trailers looked kind of cool, but as we all know, that doesn’t mean the film will follow its lead.

Sean Bean has some pretty large shoes to fill in this role. Rutger Hauer was great in that film and it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing it. Sean Bean steps up and delivers. He didn’t have the same creepy vibe, but did fit the role. The story was a little different, but overall the same basic premise. They switched the hero role to the female which bothered me to a point, but it didn’t have too much of an effect on the film. The film was decent, but wasn’t really as creepy and intense as the trailer and the poster lead you to believe. Fans of the original Hitcher will most likely not like this film. Overall it was good, but fell short on delivering what was expected from the Hitcher name.


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