Good morning, House of Madness hostages:
Have you ever had a bad day at work? Of course you have, but I'm not talking about the copier machine being on the fritz while the coffee maker is spewing out some kind of liquid lava that resembles the taste of warm piss, I'm talking about a really bad day. Having a bad day sucks the big one, and your reaction to the negativity you face can determine whether you're able to turn things around, or keep getting pelted in the face with penis pies. Benson (Kyle Gallner) is having the worst day ever, which means everyone around him is having a day which is even worse.
Randy (Johnny Berchtold) is a loner working at a burger stop, and to say he's kind of a loser would be akin to saying Crispin Glover is kind of weird. As Randy arrives for his next shift before sunrise, fellow employee Chris (Matthew Laureano) decides it's high time for another round of 'pick on Randy day', and begins bullying him as you can tell he's done several times before. After witnessing this go on for several minutes, Benson tells Chris to cut it out, and when he doesn't, Benson heads out to his car, grabs his shotgun, and makes a bigger mess than Joey Chestnut in a Taco Bell bathroom, sparing only his little buddy Randy whom he is now keeping hostage.
After they get the diner cleaned up and locked down, Benson figures they have approximately seven hours until someone discovers his mess, and starts looking for them to get some answers. Time to get outta Dodge! Wait, what? As Benson heads home to change out of his blood stained uniform and into the most ridiculous sweater ever worn on screen, Randy tries playing it cool as to not piss him off, but what Randy doesn't realize is this entire day is being dedicated to him so he can finally stand up for himself and stop being such a pussy all the time. Before the day is over, Randy will have to face his past demons, and try to make amends unless he wants to deal with Benson's wrath, which he's seen first hand what he's capable of.
"The Passenger" starts off with a literal bang, and just when we think we're in for a thrilling ride, it just ends up sputtering out and tripping all over itself like a clutz in clown shoes. So many questions are left unanswered, yet even if you write them off and try to accept that it's a poor man's "Falling Down", you still end up with a film that had plenty of potential, but simply fell over. Oh well, at least we learned that not all women with eye patches are angry pirates.
Madness Meter: 4.9/10
NB
