Wheels (2014)

Two suicidal paraplegic junkies hustle their way through the city streets trying to find a reason to live.

Directors:

Tim Gagliardo (co-director), Donavon Warren (co-director)

Writer:

Donavon Warren

Stars:

Donavon Warren, Patrick Hume, Diana Gettinger

Cast

Credited cast:
Donavon Warren	...	Mickey Cole
Patrick Hume	...	Drake Jones
Diana Gettinger	...	Janet
Kevin McCorkle	...	Allan Cole
Will Jennings	...	Little Mickey
Parker Bolek	...	Jimmy Cole
Irina Costa Jelinek	...	Lisa (as Irina Costa)
Samantha Siong	...	Karen Cole
Nathanyael Grey	...	Elvis
J. Kristopher	...	Leroy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lilit Alexandrian	...	Drake's Wife
Alyssa Barron	...	General's Daughter
Stanley Bautch	...	Man with Crowbar
Alan Brooks	...	Businessman
P.L. Brown	...	Biker #1 (as Perry L. Brown)

Storyline

"WHEELS" is an Award Winning dark humored drama about MICKEY (Donavon Warren), a suicidal paraplegic who just can't kill himself no matter how hard he tries. During a cripple bar fight, he crosses paths with an explosive homeless junkie on wheels, DRAKE (Patrick Hume). Mickey offers him $500 to shoot him in the head, which he gladly accepts, and an unusual friendship is born. Armed only with their brotherly friendship they must survive the streets, heroin, cocaine, "En Vogue" prostitutes, and their painful pasts. WHEELS is the story of two broken people, grasping for a reason to live - or die.

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Plot Keywords:

junkies | suicidal | paraplegic | addict | sex | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug abuse, language throughout, some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

На колёсах

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loaded Dice Films, Controlling Chaos Films, Cunning Ape Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donavon Warren made money from medical drug testing to help pay for some of the film.

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Quotes

Mickey Cole: I always wondered what death was like.

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Soundtracks

Colette
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(written and performed by S.Carmody, John Connor, S.Steiger, D'O'Byrne, P'O'Kennedy) produced by John Connor.

User Reviews

Plot twists and a gritty, moving realism

'Wheels' is both both moving and confronting. The story powerfully builds momentum and keeps pace throughout the film, and its ending is the powerful culmination of an excellently told narrative.

Much of the power of the story is derived from elements such as prostitution, drug use, and paraplegic protagonists functioning as the focus of the story, rather than as props enriching it. Instead of wheelchairs being only used as symbols amidst other metaphors, the wheelchairs and, more importantly, the lifestyles and problems they cause or affect are what matters. The result is a unabashed exposé of life in a vulnerable, angry, seemingly helpless state deeply reminiscent of many human struggles, but here seen at a revealing extreme. The openness of the story to the brokenness it portrays makes the eventual revelations much more moving and meaningful, in that they are not only plot twists, but commentaries on how deeply our perspectives on our lives can affect our choices and desires.

No scene seems out of place nor unused in delivering the steady succession of narrative impacts, and beautiful cinematography emphasizes the brutal reality of the story of the story throughout. In short, I highly recommend this film as being excellently filmed, fantastically written, and highly enjoyable.