Leave it to Canada to make a movie about tow truck drivers. But not so fast. In a country that spends have of the year driving through snow and ice, our tow truck drivers are the unsung heroes of the road. Moreover, this is a surprisingly sharp and compelling movie with genuine, thoughtful and gripping performances all around. "Chasers" are tow truck drivers who race to an accident scene to secure cars and get kickbacks to the autoshops they send them to. (If that seems unCanadian to you, it is. Actually, the tow truck industry is so regulated this practice is almost non-existent.) None the less, we take our drama where we can get it and it's rare to see a Canadian film that is unself-consciously Canadian. Although the lead actor (Brian Smith) is actually from Texas. It's also refreshing to see Toronto as the setting for this movie. Instead of trying so hard to be New York, the quaint, clean, decidingly less grim city backdrop somehow makes the action more gripping, stark and real. Admittedly, part of its charm is that '22 Chaser' doesn't try to be more then it is. It is, after all, a television movie. The result is a satisfying but tropey ending.
Plot summary
Ben and Avery Dankert used what little money they had - Ben's inheritance - to move to Toronto to get away from a toxic family environment. Working as a tow truck driver, specifically in bylaw (i.e. towing illegally parked cars) for Jackrabbit Towing Services, and a cook in a diner respectively, they are unable to make ends meets let alone provide the little extras for their adolescent son Zach, who is continually taunted by classmates as white trash. These jobs are meant as a means to an end, Ben who wants to open his own garage, and Avery who wants to open her own restaurant. While she knows how to cook, Avery is unable to get any better job without culinary training, schooling which they can't afford. Things get even more difficult when Ben's unscrupulous boss, Bissey, institutes a new policy on the brink of Jackrabbit imminently being awarded the lucrative police contract: all drivers must lease the trucks from him, first and last month's payment due immediately. Feeling like the police contract is what will get them out of their financial bind, Ben, on the recommendation of his best friend from high school Sean who also works as a tow truck driver for Jackrabbit, gets the money from a loan shark, Ray, who works in his day job as a police constable. The financial windfall from the police contract does not materialize as quickly as Ben requires to pay back Ray, which places not only Ben, Avery and Zach's life as a family at risk, but also their lives in their entirety. Ben, who generally operates on morals, has to decide if he should try to break-into the cutthroat but more lucrative world of the chasers - tow truck drivers who monitor the police frequency for accident scenes - chasers who generally have no morals, Ben finding including Sean who has his own ulterior motives, but also the two he sees on the road at nights more often than not, Wayne and Elvis. Even if he wants, Ben will find that becoming a chaser is easier said than done.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Fast And Far Less Furious, Eh
Good Drama for a Rainy Day
An unexpectedly decent drama to keep you busy while it's raining outside. Acting is good and the story flows.
A must watch if you enjoy a decent drama.
22 Boredom..
One of the city's last decent tow truck drivers risks everything on a desperate quest to become king of the road and provide for his struggling family. 22 Chaser is another pretty disappointing flick of the year that you will easily forget once you see plus a terribly slow paced movie as well that takes on forever to finish as well and i was also quite amazed that Aaron Ashmore even agreed to appear in this i mean it was quite unexpected and disappointing to say the least but overall this movie should be easily just as much be avoided by everyone including pets.