Riding the Bullet - Movie Review

From Wikipedia

Set in 1969, Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) is a young artist, studying at the University of Maine. He becomes obsessed with death, and believing he is losing his girlfriend, Jessica (Christensen), he tries to commit suicide on his birthday. His friends surprise him and he cuts himself sending him to the hospital. He eventually recovers and decides to go with them to a John Lennon concert.

Before leaving he receives news that his mother, Jean (Hershey), is in the hospital because of a stroke and is near death. Alan decides to hitchhike to reach the hospital before his only relative dies. On his way there, he has multiple strange encounters with the living and dead. The film ends when Alan, now in his 40's, tells the audience that his mother died of a heart attack while watching television. He married his girlfriend Jessica, but it only lasted four years.

He never made it as an artist, but he does go to the theme park every summer in memory of his mother. While walking from the park, a person that looks like his friend George Staub offers him a ride, but he refuses. He tells him to "take your button and get outta here."

My Review

I don't believe that I ever read this story by Stephen King. I would like to think if I did it would be much better than whatever I just wasted the last few hours of my life on. This has to be one of the most confusing movies I have ever seen. I read the description and thought it sounded quite interesting. I can't even begin to write a logical review of this movie, because the storyline jumped around so much making it extremely hard to follow. 

I get that it was a story of a man confronting his demons, and have read some people compare it to A Christmas Carol. I guess I can somewhat see that. But it wasn't as clear cut as that and just seems jumbled to me.

Have you seen it? If so, what are your thoughts? Being a huge King fan, I was excited to see something I hadn't before. Major letdown.