Tumbleweeds

British actress Janet McTeer gives a convincing, first-rate performance as a Southern woman and man-lover who can't find a good guy to love. She and her preteen daughter drive from one state to the next, lighting in a motel room somewhere until a local romance blooms--and then high-tailing out of town when it predictably blows up. Soon after arriving in Southern California, McTeer's Mary Jo Walker finds a decent job, begins making friends, and sees her daughter excelling in school for the first time; however, a new relationship with a sexy but volatile trucker may put everything on the rocks. What starts out as a generic road movie--with hints of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" besides--becomes an absorbing, intimate character portrait. McTeer (who resembles Laurie Metcalf) isn't your typical tramp or "lover of life"; she isn't unstable, and she's a good mother, but what she's trying so hard to get (a husband and a real home) doesn't always respond to her in kind. We see Mary Jo trying her damnedest to make her life work, eventually falling into familiar patterns but this time learning from her mistakes. The finale is rose-colored and probably not credible, but the optimistic nature of Gavin O'Connor's screenplay (co-written with Angela Shelton), as well as his perceptive direction, makes the journey a fun, embraceable ride. **1/2 from ****

Janet McTeer's multi-faceted performance makes this otherwise predictable character study a must-see for serious acting buffs. As a native Southerner, I have suffered through more hideous attempts at Southern accents than I care to remember, but McTeer nails the accent right down to the complicated vowel sounds and makes it seem utterly natural. The story runs out of gas in the final third, and the "Winnebago ex machina" element comes out of left field, but why quibble? McTeer is absolutely phenomenal, bringing far more complexity to the role than is written on the page.

A Southern woman (excellent Oscar nominee Janet McTeer) leaves an abusive relationship and hits the road with her young daughter (Kimberly J. Brown) looking for the man of her dreams. Of course though McTeer's dreams are foggy and incoherent when it comes to the opposite sex. She has a love affair with a moronic trucker (director Gavin O'Connor), finds friendship with co-worker Jay O. Sanders and dodges advances from old perverted boss Michael J. Pollard. Shades of Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" as this is basically a road trip picture for the fairer sex. McTeer is amazing and totally believable as an American from the wrong side of the tracks (she is a classically-trained Brit in reality). The quirky situations and hilarious moments make up for the picture's helter skelter screenplay and prodding tone. 4 stars out of 5.

I must admit that I didn't really look forward to this movie. I mean, a movie with a story about a mother and daughter on the run for an abusive husband, is there a bigger cliché in the history of Hollywood? I really don't think so. This is the stuff bad TV-movies, which have only one intention and that is to make the average housewife cry her eyes out, are made of. I only gave it a try because I didn't have much better to do and was only thinking about watching the first 15 minutes, just in order to be sure that it was one of the many. But guess what, I finished it. That already says it all, but for those who are interested, I'll also explain why I liked it.

Every time her relationship fails, Mary Jo Walker runs from town to town and from state to state with her 12 year old daughter. And every time she promises herself and her daughter that everything will be different this time. Now she will look for a decent man who will love them forever. They decide to go to San Diego. But before they get there, their car breaks down and they need the help of a trucker to fix it. Mom immediately sees a new candidate husband in him, but her daughter already sees what is about to happen. He's the same kind of guy as always, mom will fall in love again and tell that this one is different, but will end up running from him like she has always done. And indeed, that's the way it happens, but this time Ava, doesn't want to leave anymore. She has made friends at school and will soon act in a school play...

Even though this movie was rather predictable and far from original, I admit that I had a good time watching it. The story isn't the reason why I liked it so much, although it could have been a lot worse. The fact that Ava wasn't the 'cute and lovely' kid who will bring her mother on the right track again by organizing a romantic date with a great man sure had a lot to do with the fact that I still enjoyed the story. But in the end it's still the acting that really did it for me. Janet McTeer was really excellent as the runaway mom and together with Kimberly J. Brown, who played Ava, she formed an excellent team.

Overall this is a nice movie that sure is a lot better than what I expected. Yes, I even liked it and no I'm not a middle-aged housewife. It just wasn't too corny and had some very fine performances to offer. That's also the reason why I give this movie a rating in between 7/10 and 7.5/10.

Mary Jo Walker is constantly on the road. She moves from state to state as one relationship ends and she heads out looking for another. Her daughter is used to the unsettled lifestyle but starts to feel at home in her new school once she gets a lead role in the school play. Mary Jo gets herself a job and a new boyfriend, trucker Jack, however how long will it be before problems put her on the road again?

As a concept, this film lacks originality - the plot and the characters will be recognisable from other films, but that in itself is not a bad thing as nothing is ever totally unique (well, rarely). That said, this film still manages to be enjoyable and engaging thanks to a well written script that gives us characters and not caricatures combined with some very good performances to deliver them. The story relies heavily on the characters and this really does a good job of bringing those out to the strength of the film. It struggles towards the end with a bit of sentimentality that betrays what has gone before but mostly it is pretty true to itself.

The writing allows Mary Jo to be a complex character but yet one that we can understand and sympathise with even if we can't empathise. Likewise her relationship are real rather than just being one-dimensional - with Jack we can easily see the major problems between them but we can also see what drew them together. This works because the film has the cast to deliver these characters well. McTeer was Oscar nominated for this film and she deserved t hat at least. Her thunder was stolen a year or so later by Roberts' doing a similar performance but in a bigger film (thus more kudos). She is very good and she made the film. Brown is just as good and isn't the `cute kid' that can kill movies. Sanders has the worst role and he knows it - his white knight threatens the whole film but it is not his fault. O'Conner gets the triple by being good as Jack as well as doing the business with directing and writing.

Overall, I wasn't sure if I'd like this film as generally the genre doesn't always do it for me, but here the performances really bring a well written script to live. It doesn't quite know what to do with itself towards the end and risks it's integrity a bit but mostly it is very good and worth seeing.