Tumbleweeds

The premise of a film about a mother and 12 year-old daughter on the road is not necessarily attractive to everyone. But this was a refreshing example of the genre, mainly because the director allowed character development. Mother and daughter have characteristics both endearing and infuriating (like all of us; something that Hollywood so often forgets) and, as a result, we're not forced to take sides with one against the other. Rather we find ourselves looking out for opportunities for them to both lead a more stable existence. Inevitably in a film of this nature there must be a great temptation to play on sentimentality and help boost Kleenex sales. But fortunately that doesn't happen; in fact the only tearful moment comes from one of the male characters recounting the loss of his wife. The two leads react well to each other, something which was essential for the film to work.

An entertaining approach to the genre for which the viewer doesn't have to suspend rationality.

I actually watched this film on Youtube, and it's yet another film that is extremely hard to find on DVD etc in my country, so it's basically a movie that no one has really seen. 'Tumbleweeds' got on my radar due to the Oscar nominated performance Janet McTeer, and that performance is exceedingly good and worthy of a nomination. Kimberly J. Brown who plays the daughter in this film is also worth mentioning as an excellent performance as essentially McTeer and Brown hold the movie together. This movie a mother/daughter bonding movie, directed by Gavin O'Connor (Warrior, The Accountant) who also has a role in the film. 'Tumbleweeds' feels like a low-budget TV movie with Gavin O'Connor yet to perfect his storytelling and craft, but the performances from the two leads hold this movie together. The mother is careless and the daughter is precocious yet they both prove to be realistic characters and mostly likeable. As someone pointed out the comparison to 'Anywhere But Here', which is of the same year and same ilk, 'Tumbleweeds' is the better film by a mile, simply because the characters are actually likeable.

'Tumbleweeds' is worth watching if you want to see Oscar-nominated performances or are into low-budget indie movies, or curious about where Gavin O'Connor started. Other than that, it's perfectly miss-able too! It simply not must-see though.

Considering it's budget and performances; ***½ out of *****!

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.

I urge all film lovers to see -Tumbleweeds-. The relatively unknown cast, director and screenwriter(s) blew me away! This film is a gift of fantastic proportions wrapped in plain, brown paper, so tear into it and see what's awaiting you beyond the simple plot of serial-monogamist mother and almost-fully-teenaged daughter fleeing the scene of yet another bad breakup, and heading West to find a new home. I was gripped by Janet McTeer's powerful performance, and unusual character, from the first scene. I cannot imagine anyone not being similarly bowled over. The supporting cast will also surprise and delight you--why can't all young actors be as natural as Kimberly Brown? Rent it today! :-)

In "Join Together," the Who sang, "It's the singer, not the song/That makes the music move along," and that can be true of certain kinds of movies as well. TUMBLEWEEDS is surely not the first mother/daughter film ever made, even this year. I haven't seen ANYWHERE BUT HERE yet(though the novel it was based on is quite good), but TUMBLEWEEDS distinguishes itself from the crowd by its attention to detail and character, and the performances. Director/co-writer(with ex-wife Angela Shelton) Gavin O'Connor makes San Diego come alive, from the office Mary Jo(Janet McTeer) works in, to the beach, and the small houses she and her daughter Ava(Kimberly Brown) end up living in. And except for perhaps Mary Jo's boss(well-played by Michael J. Pollard), who is a caricature(albeit a funny one), every character here is well drawn. Even Jack(O'Connor), the trucker Mary Jo ends up with in San Diego who later turns bad, is well-drawn; we're never meant to see him as completely bad, though he does have his darker side.

But the real reason to see this is the performances of the two leads. McTeer and Brown are fresh faces to movie audiences, which means they have no image to distract us from the story, but it also means they bring nothing we know from them to the part, so they have to start fresh. And they respond with wonderful and realistic performances. McTeer doesn't turn Mary Jo into the stereotype of an oversexed woman or the insufferably noble mother but as a woman who wants to do right but isn't always sure how. And Brown doesn't make Ava overly cute or precocious, but a recognizable kid who nevertheless has to be the adult at times. The two of them also have a terrific bond together as well, and like a character late in the film they meet, O'Connor the director knows enough not to intrude on that.

One last note; some comments have dismissed this entirely because it's familiar. Are you the same people who will gladly see a hundred SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE clones or THE MATRIX clones and not complain about them being familiar? As I said at the top, sometimes the telling can distinguish a familiar tale.