“RUDDERLESS” WELL-CRAFTED WITH MOVING PERFORMANCES – At The Movies With Kasey
One of my favorite parts of the fall is that the really good movies-the Best Picture contenders-start to show up in theaters. The problem, however, is that for those of us who don’t live in major cities, seeing these movies is often not an option. Thankfully, every so often iTunes or Amazon offer us the chance to watch smaller films while they’re still in theaters. For the cost of a movie ticket, you can watch the film from your home. It’s not the same as the theater, but it’s better than nothing. One such film that’s in limited release in theaters, but everywhere via iTunes is Rudderless. Directed by William H. Macy, the film stars (his wife) Felicity Huffman and Billy Crudup, as well as a handful of talented young actors.
Rudderless centers on the grieving process of Sam (Billy Crudup), an advertising executive whose son, Josh (Miles Heizer, who apparently can only film scenes in college dorms), is killed in a shooting on his college campus. After, predictably, going into a downward spiral of frozen pizzas and handles of cheap whiskey, Sam loses his job and winds up living on his boat. After two years, Sam’s ex-wife, Emily (Huffman), is ready to move on and brings him a box of Josh’s musical instruments and demos of his songs. Because music had been their way of bonding, listening to the songs for the first time becomes a way for Sam to recapture and reshape the memory of his son. Eventually, he plays one of the songs at an open mic night and impresses a young musician, Quentin (Anton Yelchin), who wants them to start playing together. As their duo becomes a full-fledged band and then a successful one, Sam is forced to confront his son’s death and rethink his legacy as well as his right to the songs.
One of the refreshing aspects of the film is that, although Sam is a high-level executive, the narrative doesn’t fall back on the pretty common narrative that he didn’t know his son or was distant from him. Further, instead of focusing on the relationship between Sam and Emily, the script allows their connection as parents to the same child set context for the family life, but mostly dwells on Sam’s isolation. Through the lack of exposition, the script keeps the story uncomplicated, leaving a lot of space in which the vastness of Sam’s grief can dwell. The story is at times a bit manipulative, but I think it works in its simplicity. Although there is a pretty significant twist about two-thirds of the way through the film, it’s a twist that seems natural in retrospect. There are only a few breadcrumbs, but Sam avoiding facing Josh’s death leaves so much unsaid that the twist does not feel overdone.
The cast of the film takes on the heaviness of the story with subtlety and skill. Billy Crudup is especially outstanding. His role requires him to act as a successful businessman, an angry father, and a drunken buffoon, and he pulls off all of these variations with a consistency that shows how each swing of his moods connects to his unraveling grief. Anton Yelchin holds his own as well. As his character has his own scars, he works as a young doppelganger of both Sam and his son. Yelchin manages to be both depressed and youthfully hopeful.
In all, Rudderless is well-crafted and features moving performances. The biggest flaw in the film is that it seems derivative of other movies. It’s a technically good film that just doesn’t feel fresh or special. The soundtrack might be the best part. I rate it 3/5 stars.
Rudderless was directed by William H. Macy and written by Casey Twenter, Jeff Robinson, and William H. Macy. It runs 105 minutes and is rated R for language.
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