Tumbleweeds (1999 film)

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DVD cover
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Tumbleweeds is a 1999 American drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor. He co-wrote the screenplay with his then-wife Angela Shelton, who was inspired by her memories of a childhood spent on the road with her serial-marrying mother.

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

The story revolves around Mary Jo Walker, a single mother whose usual reaction to trouble is to pack her car with her belongings and pre-teen daughter Ava and search for greener pastures.

When a reunion with an old beau in Missouri proves to be less successful than anticipated, Mary Jo accedes to Ava's desire to see the Pacific Ocean and heads west. Enroute they're assisted by a long-distance trucker who coincidentally re-enters their lives after they've settled in San Diego. Once again, Mary Jo foregoes both her independence and daughter's well-being in favor of having a man in her life. Her choices lead her and Ava into all-too-familiar territory, but this time when Mary Jo decides it's time to move on yet again, Ava - who finally has planted some roots - decides to rebel.

[edit] Principal cast

[edit] Critical reception

In his review in the New York Times, Stephen Holden said the film "is a modestly produced slice of Americana. But its central performances are so extraordinarily nuanced and the screenplay so perfectly attuned to the twang and beat of everyday speech that in places the movie feels like a documentary . . . There are many moments when what is on the screen stops looking like acting and becomes life itself, and you're watching real people change and grow before your eyes." [1]

Glenn Lovell of Variety said, "Powered by uncommon rapport between its femme leads and helmer's roughhewned sensibility, pic has what it takes to becomes the year's first heartfelt sleeper . . . [it] has topnotch production values and a strong supporting cast going for it." [2]

In the San Francisco Chronice, Peter Stack observed, "Tumbleweeds is far from a slick Hollywood-style production. It's not encumbered, for one thing, by star power . . . [and] its lack of stars becomes part of its charm . . . The interplay between Mary Jo and Ava is the film's great treat. They seem utterly natural together, bound by mother-daughter ties that are complex, touching, ultimately so powerful they yield the kind of tearful joy rarely experienced at the movies." [3]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, "McTeer and Brown make magic in a film that is wonderfully funny, touching and vital." [4]

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] References

  1. ^ New York Times review
  2. ^ Variety review
  3. ^ San Francisco Chronicle review
  4. ^ Rolling Stone review

[edit] External links

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