Fresh and Exciting

best movie i've ever seen.

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

We've all experienced it... we see a good film but there are a couple of elements that seem out of place, or just kinda clunky in an otherwise very cogent effort... and there we are cheering it on... be great, we want you to be great... oh, don't do the obvious thing... don't go pedestrian on me! What could have been a four star movie we subconsciously demote. In the case of Rudderless, it teeters on the brink of a fall quite a few times, but in those moments when it finds its direction and steers straight, it shines brilliantly.Actor William H. Macy - has been entertaining us for decades in films like - Fargo, Pleasantville, Mystery Men and the US copy of the British TV series Shameless, very often providing a lift to an otherwise under performing movie. Here his role is small but he takes on a bigger task - lending a hand in polishing the script and directing the film.And there's a lot of responsibility on on his shoulders with this delicate tale about loss and the often very bumpy road to healing.Billy Crudup plays Sam, an advertising suit who clearly makes a lot of money helping other people in suits sell things to people who probably can't afford suits.He arranges to meet his amateur song writing College Student son to celebrate a big dollar deal but the son doesn't arrive.Dad's a bit annoyed but then discovers why Junior was a no show. The reason? A mass shooting on a College Campus.Cue Sam's not coping and "downward spiraling life montage" with too much drinking and kitchen sink full of dirty dishes... you get the idea... leads to Sam dropping out and living on a boat, not wearing suits and significantly lowering his personal grooming standards.To this point the film has felt pretty ordinary, in fact a tad clichéd, but Sam's rudderless existence is lifted out of tele movie of the week territory and into a very respectable, thoughtful, mid-shelf indi space.They say in classic story telling the hero has to reach his lowest point to be able to change... and the catalyst for Sam's change comes in the form of a box of demo recordings - songs made by his son.Sam begins playing some songs at a local bar's "open mic night" where he is spotted by a quiet young man, Quentin, played by Anton Yelchin. Quentin suggests Sam expands his solo act to a duo... and then even a little more. Why? He sees great value in the songs Sam is performing.I've read some comments that suggest Rudderless looses it's direction in the middle act but I disagree entirely - I find this middle act of the film the most engaging... And the most real... from the point Sam and Quentin meet I'm on a journey of discovery, totally in the moment, WITH these guys, transcending the earlier part of the film where I was just sort of passively observing and being fed the set-up.The developing relationship between the emotionally scattered Sam and the introspective Quentin is beautifully played. Yelchin, in particular, is an delight and we begin to see Crudup come into his stride as a caring side of Sam emerges and Quentin becomes, at times, a sort of surrogate son to Sam.The original songs are great (I had the soundtrack on my i-pod playing on loop for two weeks!). Tuneful with intelligent lyrics that cleverly relate to the developing character relationships... There are even a few hints about a big secret in the plot that you likely won't pick up on a first viewing, and that's fine, just go along for the ride, but a second time around you might spot the Easter eggs in the song lyrics.Just to clarify, it's not a musical where the characters spontaneously burst into song to express their thoughts and feelings, the songs are what the band performs, but having this additional layer of comment and insight, via the lyrics, gives the music a real purpose, operating on two levels.The fact that the band really are the guys you see on screen - that's them playing and singing - is a huge plus. I liked the music so much I wanted to find out where they were playing their next gig and get a prime spot in the mosh pit! Now, I did mention there were bumpy bits that, to me, diminished a potentially great film...=== SPOILERS AHEAD === My main disappointment is the character played by Selena Gomez. She pops up providing an information dump then disappears until her next scheduled information dump. I wanted to see the character integrated into the film rather than just appearing like the Ghost of Christmas Past to be an annoyance to Sam.The big "ooh ahh" reveal moment regarding the Son, is it all trick-or treat-a-bility and a little ingenuine? To be debated by those who have seen the film.Laurence Fishburne's character, the music shop owner, feels like a clumsy convenience for some green guitar plot developments that feel often perfunctory and mechanical.Then there's the ending, the, "Lets wrap it all up in a visual montage where everyone gets what they want"... I was thinking, "No, don't go there! This film is potentially much, much, better than a pat ending wrapped up in a cheesy bow!" but you know what? It works really, really well and it's not an avalanche of cheap sentiment at all.By the end has Sam found his salvation through truth and music? How many steps closer is he to finding his very personal Nirvana?

The moment when i watched the trailer i knew it would be interesting because it was an indie drama and it has great musical scores. But there were more to the movie then the drama of losing your child.In the first part of the movie we see Sam wasting his life trying to cope with the passing of his son. He teams up with a music loving young boy to perform his songs at a local pub for covering his sons songs, relieving his sons memories As the movie progresses we get to know what happened to his son and what went down in the shootout. When we learn that his son was the shooter! From this moment the movie changes, its no more rainbows and sun shines. We get to see the perspective of Sam and his ex-wife. We see how they cope with the tragedy. This movie upholds unconditional love from father to son, The guilt of a father failing his son, the tears shed for the son, the public hate, the mix emotions & everything.Billy Crudup & Anton Yelchin were spectacular in there roles. The songs composed for the movies are beautiful. This movie makes you for once to think about the people who are directly related to the tragedy. If this movie gets into your head you will actually feel for the loved ones of all the terrible shootings that takes place every year somewhere in the US. A solid 10.

I'm dumbfounded. Truly. Not by the movie alone, but also - and perhaps more so - by the reviews of this movie. Firstly: I like William H. I always have. I think he's done some tremendous performances (Fargo, Magnolia and The Cooler, to name a few). So I have nothing against him. Quite the contrary. This movie was complete rubbish in my opinion. Not sure where to start, really, but here are a few quick remarks: * The lyrics and music written by the son indicates a persona pretty damn far from a school shooter. * The behavior of the son during the movie's first five minutes indicate nothing of a dark, sad or angry nature. On the contrary, the guy sits in his room recording love songs (...). He could have been depicted much more like Kevin Khatchadourian, and it still would have been a surprise once the twist was presented. Only more believable. * The twist - that is, that the son was the murderer, not a victim - is presented poorly. It was like William had figured out what the twist should be, without quite nailing how to actually execute it. If anything, the twist moment was confusing. And once I realized what had happened, no actions of any of the characters up to that point made any more sense than they had before. * The reaction of the father didn't make any sense either throughout the whole movie. Everything from him being hungry and microwaving a pizza pretty much right after the event took place, to him playing a loud guitar solo on-deck of a self- steering boat in the middle of a sailboat regatta. He never shows or expresses any feeling until the end, when he visits the school. That's fine, if you allow the character to build all the darkness up inside. But if that is what the character is doing, it needs to be shown on a completely different level. He drinks, sure. But even when he does, not much of it shows a sadness, frustration, a guilt or anything at all really. It's a little pathetic, yes, but never dark. * The mother gets a new kid after 2 years and supposedly "200,000 dollars". I dunno, but if my son had just killed 6 people at school, I'd probably chill for a while before trying to get a new oneI could keep going, but I don't think it's worth it. All I can say is you can easily skip this one without worry. As mentioned initially, I'm mostly surprised by all the positive reviews. I have no idea how on earth they found anything good with this movie at all. Interestingly enough, when I found people criticizing it, they just went on a tangent about school shootings in general, instead of explaining the weak points of the movie. To sum up: I found Rudderless too shallow for its subject, and to treat its subject too lightly. I found nothing remarkable about the acting, and the plot felt far from ripe. I don't see any point in expressing my opinion of the music - I find that irrelevant. But I guess you could say it's as shallow as the movie itself, which I guess is the only thing that makes sense.

I just watched the movie and brimming with emotions, gave the movie an 8. Maybe as I re watch it, I might bring the rating to 7; as I said, this is a movie that could have been great but falls short of it. The title not only signifies the band but the position in which the lead character finds himself in. And if a movie is about reviving one's life with music and revolves around music, the makers need to deliver on that front. And they did !Rudderless has some soulful lyrics with music that doesn't overpower the vocals thus making it a good entertainer. Coupled with Billy Crudup's acting and a strong character based story, the movie delivers. Selena Gomez looked completely out of place thus proving how one can weaken a movie a tad even if they have a 2min role. Somewhere I believe they could have worked on Crudup's character a little more and bind the entire story more tightly..