THUNDER ROAD is a special movie. I watched it several months ago and was even able to interview the director, Jim Cummings. I wanted to write a review immediately after, but at the same time, I wanted to let the movie stew and see how I felt about it closer to the film’s actual release. I recently watched it again. This time with my sister, a sharp, young woman with a degree in creative writing. I was curious to see her take one this male-centric film that resonated with me. The conclusion—she loved it. She felt deep pathos for Jim, the film’s star, as did I. I am glad I waited to review and was able to watch this wonderful film again and share this experience with someone I love. That is what this story is about. A deep bond between family.
Jim Cummings is probably the most popular director you have never heard of currently working. He won best short film at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival with the single-take tragicomic short film, THUNDER ROAD. He has now turned the short into a feature and won top honors at Austin’s prestigious SXSW Film Festival, played Cannes and has received just about every accolade a filmmaker would ever wish upon themselves. And yet why have we not heard of him? One reason is his films are small, micro-budgeted offerings that have no recognizable stars. Another reason is that he has decided to retain ownership of his newest film and self-distribute THUNDER ROAD, a modern move of entrepreneurialism that we may see trending in the filmmaking world in years to come. Of course, what makes this unconventional business plan work for Mr. Cummings is that he has made a very good feature, very good indeed.
The film opens with Jim (Jim Cummings), a police officer, preparing to give a very unconventional eulogy at his mother’s funeral showcasing a very special song to them both, THUNDER ROAD by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by a dance to commemorate his mother’s passion for the art. Unfortunately, a shoddy CD player and general ill-conception create a spectacle of disastrous proportion and Jim is left looking like a psychotic. Jim meant good by all of this with his sincere, albeit insane act of
Saying much more about the movie would be a sin. This film is written and directed in a way that must be experienced and not read. The long takes (like the original short) make for an organic scene exploration that progresses and gets funnier and sadder the longer they play in real-time. THUNDER ROAD will make you laugh, cringe, gasp and cry, sometimes within the same scene. Highlights in the film include a scene involving a hand clap game with his daughter, Crystal (the sharp as a whip Kendal Farr), a scene involving pants ripping, and a confrontation between Jim and his estranged wife, Rosalind (Jocelyn DeBoer). Although standouts are not fair to say, because all the scenes are good, right down to the film’s final moments that bring it all back home.
THUNDER ROAD is essentially a movie about a man trying to keep on the straight and narrow in a world that is anything but. Jim is a man of pure integrity. He is flawed, but he is honest. We never really question whether Jim will do the right thing, but we do question if the world will crush him dead.
Through the film’s structure of vignettes and strong cinematic language, Cummings connects the dots and dances into the film’s moments of empathy and pathos that make a very unconventional crowd-pleaser that will surely resonate with audiences. One of the year’s very best, and a top three in my book.
