Cheap Tumbleweeds (DVD) (Janet McTeer, Kimberly J. Brown) (Gavin O'Connor) Price

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Customer Reviews of Tumbleweeds

Aging Southern belle Mary Jo Walker [McTeer] is one of those people who prefer flight over fight. In the opening scene, she is having a bitter argument with her live-in boyfriend. In an adjoining room, her twelve-year old daughter, Ava [Kimberly Brown], is already packing her things. She knows what's coming. After the fight, we see the two driving down the road and discussing where to move to now. Mary Jo decides on Arizona, but Ava picks San Diego, based on picture in a magazine and on the fact that she's never seen the beach. Ava wins Mary Jo over, and along the way to California, we learn more about the characters. Mary Jo has married so many times that the actual number is never given. Every time she leaves a man, she moves on to someplace new. This seems an appropriate response to her, but as young as Ava is, she knows this pattern is neither normal nor healthy. She is sick of it. At the same time, mother and daughter love each other deeply and are quite attached. They are, for all intents and purposes, best friends.

In San Diego, Mary Jo gets a decent job, and Ava enrolls in a wonderful school where she responds to the education program and starts to make friends. All is happiness until the inevitable happens. Mary Jo decides to move them in with a man. Just as often happens in real life, Mary Jo has a history of trading one rotten relationship for another. My theory on this phenomenon is that many people subconsciously look for the same personality traits over and over again, thus making each encounter a self fulfilling prophecy.

So what bothered me about Tumbleweeds? It certainly wasn't the acting, which is uniformly excellent, or the direction, which is sure-handed. One problem lies in the story. The ideas, that you can't solve your problems by running away from them and that the needs of others are at least equal to your own, are fine. But the story is somehow not fleshed out. Some will find the ending satisfactory, but, to me, it's weak. The beach does serve as a symbol of running out of places to go, I suppose, yet the sudden 'roll credits' seems arbitrary.

It's as though Gavin O'Connor were obsessed with making this an independent movie. Let me explain. There are certain visuals in low budget films which are the result of equipment limitations. You can't afford helicopters for panoramic shots or cameras mounted on one hundred foot tall cranes. You can't afford gliding tracking shots, which literally require tracks. I believe these limitations actually enhance creativity. O'Connor, however, seems intent on making a small picture using some sort of independent's rule book. These include long extreme close-ups of characters' faces, always using hand held cameras. The effect is to give the average viewer motion sickness. It also detracts from the dialog, which is a highlight of these kinds of movies. The women drive across America on back roads. This is certainly more scenic than using the interstate, but it also is an increasingly archaic technique. So, the director tries to crystallize what is an independent movie. Ironically, the great thing about small pictures is that there are virtually no rules, outside of what you can afford to do. Except perhaps to Mr. Gavin.

Scenes From American Life
This is a peculiarly American gem of a film. Director O'Connor is interested in letting us become voyeurs, if you will, to the lives of two lovable Southern gals who have been perpetually on-the-run. But Jo and Ava are no Thelma and Louise. Without a doubt they are best friends, but they are first and foremost mother and daughter. Janet McTeer is perfect as the male-dependent but ultimately protective mom. She doesn't feel normal without a man (even a lousy man) but she places her daughter's welfare above all else...when push comes (literally) to shove.Kimberly Brown excels as mouse-loving Ava, a precocious child thoroughly jaded by her mother's string of relational flops, thoroughly tired of their constant escapes to unknown places. O'Connor makes it clear that these two gals are in search of a home. Their road trip to California is filmed with some nice, atmospheric cinematography, and flows along at just the right pace. Just when they think they've found the promised land in San Diego, mama starts her pattern all over again. This time, however, Ava effects the change they all desperately need by putting her foot down and demanding some stability. Her bravery is fueled by a chance to realize an acting dream, and the wisdom of a dear friend. All in all, Tumbleweeds is a beguilingly languid film, a glimpse into the human struggle to find a place of permanence in life...all played out in uniquely American scenery. A fine addition to anyone's collection. BTW...Janet McTeer certainly merited her Oscar nomination. This Brit actress was amazingly believable as the lovably trashy southern Mama.

Ernest Had a Sister
Title for this movie could be "Ernest Had a Sister". The late Jim Varney (Ernest)has close competition from the McTeer character. Or maybe you could call this an aquarium movie, because it is like watching fish swim stupidly around in circles. Kimberly Brown's Ava character carries the movie, especially in the scene in the motor home with Gavin O'Connor. Lot of people like this movie and I wouldn't want to detract from that, but I see enough of these idiots in real life to not want to watch a film about them.