Paramount Home Media
Distribution will deliver actor-turned-filmmaker William H. Macey’s Rudderless,
a tale of tragedy and redemption as a DVD-only release this coming Jan. 20.
This lovely little film
arrives in the home entertainment market place after working the film festival
circuit and then moving to a very limited post-Labor Day theatrical showcase
run. The ARR is 95 days and ticket
sales currently stand at $58,293.
Every year there are a
few of these beauties that are best described as actor’s actor films … a small
budget, a terrific script and a “named” actor taking on the role for the love
of the process. Here it is Billy
Crudup, who has scored in such films as Almost Famous, The Good Shepherd and The
Hi-Lo Country, who gets a script and a character that actor’s would
kill for.
He plays Sam, a man whose
life has come undone after the tragic death of his son Josh (played by Miles
Heizer). In the two years that has
passed since that fateful day he has pissed away a career, become estranged
from his wife Emily (Felicity Huffman) and now spends his time on a boat
(anchored) drunk or getting drunk. The
day his son died he also died.
Billy Crudup delivers this
lost life angst in spades … it is a killer performance. But he’s not alone here as events unfold in
a serendipitous way that finds Sam in possession of the music that his son has
written. Since we know Crudup has the
chops to deliver a song (he was, after all, Russell Hammond in Almost
Famous) — and spends most of his time drunk or getting drunk — it comes
as no surprise that he’d sing one or two at an open mic night at the local
watering hole (Trill Tavern run by Macey).
It is here that he meets
Quentin (Anton Yelchin — perhaps best known to audiences as the new Pavel
Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek series), who absolutely loves the music. Before you know it they form a band and
begin performing Josh’s music. And
shock of shocks, Anton Yelchin delivers a performance that matches Crudup’s
note for note.
Rudderless, a film that needs to be seen in the home
entertainment market place this January ... and not lost in the clutter and
noise of the post-Christmas rush of new product releases. It is a film that is blessed with strong
performances, a haunting script ‑ that covers the whole range of emotions — and
a soundtrack that can stand on its own (Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide, Brit-rocker
Simon Steadman, Charlton Pettus and Ben Limpic all contribute music here).
Bonus features include
the featurette titled “Hear This Song,” deleted scenes and the Selena Gomez/Ben
Kweller music video, “Hold On.”
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