Mubi Monday: Thunder Road (2018)

Expanding his hugely popular short film of the same name, Jim Cummings has taken the familiar premise of a character coming apart at the seams to provide an entertaining and surprisingly emotional movie that, at heart, feels very much about how one person can be floored by grief in a way that it reverberated through their life for a long time after the passing of a loved one. That may seem obvious, especially to those who have gone through it, but there's also a general notion that we grieve, we suffer, we use a funeral to say our final goodbyes and then we start to rebuild and go on with our lives. That's a lot easier said than done, especially when grief and emotions can be irrational, coming back to mess with the forefront of your mind at the sight of one location, one particular object, the sound of one song, the smell of one particular perfume or aftershave, etc.

Cummings, who wrote and directed this, stars as Officer Jim Arnaud. The film starts with him at the funeral of his mother, looking as if it will replicate the same scene shown in the short movie. But there's a twist this time to make the whole thing just as effective, yet also different. Moving on from this, Arnaud tries to return early to his job, which isn't a good move, and is then shown trying to put affairs in order, look after his young daughter, and prepare for a custody battle with his ex-partner. All of it takes a toll, and Arnaud may not have been in the best mental state before all of this started to work on his psyche.

Remember when Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler were praised for twisting Sandler's angry manchild persona into something more interesting and moving in Punch Drunk Love? Arnaud's movie could make an interesting companion piece to that movie, both showing men who have moments of explosive anger as they try to protect loved ones and work through their own problems. The big difference is that Arnaud shares more of himself with others around him, probably a bit too much, and not always with the right people. That doesn't always make him wrong though. He doesn't seem like a bad person, although he sometimes spits out bad things as he lashes out in frustrated anger. It sometimes seems clear that he isn't coping with his grief as well as others think he should be, yet there's a great deal of truth in the idea that everyone grieves differently, that nobody should rush to judge someone struggling to right themselves after being so knocked around by a number of major life events. That's what I tried to keep in mind anyway.

Having just said all that, and I know this may sound strange, Cummings has packaged this with a lot of humour. This is not a dour meditation on loss and grief, despite that being at the heart of the thing, and most of that comes from how wonderful the central character is. Yes, there are times when you laugh at Arnaud, they happen quite often, but there are many more times when he's making you swither between laughing and crying, often reacting in complete earnestness to situations that would test even the toughest minds.

I could spend this entire review praising Cummings to the skies. His writing and direction keep things tonally perfect throughout, and his acting is equally great, but it's also worth noting that he assembles a great cast to work with. Kendal Farr does well in the role of his daughter, a little girl who doesn't seem to have the best relationship with her father, although it's not one that either has entirely given up on. Nican Robinson is excellent as Officer Nate Lewis, a colleague and good friend to Arnaud, and Jocelyn DeBoer is the ex-partner making Arnaud's life even harder than it would normally be during his time of grief. There's also a great scene featuring Macon Blair as a teacher, discussing the problematic behaviour of Farr with an increasingly upset Cummings.

Uncomfortable at times, and it has an ending that both works for and against it (difficult to explain, no spoilers, but it will make sense once you see the film), Thunder Road is a gem of a film that shows the very best way to expand upon a charming short film while retaining the heart and essence of it.

8/10

You will be able to buy the movie on disc here.
Americans can buy it here.