Review: William H. Macy's 'Rudderless', Starring Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, and Laurence Fishburne

School shootings are a pretty taboo subject to tackle in fiction and especially in film. To be honest, the only one that sticks out in my mind is Gus Van Zant’s Elephant. Now for some this might be spoiler-y but one of the major factors in the arc of the film is a school shooting. In Rudderless, Billy Crudup plays Sam, a father who loses his son after he commits a school shooting and dies. This sends Sam into an unhinged spiral in his life. He was a successful and straight-laced upper middle class father and two years later he’s an aimless man living on a boat who paints houses and rides a bike. His life changes again after he obtains his son’s songbook and guitar that allows him to deal, on some level, with what happened.

That’s all in the beginning, but it’s a confusing pace at first that I feel it is a hindrance to the overall film. Although it must be purposeful from director William H. Macy (who has a small role) to give you some of the feelings Sam is experiencing. Anton Yelchin as Quentin plays a young musician who ends up befriending Sam and is the other main character in this. Billy and Anton have good onscreen presence together and give off a realistic feeling friendship and mentor/mentee relationship. With so much of the film focused on these characters, a lot of the other actors are a tad bit forgettable, besides Laurence Fishburne, who plays the music store owner Del. He's clearly the trope of a wise Black male to be a voice of reason for both of the main characters. He’s great but I got to call it as I see it.

This film has a lot of musical performances, which I feel is where most of the interesting direction happens. The rest of the film, cinematography-wise, is a bit standard in shot selection. Close-up here, then medium shot there, long shot establishing new scene and place. It’s not a feast for the eyes, but it’s not really needed for this film. With the focus so much on Crudup, it’s on him a lot to hold your focus on the screen. Luckily he gives a great performance that doesn’t leave you bored.

Now it does in a way wrap it all up a little too fast in my opinion. I also bet people think Selena Gomez is a selling point with her being in the film, but she’s really not in it much, so if you’re a fan of her you might feel some type of way about it if you’re expecting to see her perform in a quieter film than say Spring Breakers. Rudderless is a pretty good character study about grief and guilt and how it can flip those left behind upside down. The cast and the crew do a good job and now there is something else to look out for now with the name William H. Macy, actor and director.

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Olivia Thirlby, Tye Sheridan, and Nelsan Ellis Take Part in 'The Stanford Prison Experiment'

 It's taken more than a decade for The Standford Prison Experiment to get moving, but this past summer we started to see things take shape with the additions of Billy Crudup, Michael Angarano, and Ezra Miller to the cast. The film, which is based on the notorious 1971 social experiment, has now gotten even better with six of Hollywood's youngest and brightest stars coming aboard.

Joining the Kyle Alvarez-directed drama are Olivia Thirlby (Dredd), Nelsan Ellis (True Blood, Get on Up), Tye Sheridan (Mud), James Frecheville (Animal Kingdom), Johnny Simmons (Jennifer's Body), and Ki Hong Lee (The Maze Runner). The story is based on the landmark experiment in which a group of 19 and 20-year-olds were divided into "prisoners" and "prison guards" to see how their behavior would change over the course of a couple weeks. Unsurprisingly, the prison guards became abusive and sadistic toward the prisoners, forcing the program's early termination. Crudup leads as Philip Zimbardo, the man who ran the experiment, wrote a book on it, and gave the blessing for this film to happen. Thirlby will play Zimbardo's wife, also an academic.

Filming is underway now and my fingers are crossed it's finished in time for Sundance. [Deadline]

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Emma Roberts Joins 'February', Billy Crudup Enters the 'Spotlight', Jena Malone Leads 'Bottom of the World'

Emma Roberts, who is set to rejoin American Horror Story for its fourth season, has signed to another horror in February. She'll be joined by 14-year-old Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) in the film written and directed by Osgood Perkins, whose father is none other than Psycho star, Anthony Perkins. So lots of horror pedigree for this one. The story takes place at an all-girl prep school where friends Rose and Kat are left stranded when their parents mysteriously don't pick them up for winter break. As their beautiful friend Joan makes a dangerous trek to the school, Kat becomes possessed by an evil force.

Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor) has already assembled quite a cast for Spotlight, his film centered on the Catholic Church's cover-up of a child sex abuse scandal in Boston. Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, Aaron Eckhart, Liev Schreiber, and Michael Keaton are already on board, and now the latest addition is Billy Crudup. Crudup will play high-powered Boston attorney Eric MacLeish.

Jena Malone (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) and Douglas Smith (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) will star in Richard Sears' indie horror, Bottom of the World. They'll play "a young couple who stop at a desert motel on their way to start a new life in L.A. When she vanishes, Alex desperately tries to find her but is plunged into a nightmarish world where he finally realizes that he must be in a dream — but he is not the dreamer." [Deadline]

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Trailer for William H. Macy's Directorial Debut 'Rudderless' with Billy Crudup, Selena Gomez, and Anton Yelchin

One of the movies I heard a great deal about at Sundance, some of it good and some bad, was William H. Macy's directorial debut, Rudderless. The film sounds a lot like John Carney's recent musical drama Begin Again, exploring music and its power to make our lives better even in the face of terrible hardship. And with a release date only a few weeks away the first trailer has been released and it looks those who heaped praise on it may have been right.

Macy has gathered a strong cast with Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Selena Gomez, Felicty Huffman, Laurence Fishburne, and Jamie Chung for the story of Sam (Crudup) a father struggling to deal with the death of his son. Turning to alcohol to cope with the pain, he finds a different coping mechanism when a box of his son's demo tapes is uncovered, revealing a gift for music Sam never knew he had. Learning to play the songs as a means of connecting with his child, Sam and another young man (Yelchin) form a rock band that becomes more popular than expected.

Rudderless hits VOD and theaters on October 17th.


Rudderless trailer 1 (2014) - Selena Gomez Movie (HD) by MovieTrailerz

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The 1% Need Love Too in Trailer for 'The Longest Week' Starring Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde

At the tail end of the new trailer for the "rich people have issues too" comedy The Longest Week, Jenny Slate pops up and asks the question we're all wondering at that point: Why the heck should we care? It's basically her only moment in the trailer and it perfectly encapsulates everything that seems to be wrong with this film despite its cast.

Jason Bateman, Billy Crudup, and Olivia Wilde star in this rom-com for the 1%, which centers on Conrad Valmont, a wealthy heir with a name that should make you want to punch him in the junk. Anyway, Conrad's been living off a substantial allowance all his life without ever doing much of anything, but when mommy and daddy cut him off he's forced to move in with pal Dylan (Crudup), his best friend. But when Conrad falls for Dylan's girlfriend Beatrice (Wilde), hijinks ensues. What happens when she finds out Conrad is broke? Chances are you already know the answer to that question.

This looks absolutely terrible and free of the burdens of comedy, but with that cast it may earn writer/director Peter Glanz some attention. Check out The Longest Week on September 5th.


The Longest Week Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Olivia Wilde, Jason Bateman Romantic Comedy (HD) by MovieTrailerz

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William H. Macy adds Selena Gomez, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, and Anton Yelchin to "Rudderless'

 

In a way it's surprising that William H. Macy is only now making his feature directorial debut with the musical drama, Rudderless. A consummate character actor who has worked with some of the great filmmakers over his 30+ year career, including David Mamet, the Coen Brothers, and Paul Thomas Anderson, Macy has always seemed like a natural to make the transition behind the camera. With his wife Felicity Huffman set to co-star alongside him, Macy has now gathered an impressive group to help make his first film go smoothly.

Laurence Fishburne, Selena Gomez, Billy Crudup, and Anton Yelchin have joined Rudderless, which is based on a story conceived by Macy along with screenwriters Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison.  The film follows a grieving father in a downward spiral who discovers a box of original music written by his dead son. He forms a band to perform the songs and in the process learns to find peace and cope with the loss. No word on the roles each actor will play, but we know Macy will take on the lead role of the father.

It's a solid group that should fit in well with the sorts of films Macy usually finds himself acting in. The only exception may be Gomez, and it'll be interesting to see how she fits into the picture.  Filming on Rudderless begins later this month. [Variety]

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Trailer Time: 'Thin Ice', starring Greg Kinnear and Billy Crudup

It's probably not fair, but every small town crime flick involving blackmail and murder is going to get compared to Fargo. The same way every movie featuring a demonically posessed chick cussing like a sailor is going to have The Exorcist to contend with. Unfortunately, most turn out to be duds unworthy of the comparison.

The trailer for Thin Ice has been released, and ever since the film premiered last year, the Coen Brothers' crime classic has been mentioned more often than not. Starring Greg Kinnear and Billy Crudup, the story set in a tiny town in Wisconsin centers on an unscrupulous insurance agent who resides to fraud to break free of his financial woes. That is until Crudup's character finds out about it, and hilarity ensues. Blackmail, murder, rare violins, and plenty of snow are the order of the day. Alan Arkin and the still sexy Lea Thompson co-star. Jill Sprecher(13 Conversations About One Thing) co-wrote and directed.

I've been a big fan of Kinnear ever since 2002's Auto Focus, and he works well with Arkin. They starred together in Little Miss Sunshine a few years ago. Crudup is equally dependable, so this may turn out to be better than other such indie crime pics. It's gotta be better than The Ice Harvest, right?

Check out the trailer below, ahead of the film's likely limited release on February 17th...[Cinemablend]

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