Thunder Road * *

        Red eyes, crying, heavy breathing, stressed to the max, like someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown, like a junkie desperate for his next fix, like an alcoholic with mental health issues.
       Yes, he does all that well in scene after scene.

Move along folks. Nothing to see here.

        His life is falling apart.  His mother has just died and he regrets all the things he didn't say to her, and some of the things that he did say to her.
        His wife has left him and wants a divorce. His young daughter is embarrassed by him and doesn't look forward to spending time with him.
        He works as cop and his long suffering working partner, and the whole police station are on edge with him.
         In nearly every scene in this film he cries or screams or does or says something irrational.  It's nearly all histrionics.  Sometimes it goes so far that it just becomes funny which tends to undermine the scene - like the director has let the actor get out of control, which he has, because it's one and the same person.  But I don't think Jim Cummings, the director, writer and lead actor of this indulgence particularly cares, just so long as we are admiring him for one reason or another.
        It's got great reviews, and won a few awards, but has very limited distribution, so being supportive of independent features  I took myself off to see it. I shouldn't have bothered.
       If you ask me it's not much more than a string of acting exercises in extreme behavior strung together by a very simple story.  There is virtually no plot. Nothing to wonder about.  It's like Jim Cummings  thinks the invitation to watch him do his acting tricks will be good enough.
       Basically I felt ripped off.  I wanted a film and got ninety minutes of showing off.