Thunder Road (2018)
Thunder Road is an interesting film in many respects. The road leading to its making is arguably as well-known as the film itself. Coming largely from the singular mind of Jim Cummings, the film first began as a one-shot proof-of-concept short film in 2016 that took festivals by storm, winning the Short Film Grand Jury Prize award at Sundance. Cummings then went on to make a feature version of the film, which similarly did remarkably well, winning the Grand Jury Award at SXSW 2018 and generally received steadfast critical-acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Cummings has earned personal acclaim for his auteurship and for his economic success with the film. Astonishingly, the feature film was made on a micro-budget of $200,000. Cummings himself wrote, directed, composed, co-edited, managed VFX, and starred in the film - thus, making Thunder Road his film in every way imaginable.
The film itself is about Jim Arnaud (Cummings), a struggling small-town single father and cop. Arnaud is a highly reactive individual - he does not have adequate control of his emotions or his ability to process situations and make responsible decisions. He is not a bad person - he has a lot of love in his heart - however he is dysfunctional with how he expresses it. The film opens with him attending the funeral of his mother - a significant event that serves to send him off the rails even more than usual. The film revolves around the fallout of this scene - how his ensuing 'spiral' affects his job as a cop, and his life as a dad, a brother and a friend.
If there is one major takeaway from watching Thunder Road it's that Jim Cummings is a remarkably new and exciting filmmaker. His style screams of indie success and, as an actor, Cummings demands viewership. Thunder Road is very much performance-based and he is magnetic and captivating as its star. There are numerous one-shot scenes centred on rollercoaster monologues of Cummings that makes you feel like you are sitting front-row of an exceptional dramatic play. Though it is not subtle, his performance runs the gamut and he taps into every emotion imaginable through the course of the film and its story. For better or worse, he is able to steal a scene and in the span of only a few minutes he can ratchet it from a one to a ten and then back down again. To be able to act (and also direct one's self) in such a way in a debut film is itself a remarkable feat.
While Thunder Road is a captivating insular film about the self-dismantling of one man's dysfunctional life, it is most successful as a vehicle showing off the talent and promise of Jim Cummings. He is a force to be reckoned with in every facet of filmmaking and while he could use a tad more time sharpening his skills behind the camera, there is no doubt that placing him as an actor in an established director's hands would lead to utterly incredible things.
Cummings has earned personal acclaim for his auteurship and for his economic success with the film. Astonishingly, the feature film was made on a micro-budget of $200,000. Cummings himself wrote, directed, composed, co-edited, managed VFX, and starred in the film - thus, making Thunder Road his film in every way imaginable.
The film itself is about Jim Arnaud (Cummings), a struggling small-town single father and cop. Arnaud is a highly reactive individual - he does not have adequate control of his emotions or his ability to process situations and make responsible decisions. He is not a bad person - he has a lot of love in his heart - however he is dysfunctional with how he expresses it. The film opens with him attending the funeral of his mother - a significant event that serves to send him off the rails even more than usual. The film revolves around the fallout of this scene - how his ensuing 'spiral' affects his job as a cop, and his life as a dad, a brother and a friend.
If there is one major takeaway from watching Thunder Road it's that Jim Cummings is a remarkably new and exciting filmmaker. His style screams of indie success and, as an actor, Cummings demands viewership. Thunder Road is very much performance-based and he is magnetic and captivating as its star. There are numerous one-shot scenes centred on rollercoaster monologues of Cummings that makes you feel like you are sitting front-row of an exceptional dramatic play. Though it is not subtle, his performance runs the gamut and he taps into every emotion imaginable through the course of the film and its story. For better or worse, he is able to steal a scene and in the span of only a few minutes he can ratchet it from a one to a ten and then back down again. To be able to act (and also direct one's self) in such a way in a debut film is itself a remarkable feat.
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