The movie starts with Jimmy(Ron Eldard), a 42-year old roadie, being unceremoniously left behind by his employers somewhere in Michigan. Unable to land a gig anywhere, he goes to the only place where he might be welcome which is his mother's(Lois Smith) home in Forest Hills, NY, but is so distracted by talking on his cell phone that he forgets his bag in the cab. To console him, his mother promises to make him a tuna melt with peppers and provolone but lacks the necessary butter. So, instead of calling the cab company about his missing bag, Jimmy goes to the corner store but not before he goes to a bar where he encounters Randy(Bobby Cannavale) and Nikki(Jill Hennessy, laying on the Queens accent a little too thick), herself an aspiring musician, former high school classmates of his and now married to each other. "Roadie" is an underwhelming character study that is solely content to think of its lead character as a deluded fool and simply leave it at that, taking note of all not accomplished in his life. But life is not something to keep a running score of. While the life of a roadie probably contains more than its share of odd hours, back breaking work, long bus rides, greasy food and sub-par drugs, it should also give someone who has been around as long as Jimmy more than his share of stories to tell, none of which he is apparently willing to share with friends and family, including the reason for his being fired. What did he do? Pass a drug test?

An indie drama with a familiar story that adequately hits all of its emotional beats, but never goes past that. Ron Eldard is fine in his role, but isn't given a lot to work with, as the script is seemingly unfocused, and the film itself really doesn't get into much depth. As derivative as it is, the film is always watchable, and does a few interesting things with Eldard's character that make it worth checking out.