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Critics Consensus: Thunder Road deftly balances emotionally affecting drama against bruising comedy - and serves as an outstanding calling card for writer-director-star Jim Cummings.
Critic Consensus: Thunder Road deftly balances emotionally affecting drama against bruising comedy - and serves as an outstanding calling card for writer-director-star Jim Cummings.
The movie doesn't seem to be playing near you.
All Critics (31) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (1)
Remarkably, Cummings manages to piece these oddball vignettes into a vivid drama with its own unpredictable, startlingly lovely shape.
I have seen humanistic American filmmaking's future, and its name is Jim Cummings.
Offers a memorable depiction of a man ill-equipped to deal with or direct his feelings-probably not all that different from the rest of us.
Cummings, who also wrote and directed the film, has delivered a remarkable tragicomic performance in the lead.
Driven by Cummings' transfixingly vulnerable performance, the movie not only justifies returning to the source: Shockingly, it does so without even using the device that seemed key to the short's success.
When Cummings finds the right balance of dramatic license and believable characterization, 'Thunder Road' is exhilarating to watch.
It's hard not to laugh at some of the more ridiculous moments, though our laughter abates when we come to recognize the feeling inscribed in Cummings' work. It comes from a deep place, and the hurt never rings false.
It's a singular performance in a singular movie, to be certain. One that will have you smiling and teary-eyed for various - right or wrong - reasons.
Emotionally in tune with the struggles of being both a parent and a child, Cummings creates an off-kilter love letter that speaks to the complexities of family dynamics.
At turns funny, uncomfortable, and heartbreaking, and I think what works best about is that Cummings is dropped into a serious cop-on-the-edge plot, despite looking like a cop from Super Troopers.
Cummings performance is a tour de force -- a completely hashed out flawed character that the audience connects with and feels his pain.
The opening of Thunder Road is one of the most cringingly hilarious scenes of 2018. The rest of the movie never quite reaches the level of awkward humor in that opening number, but it comes close.
Cummings understands that there's a very fine line between cringe comedy and devastating tragedy and his near perfect performance does both seamlessly.
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