The 27th General Hall of Fame

Thunder Road follows Jim Arnaud (Jim Cummings), a police officer in a small town struggling with a number of issues; the potential divorce from his wife, the rejections from his young daughter, and the recent death of his mother, which is what the film starts with and sort of what frames the events of the film, to the point that he feels like he doesn't know what he's doing anymore.

This project started when Cummings released a 2016 short film of the same name, that features Arnaud offering an awkward eulogy at his mother's funeral. The short film, which lasts 13 minutes, is done with a continuous shot. As part of his eulogy, Arnaud tries to awkwardly dance and sing Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road", which was one of his mother's favorite songs. It is such an odd scene in how it balances comedy and drama, but somehow it works.

Cummings manages to sustain that same vibe in the feature film, opening with the same funeral scene (with some slight but key differences), but expanding it to see all the issues that are plaguing Jim's life. Despite being a decorated and seemingly respected officer, his life is crumbling around him, leaving him powerless and not sure of what to do. There are also hints at potential mental health issues that, even if not explored at all, are apparently there.

But that is where the film's strength is. As both writer, director, and actor, Cummings succeeds in transmitting those feelings of mental instability, anxiety, insecurity as a parent, frustration, bottled up anger, the uneasiness of things unraveling, the impotence against circumstances and not knowing what to do. Even if I'm not going through all the issues that Jim is, I can certainly identify with a lot of those feelings.

Again, there is skill in how Cummings walks that fine line between drama and comedy, and how he makes us feel for Jim. His direction is confident and purposeful, with a couple of long takes that are not necessarily done for technical flash, but rather to let the emotions of Jim build up. Aside of the opening funeral scene, there is a really good one where Jim has an emotional breakdown on a parking lot.

There are some things that seemed unnecessary, like some exchanges with a young teenager that Jim tries to help stay away from trouble, and other things that I think could've been explored a bit more, especially regarding his wife. But there's a good anchor with Jim's relationship with his young daughter (Kendal Farr) and his friendship with his partner (Nican Robinson). Jim Arnaud might not know what he's doing, but Jim Cummings certainly is.

Grade:

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because a safe, agreeable pick is what i thought i was doing with Daisies so i'm trying again lol.

I think that the teenager serves the story because she is what Jim is worried will happen to his own daughter, something that he thinks is already beginning and he doesn't know how to stop it.

Something I like about information about the wife being withheld is that we only understand later that .

"I'm going to make these basic b****** happy if it's the last thing I do!"

Yeah, I really don't mind both "issues" that much. And I agree with what you say about Jim knowing; I actually noticed it more as I was reading a bit of the script yesterday. I just think that even though the focus is always on Jim, she could've been more of a character and less of a plot device.

went to the "movies my mom likes" well for this one.

Cure (1997)

Cure is one of those strange serial killer movies that came out in the 90's. This one features a random group of people who all leave an X on the back of their necks. This is a weird one for me because it's a film that should have tension but all the violence is done rapidly and then it's just a lot of stillness and talking.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, the detective felt like he was just playing stoic sad guy for the entirety of the film while the killer was just annoying. Nobody else really stood out to me and I feel like this is one of those films you forget about a month after watching it.

The movie does have strengths though...visually it's a delight. The compositions of the shots are very nice. When they touch on the old time hypnotist stuff it's interesting but so much of it is just talking. This might be one of the sleepiest dullest serial killer film I've seen. This is a shame because the visuals are great, a number of scenes have a symmetrical look like it's a Wes Anderson film, and the death scenes are varied and shot well they are just bereft of any sort of tension. It was like walking through a museum and seeing the images of the killings and putting your own story together. Which is nice but not really satisfying for a horror/mystery film.

Magical Girl (2014)

A desperate father finding out that his daughter is dying decides to do what it takes to buy her special dress. What happens during the course of the story is a winding journey of character introductions and frankly just weirdness. I really didn't know where this story was going at points or really what type of genre it was. It was almost like a Spanish David Lynch film but unlike Cure I was sucked into the story and the characters.

Visually it's nothing special, it seems like it was shot fairly basically which is my biggest issue with it. But so many of these characters were weird and distinctive, while the main story point is about the father trying to get this dress for his daughter...he's not really the lead. The story just sort of bounces from character to character how the actions of one man moves through these other figures. You had scenes in the film that were just weird, I don't think I got everything but I did like what I saw.

The last 30 minutes or so, my jaw was on the floor because that is not something to expect to see in a film like this. And while I have a number of questions I was still satisfied with what I saw. This was a good film I would actually recommend it to others.

I'm sure we'll all have a blast watching Somethings Got to Give or Mamma Mia! in the next round.*

*I do not mean to cast aspersions on your mother's taste.

"Films For Mom" can be our next specialty HoF, just in time for Mother's Day.

Though for me, that would mean nominating a horror film or something Star Trek, since those are my mom's favourites haha.

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Daisies was easily one or the more interesting and rewarding films I watched last year. It wasn’t trash for the sake of being trashy, it wasn’t pornography, and it wasn’t in bad taste. Some people couldn’t get the allegory behind it, or didn’t care to look deep enough past its structure to see it, and that’s on them if that’s the case. I recognize it isn’t for everyone, but the reactions to it were way over the top.

Don’t let them deter you from nominating what you like.

I'll second that! I enjoyed Daises, a neat nomination.

Yeah, and I’ll throw in Pahak’s nominations as well as being interesting, even if I didn’t care for them all.

I've liked some of his noms. Some of my noms have been hated, I suspect my nom for the 28th will be one of them

I also enjoy ueno's nominations for the most part. Some of the backlash she's received in these threads is ridiculously overblown, imo.

lmao i should clarify that i'm not being bullied into changing the things i want to nominate or anything. i'm picking an old high school fav that i've wanted to revisit for awhile. don't worry i've got some real doozies planned for later halls.

I've watched all the films now. One more review, then ballot, and I'm done.

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Babyface (1933)

Man these pre-code lady films are always a hoot. Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman who after her father dies goes to the city and uses her sexuality to climb the corporate ladder and become wealthy. I loved this movie...it even had John Wayne playing against type as a romantic sucker.

This is one of those films where I think the short run time hurts it. 70% of the film is the climb which is great but the ending feels rushed like they didn't really know what to do with the character once she reached the top. Of-course the film isn't really shot that well...but that's more a product of the time the cinematography isn't a huge selling point for a film like this.

Thunder Road (2018)

I've now seen Jim Cummings body of work and it's impressive the man has a tone and note and walks a great line between being a douche and hero. In Thunder Road we start with a funeral of a cop's mom and for the first third of the film you aren't sure where we are going with the story. Life just gets worse and worse for our lead. Now does the guy have it coming...meh not really.

A number of the scenes are a masterclass in escalation, the breakdown at the station is truly insane. You don't know how far the scenes going to go and then when you get to the end you have to think...what the hell did I just watch.

I think the thing that really helps the story is how the lead is anchored by his daughter. He's not a bad dad but he's also not a great one. We the audience know his salvation is with his daughter. I wasn't crazy with how they got to that point but still I liked the film.