Rudderless

Literally speaking, a rudder is a blade located underwater at the stern of a boat that, along with the helm, is used to move it towards a certain direction. Lacking one will probably leave the boat drifting at the mercy of the waters and winds, with no way to control it properly. Metaphorically speaking, being "rudderless" means lacking a guiding strategy or a clear sense of one's aims.

That is the title of William H. Macy's debut feature film, which follows Sam (Billy Crudup), a successful advertising executive that has to cope with the tragic death of Josh, his teenage son, during a shooting at his university. 2 years later, Sam has abandoned his former life, while living in a boat and resorting to alcoholism. Eventually, he seeks refuge in the recordings of his son's music, who was an aspiring musician.

The titular term can be used to define Sam's life, as he just goes along with the flow with no clear purpose or goal in his life. His son's music provides a rudder as he, reluctantly at first, begins playing it. First, alone in his boat, but then during open mic nights at a local bar. When a young man called Quentin (Anton Yelchin) finds himself captivated by Sam's music, he reluctantly agrees to play together, which eventually leads to them starting a band which they call... Rudderless.

Inspired by Sam's boat, the term can also be applied to the band per se, as none of them seem to be clear about their musical goals at first. Is it just to pass the time or for the thrill of the performance? Is it to get girls or make money? Sam is obviously using it as a cathartic exercise to cope with his son's death, which is something he doesn't share with his new bandmates. Maybe because of this or because of age, he isn't willing to commit to this project... he's rudderless, just going along with it with no clear goal.

Unfortunately, the titular term can also be partly applied to the film's execution and narrative. Like a one-man band, the script tries to play too many things, too many sides to the story which results in most of them not feeling fully realized or ultimately necessary. For the former, we have the poorly executed conflict with Josh's ex-girlfriend (Selena Gomez). For the latter, we have a somewhat pointless conflict between Sam and the supervisor of the lake resort where Sam's boat is. Like the titular term, Macy doesn't seem sure of where to lead the audience, which makes the film feel a bit scattered.

But despite those faults, the film manages to stay in course, thanks primarily to committed performances from Crudup and Yelchin. Although the way their relationship unfolds isn't perfect, there is good chemistry between the actors, and Crudup has some solid emotional moments towards the end. The second thing that anchored the film for me was the music. This soundtrack was right down my alley and I've found myself humming, tapping, and listening to it since I finished the film. Kudos to Crudup and Yelchin for actually playing and singing on it.

In the end, there are several things I would've changed that I think could've kept the film more focused, but as it is, Rudderless has enough good in it to keep it afloat.

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