Thunder Road

a guy from collegehumor with no wiki page made/starred in one of 2018's most ambitious films. cummings' willingness to resist cheap jokes and sentiments in favour of a disarming generosity toward deeply flawed characters is revelatory--think jody hill but with a big fucking soul. the one misstep is the way the estranged wife is discarded to facilitate a happy ending, and it really is incongruously cruel, but in his defence this is a very tricky tonal tightrope and he largely aces it.

I was really confused thematically for a decent amount of the runtime because I had mistook the song to be Thunder Struck by AC/DC.

Jim Cummings creates a perfect vehicle to pitch himself on all fronts. It might sound like an insult to call this a demo reel for the future of his hopefully long and illustrious career, but I really do mean that in a positive way. It's like he's showing off but absolutely has the goods to back it up. It's emotionally affecting and funny as hell. I had to pause during the parent-teacher scene (with a fun Macon Blair appearance) because I was laughing too hard to hear the rest of the dialogue

Dude comes straight out of nowhere with one of the most underrated films of 2018. This gives me hope in what you can do with however little money you have. It's a home run. Eighth Grade for Dads.

Really bizarre tone that is very interesting to watch. You laugh a lot, sometimes because it's funny and sometimes because it's uncomfortable, and often both. Cummings feels a bit like early Nic Cage meets Jim Carrey.

I am extremely impressed by the writer/director/lead actor.

It’s afraid to go right into the depths like Observe and Report and it’s not as funny as something like Eastbound, but at least someone is carrying the torch of this kind of cinema in American indies. Touching.

Pretty funny cringe comedy. Goes for the easy pathos in the third act but manages to make it work

Opening with THAT scene is uh... pretty ballsy. I have real trouble dealing with cringe but its pulled off really well here as it is sort of a midpoint between the outright hilarity and the super real drama, as the film successfully oscillates between the three modes.

Jim Cumming definitely has some chops, but this movie overplayed the comedic bits (a good example is the first scene that was funny but dragged on at least 10 minutes too long, and no, that's not what makes it funny) and the chaos-scream-silliness-bonanza is just not my cup of tea because it makes me very tired.

Bravo Jim Cummings. It's a little rough around the edges, as visually its nothing special, but damnit if this movie isn't filled with tons of realistically heightened emotion. Cummings also does a great job balancing out the screenplay. He adds just enough dark humor to keep the film from slipping into Melodrama territory. Though it's really his super impassioned performance that carries this movie. I'm surprised it, and really the movie as a whole, didn't receive more attention.

Should have remained as a short.

Equally funny and sad.

Seen 2x

What kind of god forsaken Buddha lovin' taoist has this movie checked as "comedy", I wonder. For personal reasons not to be discussed here this movie hits home on many fronts and even if it didn't it would still be the most depressing film that I've seen in the last couple of years. Drama hardly gets truer. Simply amazing performance on par with ones of Phoenix (Joker) by Cummings. Maybe one day I will force a laugh out of me when I watch this abomination of a genius movie.

Seen: 3. A gut punch to modern masculinity. Raw, dark, heartfelt, odd, tragic, damaged, and so damn funny. It's impossible to look away from the flurry of emotions on screen. This is an all timer in my eyes.

It's unevenly paced and feels like a movie that's not quite sure on what direction it should take. It's very much saved and made interesting/sad/funny by Jim Cummings' awesome acting.

Lurches all over the place tonally, but ultimately this lives through Jim Cummings' extraordinary performance. You can see every ounce of emotional process in his face as he's talking. Truly remarkable just for that.

Jim Cummings could very well be the next Julianne Moore, though instead of crying in every film, he cries in every scene. A tad too dramatic on that level, plus the courtroom scene MAKES NO SENSE, but it's otherwise an involved little indie darling with a committed performance.

Oh my god, who is this Jim Cummings all of a sudden?? He writes, directs and WOW he acts! Did not expect this at all.

Despite an impassioned, at times painful performance from Cummings, this is a tonally odd and unsatisfying misfire which can never quite come to grips with its strange lead character, which makes it difficult to identify or empathise with him (is he grief stricken? Suffering from PTSD? Mentally ill? All of the above?) The opening eulogy is a stunner of a one-shot sequence though, and promises a more insightful character study than the bleak, lumpy and ultimately depressing drama that we get.

Doesn't quite carry the emotional punch of the pitch-perfect short film it derives from.

her sene böylesi "formüllü festival filmi" kıvamında birkaç şeyi izlemeye kalkışıp sonrasında kendimle ne zorum olduğunu düşünüp filmi izlemeyi bırakırken buluyorum. karakter, olaylar, durumlar, ton... her şeyiyle bu derece yalama olmuş şeyleri hiçbir özel numaraya başvurmadan kullanan zorlama işleri bir performans takibi yapmıyorken izlemek anlamsız gerçekten, çünkü o filmi defalarca izlemiştin. janr filmlerinden örnek alacak çok şey var bu anlamda

Outstanding performance by Cummings on the leading role; decent direction and screenplay (but it kinda feels like there's a certain amount of forced drama in the story) - the first scene gives the impression that it would have elements of a dark comedy, but the sequence of the movie doesn't continue that tone, focusing only on drama.