Not Your Average Love Story..."Tumbledown"

Tumbledown  (2015)

Rated R

Starring Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Manganiello, Blythe Danner, Griffin Dunne,

Directed by Sean Mewshaw

The Story:

Hannah (Hall) is trying to get past the passing of her husband, an acclaimed folk musician, and she's attempting to do that by writing a biography about his life. Andrew (Sudeikis) is a writer from New York who is also a big fan of her husband's work, and is also working on writing a biography. Oil meets water and the two clash over just what the musician meant to Hannah and to the fans.

This is an interesting romantic dramedy that is a very, very slow burn in development.

Hannah and Andrew clearly are at odds when they first meet, and a romance between the two is the last thing you're expecting...

except for the fact that you're totally expecting it, because that's why the movie is here.

It's what the two discover when they begin working together that changes their preconceived notions about the man they are both writing about and the two end up working together to make one really good book.

Sudeikis continues to shine as a leading or supporting actor in films. He dials down his usual personality  to about an 8 (versus an 11!) and it helps sell the film. He may be unliked by Hannah, but he's not unlikable.

Hall does a fine job as the widow who doesn't quite know how to let go, and doesn't really want to either.

Final Grade:  C+

A Little Quirky...A Little Cool... "Murder Of A Cat"

Murder of a Cat (2014)

Unrated

Starring Fran Kranz, Nikki Reed, J.K. Simmons, Blythe Danner, Greg Kinnear,

Directed by Gillian Greene

The Story:

Clinton (Kranz) investigates the murder of his beloved cat. This leads him to suspect Greta (Reed) and bring in the Sheriff (Simmons) to arrest her. However, it turns out the cat led a double life and hung out with both of them when he would wander from home to home. But someone murdered the poor feline, and these two want revenge! However, the death could be a cover-up for something even more sinister!

To be fair, this one started off a little slow, and a lot of odd.

Clinton is a kid in an adult body, so I don't know if they were trying to tackle a special needs case, or just that of a slacker.

:)

But I sat back and gave this one the full 20 minutes, and then I continued to stick around until the end.

They actually start the movie at the end of the movie, and then backtrack.

For a crime/suspense/comedy, they should have used a different camera angle and not revealed much of the suspense at first, but what can you do?

Just saw that it is streaming for Amazon Prime members as well.

Final Grade: B- / C+ range