William H. Macy arrived at last January’s Sundance Film Festival with his directorial debut, a music dramedy called Rudderless. Reviews were good, the cast is solid and the story is heartwarming and inspiring – so it is strange that we have heard so little about this upcoming feature. Now, however, Rudderless has a feel-good trailer online that promises a solid run on demand and in theaters when the film releases this October.
Rudderless tells the story of Sam (Billy Crudup), a high-profile ad exec who loses his son in a school shooting, only to turn to grieving through the drink. After he finds a collection of his deceased son’s demo tapes and lyrics, he decides to share the music with others. These tunes draw the eye of a younger rock group, led by Quentin (Anton Yelchin), who decides to enlist Sam in a rock band where the father can live out his son’s dreams. Selena Gomez, Felicity Huffman, Jamie Chung, Laurence Fishburne and Macy himself round out the ensemble cast.
The trailer feels generic at points, but word-of-mouth out of Sundance was terrific. If anything pushes this film into the “must-see” list, it is the chance to see Billy Crudup in a strong role again. He had potential to break out due to his turns in Almost Famous, Without Limits and Big Fish, but has not seen much in the way of large stardom. Anton Yelchin, meanwhile, shows off impressive vocal chops and looks to be doing some excellent work as well. Plus, the music in the trailer could very well make this another enjoyable indie with a strong, acoustic rock and folk-based soundtrack in the realm of Once.
Rudderless, which could really use a better title, hits theatres and on demand services on October 17. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.
