Nashville Film Fest 2018 Review: Thunder Road

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Thunder Road travels in a lot of directions, each turn feeling unexpected, but never out of place. Writer, director, and star Jim Cummings plays Jim Arnaud, a police officer that’s one pulled Jenga piece away from collapsing under the weight of the world. He’s getting divorced and feels like a disappointment when it comes to raising and even getting to know his own daughter (Kendall Farr). If that isn’t enough, his mother just passed away.

The nervous breakdown that seems so near keeps you guessing, resulting in each reaction being unpredictable. Taking all of this in to account, Thunder Road is not the downer it sounds like. The movie comes from Cumming’s award-winning short film of the same name, and what an extraordinary one-man show this is.

It’s abundantly clear Arnaud doesn’t handle grief well, as his anger rears its ugly head whenever he opens his mouth. Whether talking to his soon-to-be ex-wife (Jocelyn DeBoer) or out on the job, he’s an erratic mess with his emotions playing a great game of tug-of-war. The winners are the audience, sympathetic one second and laughing two seconds later. The switch Cummings is able to flip from one sentence to the next isn’t easy to execute and enthralling to watch.

Arnaud’s soft spot is with his daughter. There’s a sweet scene early on where he can’t keep up with his daughter’s high-five game, so he practices all night just to impress her the next day. There’s effort in everything he does, sometimes it just doesn’t come across like he hopes. The last few minutes get so dark that it catches you off guard, but that’s the point. Thunder Road has a distraught, devastated guy behind the wheel, and he’s lost all control, swerving all over the place. How much can one man take?

In a lot of cases, the movie solely rests on a performance. This is absolutely true with Thunder Road. Cummings is the reason this story is breathing, and he’s the heart and soul of it. His intricate balance between laughing and lashing out is incredible. And from the dancing in the opening scene, tragedy and comedy are a match made in heaven when Cummings is taking the lead.

“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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