The ghosts from a school shooting hover over the otherwise Sundance-y story of “Rudderless,” a low-boil drama directed by the actor William H. Macy. The shooting is left offscreen, and the bulk of the film takes place two years later, the sorrow still fresh in the mind of our central character.
This is Sam (Billy Crudup), whose son died in the college killing. Once a go-getter of an advertising man, Sam has dropped out; he lives on his boat on an Oklahoma lake and paints houses.
Grief leads him to transcribe the songs his late son was writing, and when he performs a tune at an open-mic night, a 21-year-old musician named Quentin (Anton Yelchin, the Chekov from the “Star Trek” reboot) gets excited about the music. Maybe they should start a band?
As antisocial as Sam is, this process will drag him back to the stage — but he doesn’t tell anybody the songs were written by his son, a secret we suspect will detonate at a key moment.
Sam is a silent, bitter type, and there are great possibilities in the idea of an incompetent father coming to know his son through posthumous work. But these possibilities are alluded to rather than fleshed out.
As an actor, Crudup (the “golden god” rock star of “Almost Famous”) often carries an air of William Hurt-like detachment, so he’s canny casting for the role — and he and Yelchin can actually play guitar, which lends casual verisimilitude to the performance scenes. Not quite so believable is the way the new band builds a crazed fanbase at their small club, but the movie needs that to happen so its characters have something to lose.
As director, Macy seems content to let the actors do their thing, with the occasional snazzy camera move thrown in to goose the music scenes. He plays a minor role as the bar manager, and casts his wife, Felicity Huffman, as Sam’s ex.
There’s also a tiny part for Selena Gomez, who literally walks into three or four scenes, delivers her lines, and then walks out.
Macy’s matter-of-fact approach works nicely in big moments, especially in a scene set at the dead son’s grave, where revelations are made that change the stakes. But the approach also keeps “Rudderless” from really drawing blood, despite all the obvious good intentions.
“Rudderless” (2 1/2 stars)
After the death of his son in a school shooting, a man (Billy Crudup) tentatively emerges from the shadows when he plays some of his son’s songs at an open-mic night. This sincere effort, directed by actor William H. Macy, has sincere intentions but doesn’t cut deep. With Anton Yelchin.
Rating: R, for language
Showing: SIFF Uptown theater
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