''Tumbleweeds'' is a 1999 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed by Gavin O'Connor. O'Connor co-wrote the screenplay with his then-wife Angela Shelton, based on Shelton's childhood memories spent on the road with her serial-marrying mother. It stars Janet McTeer,

Kimberly J. Brown Kimberly Jean Brown (born November 16, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as teen witch List of Halloweentown characters, Marnie Cromwell in the Halloweentown (film series), ''Halloweentown'' film series (1998� ...

and Jay O. Sanders. The film had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, where O'Connor won the Filmmaker Trophy award. McTeer won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

. Brown won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and the

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for Best Performance in a Feature Film.

Plot

The story revolves around Mary Jo Walker, a single mother whose usual reaction to trouble is to pack her car with her belongings and take her pre-teen daughter Ava in search of greener pastures. The film commences with a strong-willed Mary Jo in an altercation with a man. As this is something which is routine in Ava's life, she packs a suitcase as she prepares herself for their inevitable departure. Mother and daughter embark upon a journey. When a reunion with an old beau in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

proves to be less successful than anticipated, Mary Jo accedes to Ava's desire to see the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and heads west. Mary Jo wishes to separate herself from her old life, which is manifested when she and her daughter throw the former's clothing from the car window. En route they are assisted by long-distance trucker Jack Ranson, who coincidentally re-enters their lives after they have settled in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Once again, Mary Jo forgoes both her independence and daughter's well-being in favor of having a man in her life. She quits her office job. On face value, Ava's life has changed for the better. For example, she makes friends with a girl in her class (although they later part ways when the girl becomes jealous of Ava's acting talents). Ava also secures a starring role as Romeo in the school play, "

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

". Lastly, Ava is ecstatic when she finds a boyfriend, who takes her to watch a movie. Matters, however, become complicated when Jack becomes verbally aggressive towards Mary Jo. Jack exhibits his true personality when he takes Mary Jo and Ava to a fine dinner and becomes infuriated by Ava's attitude. Ava, however, is just excited about the prospect of having a leading role in the play. When Ava and Mary Jo flee the restaurant, they spend the night in a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the Parking lot, parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central Lobby (room), lo ...

, a scenario with which both mother and daughter are familiar. The next day, Mary Jo is adamant that the two leave town, with only their clothing on their backs. Ava decides to put her foot down and rebel. She tells her mother that she is tired of moving from state to state and is frustrated by her mother's carefree attitude. Although Mary Jo is at first furious at Ava's refusal to cooperate, Mary Jo then realizes that there is the need to make significant changes in their lives. She finally accepts that her behavior has had severe negative repercussions on her daughter. Toward the end of the movie, Ava and her mother stay at a house that a friend of Mary Jo's has loaned to them. Ava rebuilds her friendship with the same girl in her class. Lastly, both she and her mother start to rebuild their lives together. Mary Jo gets a job at a

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation, propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which se ...

Cast

Production

The inspiration for ''Tumbleweeds'' came from Angela Shelton's unpublished memoir detailing her travels with her mother, who married and divorced several times during Shelton's upbringing. Gavin O’Connor married Shelton in 1994 and they began to work on a script for a film adaptation shortly after. Though the couple divorced in 1996, they continued work on the script as it went through several drafts. Janet McTeer was cast as Mary Jo after O'Connor saw the actress on the ''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show ''Charlie Rose (talk show), Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg L.P., Bloombe ...

'' show. He and Shelton had a hard time finding support from major film studios, as producers did not think McTeer, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

actress, was a recognizable enough name to headline a picture. Shelton and O'Connor decided to finance the film themselves. ''Tumbleweeds'' was shot on location in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area in October 1998 over a period of 24 days. Locations included

Agoura Hills Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, Malibu, and the Eagle Rock neighborhood. The film's soundtrack includes "Private Conversation" by

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

, " My Heart Skips a Beat" by

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. He pioneered what came ...

, "One of These Days" by

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

, "One Night Stand" by

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

, and " Sea of Heartbreak" by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Reception

Release

The film premiered at the 1999

, where it won the Dramatic Filmmakers Trophy and secured a distribution deal with Fine Line Features. It was later shown at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and the

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...

before opening in Los Angeles and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on November 24, 1999.

Critical response

''Tumbleweeds'' holds a rating of 82% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 68 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Strong performances add authenticity and depth." In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

said the film "is a modestly produced slice of Americana. But its central performances are so extraordinarily nuanced and the screenplay so perfectly attuned to the twang and beat of everyday speech that in places the movie feels like a documentary . . . There are many moments when what is on the screen stops looking like acting and becomes life itself, and you're watching real people change and grow before your eyes." Glenn Lovell of '' Variety'' wrote, "Powered by uncommon rapport between its femme leads and helmer's roughhewned sensibility, pic has what it takes to become the year's first heartfelt sleeper . . . thas topnotch production values and a strong supporting cast going for it." In the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', Peter Stack observed, "''Tumbleweeds'' is far from a slick Hollywood-style production. It's not encumbered, for one thing, by star power . . . ndits lack of stars becomes part of its charm . . . The interplay between Mary Jo and Ava is the film's great treat. They seem utterly natural together, bound by mother-daughter ties that are complex, touching, ultimately so powerful they yield the kind of tearful joy rarely experienced at the movies." Peter Travers of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote, "McTeer and Brown make magic in a film that is wonderfully funny, touching and vital."

Awards and nominations

(Janet McTeer, nominee) * Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Janet McTeer, winner) * Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress (Janet McTeer, nominee) * Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance (Kimberly J. Brown, winner) * National Board of Review Award for Best Actress (Janet McTeer, winner) * Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Janet McTeer, winner) * Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Motion Picture (Janet McTeer, nominee) *

Filmmaker Trophy (Gavin O'Connor, winner) *Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize (Gavin O'Connor, nominee) *

for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress (Kimberly J. Brown, winner)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tumbleweeds 1999 films 1999 comedy-drama films 1999 independent films 1990s American films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s road comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American independent films American road comedy-drama films English-language independent films English-language road comedy-drama films Films about mother–daughter relationships Films directed by Gavin O'Connor Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance Films scored by David Mansfield Satellite Award–winning films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films