Tumbleweeds

1999 Drama

Gavin O'Connor directed, co-wrote and plays a major supporting role in this drama about a mother and daughter coming to terms with each other's problems. In Tumbleweeds, Janet McTeer plays Mary Jo Walker, a single mother with a long string of bad marriages and a habit of hitting the road when things start to turn sour. Her 12-year-old daughter Ava (Kimberly J. Brown) has learned to live with her Mom's nomadic ways and comfortably slips into the pattern of each new town. At the film's outset, Mary Jo and Ava depart Missouri for San Diego, California, with Mary Jo falling for a rough-hewn trucker named Jack (Gavin O'Connor) along the way. Once in San Diego, Mary Jo's relationship with Jack fails to run smoothly and her new job presents more than its share of challenges, while Ava has romantic problems of her own when she gains her first boyfriend. McTeer, an established stage actress in England, made her American screen debut in this film, which also features notable character actor Michael J. Pollard as Mary Jo's eccentric boss. more..

Director: Gavin O'Connor

Starring: Janet McTeer, Kimberly Brown,Gavin O'Connor, Jay O. Sanders, Michael J. Pollard

Reviews

  • Rarely have two actresses been so effortless in their intimacy.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    11 May 2013

  • McTeer and Brown make magic ina film that is wonderfully funny, touching and vital.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    11 May 2013

  • You'll care what happens in this film with more than enough freshness and originality to avoid succumbing to girls-on-the-run cliches.

    Jay Carr - The Boston Globe

    11 May 2013

  • Movies like Tumbleweeds exist in the details, not the outcome. Even a happy ending, we suspect, would be temporary. We don't mind, since the characters have been intriguing to know and easy to care about.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    11 May 2013

  • 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 Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    11 May 2013

Awards

  • Best Actress in a Leading Role

    Academy Awards (2000)

     
  • Best Actress

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2000)

     
  • Best Actress

    Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (1999)

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical

    Golden Globes (2000)

  • Best Debut Performance

    Independent Spirit Awards (2000)