'TUMBLEDOWN': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Indie rom-com/drama flick; starring Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis. The film tells the story of a widow, still coping with the death of her folk singer husband, who must deal with a New York writer; that comes to her small town looking to write a story on him. The movie also costars Dianna Agron, Joe Manganiello, Griffin Dunne, Blythe Danner and Richard Masur. It was directed by first-time feature filmmaker Sean Mewshaw, and written by Mewshaw and Desi and Desiree Van Til (both first-time screenwriters). I enjoyed it.

Hannah Miles (Hall) is still grieving over the death of her husband; a folk singer, who was somewhat of a celebrity in her rural Maine town. Her family, and friends, all think she needs to get over him and move on. That troubled healing is further aggravated, when a New York writer, named Andrew McCabe (Sudeikis),comes to town investigating the beloved musician's death. He's writing a book on the singer, and Hannah doesn't like the idea of it (at all).

I'm becoming a bigger Jason Sudeikis fan, with every movie he does! He's always funny, and he always picks quality projects too; the roles, he plays, always seem like real and relatable people. This film is no exception. I also like how he does a lot of lower-budget indie flicks too. Hall is great in this movie as well. She's definitely not as funny, but her performance is topnotch; and the two have beautiful chemistry together. It's yet another indie hit win, for Jason Sudeikis!

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Hannah Miles (Rebecca Hall) is struggling after the death of her folk singer husband Hunter. She lives alone in rural Maine. She is angry when Andrew McCabe (Jason Sudeikis) from Hofstra University shows up looking to write about Hunter. She claims to be writing his biography but it's not turning out good. She reluctantly asks Andrew to co-write with her.

I like everybody here. The characters are nice. There is potential for a good rom-com. Andrew has a perfectly good relationship with Finley which leaves any romance with Hannah next to impossible. It would work so much better if that is off the table. A jealous Joe Manganiello has one good scene. He could have done so much more. There could be flashbacks to show the drama and the romance of the marriage. There are missed opportunities everywhere. This could be a much better indie dramedy.

This was really over-blown drama. A college professor wants to write a book about a songwriter who died young and meets tremendous opposition from his widow at the film's beginning. Everyone says she is still grieving. Nonsense. She is already having a sexual escapade with another man and her dancing at the local club wasn't exactly mournful either.

This becomes a story of how a relationship builds between the professor and young girl. Blythe Danner, as her mother, is an interesting character. In the way she is speaking, you would swear that it was her son and not her son-in-law who died.

The common denominator here for both the professor and young widow is suicide, and how it both touched them.

Perhaps, it was the chilling cold of Maine that couldn't make me warm up to this film. Neither could the characters either.