Rudderless

"The way back begins with a single chord."

2014 1h 45m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 344

MusicDramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles across a box of his recently deceased son's demo tapes and lyrics. Shocked by the discovery of this unknown talent, he forms a band in the hope of finding some catharsis.

“The way back begins with a single chord.”

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Cast

Billy Crudup
Sam Manning
Anton Yelchin
Quentin
Felicity Huffman
Emily
Selena Gomez
Kate Lucas
Miles Heizer
Josh Manning
Alexandra Lovelace
Mary Beth
Laurence Fishburne
Del
William H. Macy
Trill

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William H. Macy
Writers: Jeff Robison, William H. Macy, Casey Twenter
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William H. Macy, shot by Eric Lin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eef Barzelay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Axelrad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Billy Crudup and Anton Yelchin and Felicity Huffman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The way back begins with a single chord.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1798243 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William H. Macy directs. Eric Lin behind the camera. Eef Barzelay scores. John Axelrad cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 12 years ago.
3Directed by William H. Macy, shot by Eric Lin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Eef Barzelay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor John Axelrad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Billy Crudup and Anton Yelchin and Felicity Huffman carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The way back begins with a single chord.".
8IMDB entry: tt1798243 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eric Lin
Original score: Eef Barzelay
Editing: John Axelrad
Production design: Christopher Stull
Costume design: Jillian Bundrick
Sound: Christopher Barnett
Stunt coordinator: Jody Stelzig
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $58,293
Return: 1% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Rudderless (2014)

Also by

William H. Macy

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-05-14
★ 9/10
An impact of the loss of a close one. If you think it is some B movie, which is overrated, I would say your assumption is totally wrong. I did not know anything about this film either, I thought it was a Christian Bale movie, that's who I saw in the poster, but later I came to know it was a different guy. My thought on this changed after watching it, it is really a beautiful drama-music. One of the best films of the 2014 that I would have missed it if I had listened to the lies of the critics. So be careful while choosing such movies, because critics are not always right. I believe you all had seen enough films based on the school shootings like 'Elephant'. This is a similar kind, except there's no violence in it, I mean the shootout was not shown, but a drama about its consequences, especially in the perspective of the parents. This tale focused on a father whose son had been killed in a such unfortunate event. How it affects his life was narrated wonderfully with some awesome music tracks. A father's mourning and his uncertain future to the self-discovery. This is Willian H. Macy's directional debut film and he pulled it off quite superbly. Sadly, nobody talks about it in the line of other great films of the year, because it deserves an equal respect and praise. I am not the only one, there are others too who liked it a lot. A simple story and the perfect character exhibitions with the pleasing musics, all these worked in its favour. Supporting roles are enough, Billy Crudup should do more lead roles. After seeing his impressive performance in this I am confident that he can find his own place in the industry. And so Willian H. Macy, I'm looking forward for his future projects. "There are 14 people in the audience and 10 of them are performers." It was not inspired by the real story, except the school shootings, but the film incredibly told what happens after such incidents. The best part was balancing the emotions in the storytelling. After watching it in the first 10 minutes, I expected, in fact anybody expects it to be a tearjerker film, but it was not, even though I loved watching the rest of the film. And the twist was very casual which was not meant for the story or the characters, but for the viewers that related to the school shooting that we never saw. So there is a less possibility for us to expect it coming, but it also that brings a better conclusion to the heartwarming tale. It was like someone's real life, yet not easy to predict the scenes. Cinematically it accomplished its quest to be a good film. Selena Gomez was in a guest role, but for a star like her it was unnecessary to play a small part, especially in a serious theme like this. Because unexpected anticipation grows in us and in the end that might lead to a disappointment, especially for her fans. That is not for her alone, but any other big stars, because it is not a comedy or a superhero film when they appear on the screen, the audience to go crazy. A character with the dialogues means something big, but anyway, she was bad at all. It wasn't as good performance as Anton Yelchin's previous film '5 to 7' that I saw early this year, but yeah definitely a decent supporting character along with Laurence Fishburne's. Don't mistake it, it was not a powerful drama about grieving alone, but in its small specific expanse it reached what it wanted to tell the audience so perfectly. So, there are some fun parts as well in it in a small quantity. But overall, a film that fulfills its promise. By now you might know that I strongly recommend it, especially if anyone who had ever lost their loved ones, they will feel it in their heart more than others do. 9/10

Production companies