Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31874 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-16
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
English
Region 2
Dolby Pro Logic English
Dolby Pro Logic
Trailer

Synopsis
Mary Jo Walker (McTeer) is a Southern mother who hides her self-consciousness by overcompensating. She drinks, wears revealing outfits, and says things that other people would never even consider. Fleeing her latest abusive relationship, she and her daughter, twelve-year-old Ava (Brown), head out west. They eventually settle in Starlight Beach, California, and seem to be getting along just fine on their own, but it isn't long before the cycle threatens to repeat itself. McTeer's portrayal of Mary Jo is so seamless that one might forget she is even acting. Reminiscent of the character driven films that made 1970s Hollywood so exhilarating.

From the Back Cover
Escaping yet another abusive ex-husband, Mary Jo Walker grabs her spunky 12 year-old daughter Ava and flees from the dusty backwaters of the South. Armed with only her Southern charm and unwavering optimism, Mary Jo goes in search of new love interest. Within weeks of their arrival, Jack Ranson, a ruggedy handsome truck driver enters their lives. Mary Jo must decide whether to resist running from Starlight Beach, or risk losing a daughter and loyal friend forever...

Customer Reviews

Janet McTeer in a great lead performance�
I first saw Tumbleweeds in 1999 when it was first released in the cinemas and I'll always remember it as one of the best films of that year. British actress Janet McTeer went on to win a well-deserved best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Mary Jo Walker a flaky South Carolinian, who runs backwards and forwards towards abusive men and searches for love in all the wrong places.

13-year-old Ava (Kimberly J. Brown) is still young enough that her mother, Mary Jo, seems like the center of the world. The film opens as Mary Jo is suffering domestic abuse at the hands of her drunken rage -fuelled husband, while Ava nervously cowers in her bedroom. Mary Jo is smart enough to realize that she can't expose her daughter or herself from this any longer, so they go on the road looking for a better future.

They settle in a southern California beach town of Starlight Beach where Mary Jo quickly gets involved with another guy, Jack Ranson (Gavin O'Connor). But things don't go as planned. It seems as though there's something about Mary Jo who thrives on hooking up with the bad guys. Soon, she continues a pattern familiar to the sarcastic, adaptable Ava: Mom moves in, meets the lout, shacks up, things go wrong, so mother and daughter move on again.

McTeer plays Mary Joe to the hilt, turning in an absolutely masterful performance. She radiates openness, optimism, and sensuality; she captures the casual, easy-going exterior but also the pain, insecurity and weariness underneath. It seems that Mary Jo, not so much gets into bad relationships, but that she just can't quite see alternatives. Despite having been locked in co-dependencies, she has survived with mostly indefatigable buoyancy, a wild and raunchy sense of humor, and a joy in life and living that sparkles.

It is the mother daughter relationship that really drives this story. On the surface, her relationship with Ava is more like girlfriends of similar age than mother and daughter, but for all her worldliness, Ava is still barely pubescent. Mary Jo is still a mother with a deep well of unconditional love and the mother-daughter bond is always conspicuous - she even gets a real kick out of teaching her daughter how to kiss boys.

Brown plays Ava as observant, perceptive, realistic; she's been around her mother's serial misadventures and they have made her wise beyond her years. She's clever enough to counter her mother's often-unrealistic expectations; Ava's seen it all before and it has hurt. She'll hold back where Mary Jo plunges in, often with disastrous results; it's as though Ava is constantly learning from her mother's mistakes.

First-time director and co writer Gavin O'Connor - who also plays Jack - is insightful and skilled at really bringing out the dynamics of the mother and daughter relationship. Every scene means something, no one gets caught acting, and there's almost no exposition.

Of course when Mary Jo finds that she's merely repeating the mistakes of the past, her first instinct is to flee, rather than face her, and it is Ava's insistence on staying that forces Mary Jo to stay put and find another way to live her life. Mother's usually teach their daughters, but the irony in this film is that daughter teaches mother.

Tumbleweeds is a lovingly pragmatic little film that is just brimming with warmth, realism and humanity. It's closely observed and honestly presented, and acts as a huge showcase for McTeer's talent as an actress. It's just a pity that, as yet she hasn't gone on to achieve the international fame that she so thoroughly deserves. Mike Leonard October 05.

Funny and thought-provoking
Janet McTeer is unbelievably good! A very realistic and at times absolutely hilarious, yet serious and thought-provoking without pushing it too far - that's how I'd describe the movie. You'll want to watch it over and over again because you can't help but fall in love with this strange little family!

fun with feeling...
Great performances from the actresses playing mother and daughter here, and a story which is genuinely entertaining without being trite. If you're a parent with separation or divorce behind you, negotiating the world of new relationships, there are many moments here which are both funny and thought-provoking. If you're a teenager with separated/divorced parents who drive you to distraction, you'll recognise plenty here too. And whether or not you've ever been in either situation, you'll find quirky jokes and a good story.