Rudderless

In William H. Macy’s moving directorial debut RUDDERLESS, Billy Crudup plays Sam, a former high-profile advertising executive whose life is torn apart by the sudden death of his son. Living off the grid on a docked sailboat, he wastes away his days while drowning his pain in alcohol. When Sam discovers a box filled with his son’s demo tapes and lyrics, his own child’s musical talent is a revelation for him, a grieving father yearning to reconnect with his son. He begins to explore his son’s unknown talent, obsessively learning his songs, until one day he decides to play one of them at a local bar. The song captivates Quentin, a young musician (Anton Yelchin) in the audience, and the two unlikely friends decide to form a rock ‘n’ roll band called Rudderless that becomes surprisingly popular and revitalizes both of their lives.

Crudup, who gives a searing performance, leads an exemplary cast that includes Anton Yelchin as Quentin, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne and Felicity Huffman. With RUDDERLESS, William H. Macy has gifted us with a poignant and inspirational musical drama about the power of love, forgiveness and redemption.

RUDDERLESS had its world-premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was the closing night film.