Rudderless

William H. Macy makes his theatrical directorial debut with this uneven yet compelling drama about a man learning to push beyond tragedy. Rudderless begins when advertising executive Sam (Billy Crudup) loses his aspiring musician son, Josh (Miles Heizer), in a school shooting. Two years later, Sam has downsized to a houseboat and a house-painting gig. Old passion is reawakened when his ex-wife (Felicity Huffman) gives Sam a box of Josh's belongings in preparation for a move. In reading through his son's lyrics and listening to his demo CDs, Sam learns how to play one of his songs, which he performs at an open mic night, meeting the excitable Quentin (Anton Yelchin), who likes the song so much that he offers to sing harmony with Sam. Soon, the duo evolves into a full band with the addition of a drummer (Ryan Dean) and a bass player (Ben Kweller). Laurence Fishburne is also on hand as a music shop owner who encourages Sam not to let age deter him from moving ahead. Sam doesn't tell Quentin that his son wrote their songs, but once Josh's ex-girlfriend (Selena Gomez) finds out, she attempts to put the kibosh on the project. Macy saves a detail about the shooting for the end, which puts preceding events in a different light. A strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)