Tumbleweeds

Brazen on the outside, insecure inside, Mary Jo Walker (Golden Globe winner Janet McTeer) has never been without a man. In fact, the thought has never even occurred to her; but it has occurred to Ava (Kimberly J. Brown), her brassy 12-year-old daughter, who's sick of seeing her mom shack up with abusive beaux, only to run away a few months later. Ava tries to put her foot down when the duo land in San Diego, and initially it looks as if these tumblers might settle down and learn a little about confidence and self-reliance, until Mary Jo sets her sights on a beer-swilling handsome trucker (director Gavin O'Connor) who's a ticking time-bomb. Although the bare-bones production sports a few technical annoyances (truly gratuitous handy-cam, for one), McTeer and Brown have such an authentic and absorbing mother-daughter dynamic that their nuanced performances alone make this movie shine. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)