Tumbleweeds

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Rarely have two actresses been so effortless in their intimacy.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

McTeer and Brown make magic ina film that is wonderfully funny, touching and vital.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

You'll care what happens in this film with more than enough freshness and originality to avoid succumbing to girls-on-the-run cliches.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

McTeer delivers a messily cheerful performance as a woman who thinks nothing of brushing her teeth with beer.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

The most liberating thing about this funny, touching, heartfelt little movie is the way it defies the rules and, in the end, begins to set its heroines free. They've earned it.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

One of those wonderful, deeply personal pictures that pop up every now and then to lift your spirits.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

At the center of the film is one of the year's best performances -- that of British actress Janet McTeer .

Variety Glenn Lovell

Has what it takes to becomes the year's first heartfelt sleeper.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Though similar thematically to "Anywhere But Here," Tumbleweeds is a breath of fresh air that busts the cliches of dysfunctional mother-daughter sagas.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Janet McTeer doesn't imitate Mary Jo Walker, and she doesn't act her. She becomes her. It's almost spooky.

Slate David Edelstein

Tumbleweeds is gorgeously nuanced.

Film.com Henry Cabot Beck

A minimum of fuss and a welcome lack of clichés. For these things alone, Tumbleweeds should be not only praised, but seen

Film.com Gemma Files

This is independent acting (and movie-making) at its best -- true, tight, anything but trite.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

One of the refreshing aspects of the slight, flawed Tumbleweeds is that it creates a world inhabited by recognizable people.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

McTeer's performance -- one of the best you'll see this year -- makes you realize anew how rare it is to see a female character this complex in American film.

Time Richard Schickel

We have this movie--full of acceptant, sidelong glances at human quirkiness--to delight us.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

There are many moments when what is on the screen stops looking like acting and becomes life itself, and you're watching real people change and grow before your eyes.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

An indie film that was lavishly praised and won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, rolls along in the well-rutted, dusty tire tracks of other mother-and-daughter road trip

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Lives up to its advance buzz as a showcase for some wonderful performances and a sharp storytelling eye by director Gavin O'Connor.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

An alt-country paean to libidinal mothers and the little girls who clean up the mess.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The humor isn't as sharp as it should be, and the story isn't as tight as it could be.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The film isn't quite as striking as its star, but it's just as honest.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Bound by mother-daughter ties that are complex, touching, ultimately so powerful they yield the kind of tearful joy rarely experienced at the movies.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The story is as rambling as the characters, but superb acting by McTeer and Brown goes a long way toward redeeming it.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

What keeps these mother-daughter tumbleweeds from drifting right out of consciousness is the unique rapport between the actresses.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Movies like Tumbleweeds exist in the details, not the outcome. Even a happy ending, we suspect, would be temporary. We don't mind, since the characters have been intriguing to know and easy to care about.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

This smart, hardscrabble, very likable film has a heart and spirit all its own: a rollicking, earthy flair and lusty intelligence.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

A deeply and disappointingly conventional picture masquerading as a free-spirited one.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Worth seeing for McTeer's touching, funny and richly detailed performance, which should put her on the map in Hollywood.

USA Today Mike Clark

No, it isn't the slick and unfocused "Anywhere but Here," where mom and daughter choose Beverly Hills. Instead, it's the more modest and in most cases preferable Tumbleweeds.

TV Guide Ken Fox

This far more modest production is a much more interesting film (than "Anywhere But Here").

TNT RoughCut Sara Raskin

Tumbleweeds has a certain hopefulness about it. "Anywhere But Here," on the other hand, gives you nowhere to go.

Chicago Reader Mark Peranson

Capable, if slightly show-offy, performances by McTeer and Brown give this Sundance favorite a little sparkle.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

It's a wonderfully nuanced performance in an otherwise un-nuanced narrative.