Thunder Road, starring, written and directed by Jim Cummings - Eight out of 10

Thunder Road, starring, written and directed by Jim Cummings

Eight out of 10

Thunder Road is a very accomplished comedy – drama that has won five festival prizes, has been rated by the critics with an impressive average of 83 out of 100, while the public has also appreciated the feature with 7.8 out of 10 markings.

Jim Cummings is remarkable as the writer- director of the motion picture and the actor who portrays the hero of the plot, Officer Jim Arnaud, a pleasant, affable, somewhat outré character that is having a breakdown when faced with trauma.

In the opening scene, the hero is acting weirdly at his mother’s funeral, although he tries to point out later, when images of his act at this interment are shown to the judge, that everyone is overwhelmed in such circumstances.

His wife, Rosalind Arnaud wants a divorce, she sends the papers at the police station where her husband works, but he seems unable to figure out their meaning and has to call her to find that she also wants full custody of their daughter, Crystal Arnaud.

Jim Arnaud has friend, Officer Nate Lewis, but he will argue with this comrade too, when he suspects he has delivered testimony, or evidence against him, an impression that is wrong and the protagonist would regret his behavior.

The captain has warned the hero that he would be suspended and eventually lose his job and when things come to a breaking point, the superior officer asks for the badge, the gun and everything else.

This happens after Jim Arnaud confronts his friend Nate Lewis, becomes violent, insulting and aggressive, he does not back up when other officers come out of the precinct and he reaches a nadir when he takes out his pistol.

When the captain is stating that this is the ned and he has lost his job, requesting the return of police property, the hero starts getting his clothes off, and he ends up in his underwear, for in the clash with his friend, the pants have been affected and we now see that what was under them got destroyed too.

Most often, in spite of his tendency to cope badly with adversity and trauma, Jim Arnaud remains likeable and we feel compassion for him, even when he appears to go over the top and exaggerate.

In court, trying to fight the demand of his wife that she gets full custody of the child, the officer is again on the wrong path, even if he starts with apparent contained, balanced demeanor.

He explains that he thinks his soon to be ex-wife has taken good care of their daughter, Crystal, they seem to agree on the manner of education she must have, broadly speaking and he does not turn against her.

However, after he speaks in his defense, trying to win rights over his child, making the point that he has been a good officer, has not had negative remarks in his experience working for the police, things go wrong.

The judge is trying to see if he has been aggressive and after Jim Arnaud denies it, the judge is presented with a laptop containing an incriminating recording from the funeral, which the police officer tries to explain.

Alas, the situation becomes ever more serious, for in trying to explain his misbehavior, the aggrieved man says something like:

“Judge, when you will lose somebody close, you will feel and act the same way…

Is that a threat? Asks the upset judge

Oh, no! I did not mean that! Let’s get back, let me explain…”

Nevertheless, it is rather late for backtracking and the judge insists that Jim Arnaud needs to return to his counselor, which the tormented parent does not seem to agree with, making the intervention of a bailiff appear imminent.

There is a further calamity and the protagonist is stopped on the road by a police officer, he gets out of the car, forgets the key inside and is left locked out of his Ford pickup – which is what yours truly drives as well -.

The active police officer is unable to tell the ex – man of the law what the emergency is, but when he mentions the address, Jim Arnaud understands it is the address of his now ex-wife and breaks the window of the car to get in.

Unfortunately, when he arrives at the scene, a tragedy has already taken place and in another strange, bizarre and somewhat darkly humorous scene, the hero slaps the dead body he finds on the couch – for spoiler alert reasons, who the dead person is will remain a mystery here.

Thunder Road is an amusing, intriguing, different motion picture that is worth watching.