Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis Bond in Musical Romantic Dramedy ‘Tumbledown’

Sandra Miska

Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis make an unlikely pair in the romantic dramedy “Tumbledown.” Hall plays a young widow and small-town writer Hannah Miles who is still recovering from the untimely loss of her folk singer husband Hunter who died two years earlier in a freak hiking accident. She works through her grief by writing a book about him, which proves to be a slow and taxing process.

Hannah is still living in Maine and writing for a local newspaper when she is contacted by New York writer and professor Andrew McCabe (Sudeikis) who is also working on a book about Hunter. Although Hunter only recorded one album before his death, it was enough to attract a cult following and great interest in his short life. Andrew tracks Hannah down and although Hannah is initially leery of Andrew, he eventually wears her down with his charm and the two bond over their shared dream of making her husband immortal and decide to write his biography together.

The cast also includes Griffin Dunne as Hannah’s editor, Joe Manganiello as Hannah’s nature-loving friend and potential suitor Curtis, Dianna Argon as Andrew’s girlfriend Finley, and Blythe Danner as Hannah’s mother Ellen.

The character of Hunter was inspired by Elliot Smith, the gifted singer/songwriter who tragically took his own life in 2003. Damien Jurado, a Seattle-based indie rock singer/songwriter, plays Hunter. For the film’s soundtrack, Jurado composed music alongside Texas-based composer Daniel Hart. Their song “On The Land Blues” can be heard here.

“Tumbledown” was made by husband and wife team Sean Mewshaw and Desiree Van Til. Mewshaw directed while Van Til penned the screenplay. They showed Jurado early cuts of the film, which inspired him to write the music for Hunter.

Production took place in Vancouver, ON and Princeton, MA. The film debuted this past April at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“Tumbledown” opens in Los Angeles and New York Feb. 5. It can be seen nationwide and on VOD Feb. 12.