William H. Macy — long noted as one of the most respected actors of our age (for those who missed him, watch "Fargo" for starters) — has now emerged as a filmmaker.
Macy's feature debut, "Rudderless," auspiciously and aptly bears the hallmarks of an indie film: It has originality, panache and a certain blase sensibility in the way it splashes humor about during extremely painful situations. Macy is taking a risk in doing that, as many in the audience may find these scenes insensitive, confusing or just plain offensive.
There's very, very little to laugh or smile about in this story. Tragedy strikes in the first 10 minutes when doting dad and successful advertising executive Sam (Billy Crudup) invites his college-student son Josh (Miles Heizer) to lunch in a bar off-campus. Josh never shows, and Sam learns from the news that his son has died in a school shooting.