On the brink

THUNDER ROAD (A) - This under-the-radar solo piece is a wonder of crazed emotion. Jim Cummings splashes on the scene as writer/director/star of this fevered piece about a mentally unstable police officer unraveling over the breakup of his marriage and the death of his mother.

A 12-minute opening scene -- Cummings having a public meltdown while eulogizing his mother at her funeral, complete with an improvised dance sequence (expanding on a 2016 short film) -- sets the manic tone that never lets up for an hour and a half. Cummings has an uncanny ability to contort and relax his face, switching on a dime as he cycles through and pinballs among emotions from second to second.

Officer Arnaud's behavior unsettles everyone around him, from the police captain (a nice turn by Bill Wise from "Krisha"), to his loyal and understanding partner (Nican Robinson), to his embarrassed pre-adolescent daughter (Kendal Farr). Arnaud's life spirals through a series of embarrassing situations, as denial and resentment course through his veins. Throughout, Cummings is a pure force of nature, refusing to take his foot off the gas. He's like an odd mix of Jim Carrey and Jason Schwartzman. The movie shares a DNA with other recent depictions of psycho/sociopathic emotional cripples like Kris Avedisian's "Donald Cried" and "Buzzard." Cummings perfects the model here.

WILD ROSE (A-minus) - Speaking of phenomenons, Jessie Buckley is a one-person wrecking crew as the singing star of this deeply heartfelt story about a Scottish 23-year-old who yearns to make it big in Nashville. The problem is, Rose-Lynn is living a country song herself. She just got out of prison for dealing heroin, she's broke, and she resents the two children that she had as a teenager. All she's missing is a pickup truck running over her dog.

But Rose-Lynn is determined to make it out of Glasgow, and she finds a sympathetic patron in Susannah (Sophie Okonedo), whose house Rose-Lynn cleans. But there will be no simple path for our heroine here.

Buckley, with a childlike innocence in her back pocket, has the aura of a true superstar. Her Rose-Lynn shuffles around night and day in her trusty pair of white cowboy boots, and she gives and good as she gets in the dive bars where she is sometimes welcome. Buckley has a beautiful voice and a natural stage manner, with none of the artifice or affectation that tinge a movie like "A Star Is Born." She's the real deal.

There is nary a misstep by TV veterans Tom Harper (who directs) and Nicole Taylor (who wrote the screenplay). The songs, a mix of originals and covers of songs by the likes of John Prine, Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin, are well chosen. The working-class setting feels authentic. The dynamic between Rose-Lynn and her mother (a resigned Julie Walters) is heated and heartfelt but never maudlin. Even the kids (Daisy Littlefield and Adam Mitchell), tagged with classic-country monikers Wynonna and Lyle, find the right tone. The twist in the final reel is well earned and believable. Everyone is on their game here, especially Buckley, who is just bursting with life.

BONUS TRACK
"Peace in This House" by Jesse Buckley (originally Wynnona Judd), from "Wild Rose":