Braking for Whales (2019)

Braking for Whales: Directed by Sean McEwen. With Tom Felton, Tammin Sursok, Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Koechner. A dysfunctional brother and sister are forced to come to terms with each other and themselves over their recently deceased mother’s final wish.

“Greetings again from the darkness. Their mother amassed quite the collection of whale-related items from eBay prior to her recent passing. The brother needs the inheritance to continue his self-discovery course, which may or may not answer the question of whether or not he is gay. The estranged sister apparently abandoned her young daughter for fear of being a lousy mother. He admits to being u0026#39;lostu0026#39;, and she admits to being u0026#39;brokenu0026#39;. Self-loathing is on full display in director Sean McEwenu0026#39;s first feature film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTom Felton (Draco from the Harry Potter movies) plays Brandon Walker, and Tammin Sursok (u0026quot;Pretty Little Liarsu0026quot;) plays his older sister Star Walker. They reunite for the reading of momu0026#39;s will, which includes the outlandish requirement for Brandon and Star to dispose of momu0026#39;s ashes in the belly of whale in order to receive their inheritance. Needing the money, they hop in momu0026#39;s old Winnebago for a 48 hour road trip to a public aquarium that houses the closest whale to Iowa.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe emotional impact of a story about a brother and sister finding common ground on a forced road trip boils down to two things: the chemistry between the two actors and the script. Mr. Felton and Ms. Sursok seem to be committed to the cause, and there are a couple of moments that strike the right chord, but overall the script is what prevents us from connecting to either the characters or the story. The attempts to inject humor tend to be in poor taste, while the dramatic elements either repeat themselves or donu0026#39;t work because we simply donu0026#39;t care enough about Brandon or Star.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHaving the running gag of Brandon proclaiming u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m not gayu0026quot; while Star relentlessly peppers him on the topic comes across as not just dated, but also quite sad – seeing as Brandon is a thirty-something year old man. And worse than that is the stop over at Aunt Jackieu0026#39;s (Wendi McLendon-Covey, BRIDESMAIDS, u0026quot;The Goldbergsu0026quot;) and Uncle Randalu0026#39;s (David Koechner) house. This sequence of social commentary meant to bash extreme right-wing conservatives is simply embarrassing to watch. I actually felt terrible for the actors in these scenes. Comedy around homosexuality and racism must be handled with grace … whether itu0026#39;s subtle or cartoonish.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe script was co-written by director Sean McEwen and his leading lady (and real life wife) Tammin Sursok. Respect is due to independent filmmakers who find a way to realize their project, but we do wish more time had been spent on the script. In fact, the whole production felt rushed and unpolished, leaving us with the most dreaded question any movie watcher might ask … how much longer?”