A young man learns from any father figure he can get in Walkaway Joe, the debut of director Tom Wright.
Dallas didn’t luck into a great dad. In fact, his father was pretty useless when he wasn’t playing pool, so his mom eventually kicked him out. Dallas isn’t so quick to give up on dear old dad, though, but to track him down requires searching every pool hall he can find. To get around he teams up with a loner named Joe, who has his own complicated reasons for helping the youngster.
This looks to be a sturdy little character piece, one where the three men stumble towards some form of redemption. It should be comfortable material to start with for Wright, who’s acted in too many films to count but takes his first shot at directing here. The key for him will be finding the twist that makes it stand out from other stories like it.
He does have a solid cast to lean on, with David Strathairn playing the mysterious Joe and Jeffrey Dean Morgan the missing father. Julian Feder, who’s had a few film roles but nothing this major, will connect them all as the hopeful son. The success of Walkaway Joe will likely come down to the relative green Feder and Wright, but there are at least some elements here that are sure to be solid as a rock.
Walkaway Joe is directed by Tom Wright and stars Julian Feder, David Strathairn, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It will be released in the US on VOD on May 8th, 2020. Further release dates are not currently known.
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