Hollywood has fallen into a pattern of releasing two movies with very similar storylines at around the same time. In 1997 we got Dante's Peak and Volcano. In 1998 it was Armageddon and Deep Impact. Now this competition has moved away from the action genre and in 1999 we have Anywhere but Here and Tumbleweeds.

As in the two prior examples, one film far outshines its competition. Tumbleweeds is a small, independent production that is far superior to its big budget competition. Better by orders of magnitude.

English actress Janet McTeer dominates the screen as a single-mother named Mary Jo Walker who has been married four times, each time departing from the union with her daughter and running to a new location to start over. She nails the role of a "Southern, White-Trash Woman" to a T, including the vocal accent and nuance of movement.

After the demise of her most recent relationship she lets her precocious daughter Ava (Kimberly Brown) choose their next destination, which turns out to be San Diego. The trip is not without its challenges for the two but they eventually arrive at their new home.

Mary Jo follows her typical pattern and is soon involved with a man who is a questionable choice at best. "Jack", portrayed by the film's writer/director Gavin O'Connor isn't a bad person, but he is ill-equipped for the challenge of a new lover whose baggage includes a daughter who is unable to hide her dismay at her mother's rushing into another ill-fated romance.

When the relationship is over Mary Jo is ready to run yet again. This time she faces a serious problem. Ava has found a fulfilling life in San Diego and has no interest in following her mother to head for parts unknown.

Director O'Connor, when not busy giving a decent performance in front of the camera, does a wonderful job behind it. He lets the actors work each scene, each word of his terrific dialogue to the fullest. The realism that rings through the events in the lives of Mary Jo and Ava just amazed me.

If Janet McTeer isn't nominated for Best Actress in a lead role for 1999, the only conclusion one can draw is that not enough of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't bother to view the videotape of Tumbleweeds they were provided. If her work in this film isn't the best of 1999, it is certainly among the five best female lead performances. Tumbleweeds is worth seeing just to watch McTeer's work alone.