30-Love never goes where you think it will. And that's a good thing. At turns, very funny, very disturbing, very enjoyable, 30-Love offers a character study of an anti-hero much more in line with the great anti-heroes of the 1970's (think Jack Nicholson in FIVE EASY PIECES) than much of what we see in today's cinema.
The movie follows a grieving husband who has no idea how to deal with his grief at the loss of his wife or how to deal with the baby he now has to raise on his own. He decides to channel all his rage, confusion, sorrow into becoming a great tennis player within a year to fulfill a sports desire of his wife.
In the process, we see him fight with his in-laws, make some horrible parenting decisions, and become increasingly obsessive.
Filmmaker Robert Cannon, co-writer Ira Heffler, and the entire cast and crew really work to make a singular movie here. Very often the movie feels like it's going to fly off the rails with its tonal lurches left and right, from almost slapstick comedy to emotional darkness. But, forgive the pun here, the cast and crew definitely ace the serve.
The moviemakers clearly intended to mess with the expectations that come from a "ROCKY" type sports story. But they do it in a very smart, constantly unpredictable way that really makes you, sometimes against your will, acknowledge the flawed, complicated psychology that exists inside all of us.
This is definitely not your movie if you're looking for "Rudy"-like inspiration and "you can achieve anything if you believe in your dreams" type messaging. But if you're looking for an unpredictable movie, inspiring for how effective it is on such a low budget, this is a movie well worth checking out. You'll long remember it. It will stick with you in a rewarding way. And that's often the mark of a truly good picture.
