Tumbleweeds

(New Line)

British stage actress Janet McTeer oozes more Southern-fried sizzle than a hush puppy in director Gavin O'Connor's take on Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore -- the Tony winner is magnetic as Mary Lou, a single mom whose taste in men leans toward hot-tempered losers in tanktops. The mother-daughter bond is the real love affair here: McTeer and Kimberly Brown limn a heartfelt, offbeat alliance that defies the fickleness of mere romance. But Mary Lou's compulsion to hit the interstate every time a marriage sours is melodramatic, and, like most habits, predictable.