In the moniker constantly bestowed by Bojack Horseman, “Character Actress Margo Martindale” is one seriously underrated actress. From major movies (like Million Dollar Baby and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) to striking television pivots (Ryan Murphy’s underrated The Watcher to Emmy-winning The Americans), Martindale can truly do it all. For The Long Haul, Martindale delivers an acting masterclass in subtlety. Her character’s sass has been sanded over by years of tragedy, but the build up to a devastating emotional release makes this road trip style drama worthy of awards attention. What’s the point of a road if there’s nothing at the end of it? The Long Haul digs deep into the never-ending process of grieving a loved one while the rest of the world decides it’s time to move on. Debut writer/director David Drake crafts a quiet, almost poetic work that thrives off its simplicity, and one seriously incredible performance from Martindale.
CJ (Martindale) has been burnt out by life’s many twists and turns. For one, she’s an experienced female truck driver on the cusp of retirement in a traditionally male-dominated space. She has put all her stock into life on the road, barely returning back home in between dropping off loads all across the American Southwest. The work is monotonous, but for someone running from her past, CJ finds ultimate comfort in snaking through highways and sending herself message-less postcards.
Everything changes in an instant when CJ pay a visit home to find her messages flooded and a stack of mail from the Idaho parole board. With her past threatening to brush up against her present, CJ has no choice but to confront what she has been dodging for decades. She takes offered work transporting cargo to Las Vegas with much-younger trucker/streamer Junior (Cole Sprouse), but the duo clash in their vastly different approaches to the work at hand. Her old friend (Stephen Root) desperately tries to help CJ socialize and visit with his family, but her cocoon of loneliness and self-isolation is a difficult one to molt.
David Drake’s script seamlessly incorporates multiple thematic throughlines, perhaps the most obvious of which involves the age divide between an older and younger generation. CJ displays a warmness towards children, but doesn’t seem to understand the obsession with vanity and technology. She doesn’t appreciate being bossed around by some new “swinging dick,” regardless of age, and she certainly doesn’t value Junior’s take on their journey. Apart from the straightforward aging commentary though, the complexity of character study for CJ digs deep, warts and all. Martindale, who also produces, is unafraid of appearing frail or beaten down. Her CJ has been weathered and cruelly left to dry by time and society, allowing Martindale to give a completely vulnerable, unflinching performance.
CJ’s characterization builds and builds until we reach a final confrontation with her past. Everything she has been holding in, every frustration, every heartbreak, every shadow of her past has been nakedly exposed. In the aftermath of this release, many sobs and sniffles could be heard in my theater. Roles like CJ don’t come along by chance, so what a miracle that it was Martindale to bring her to life. In supporting roles, Sprouse and Root are both excellent, though the former does not receive as much screentime as anticipated after the first act. The strict focus on CJ makes the movie feel more intimate, letting the quieter moments breathe.
Driven by the combustible combination of Margo Martindale and David Drake, The Long Haul is the real deal. The script is impactful, emphasizing CJ’s interactions outside of her immediate “trucker” family. She forms a bond with an older, retired man strictly on her truck’s radio, and even comes to the aide of a distressed woman when she witnesses an altercation. However flawed CJ may be, Drake finds the nuances that make her a believable human simply stuck where her past left her. Grief and loss seem to be the name of the game at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, but no one hauls more convincing emotional cargo than The Long Haul.
The Long Haul debuted at 2026’s Tribeca Film Festival.
