It’s hard to imagine a less likely centerpiece for a movie than Jimmy Testagross. Weary and bloated, he arrives on his mother’s Queens, N.Y., doorstep after getting unceremoniously dumped from his 26-year gig as a Blue Oyster Cult roadie (or, as Mom puts it, a “butler” for rock stars). But director Michael Cuesta’s Roadie (buy tickets here) is full of discomfiting surprises. Ron Eldard (left) gives a stand-out performance as the man-child trying to reconnect with a past he never really left behind; Lois Smith is sharp and funny as his ailing, bewildered mother; and Jill Hennessey (right) and Bobby Cannavale glide effortlessly into their roles as Jimmy’s high school crush and tormentor. (Accomplished singer-songwriter Hennessey even gets to use her vocal skills here.)

Roadie, on demand and in theaters today, January 6