Tow Review: Rose Byrne fights the system in this charming underdog story

Plot: Based on a true story, TOW follows Amanda Ogle, a woman living in her aging Toyota Camry on the streets of Seattle. When her car — her only lifeline — is stolen and impounded, Amanda is thrust into a relentless legal battle against an indifferent system. What begins as a fight to reclaim her car evolves into a deeply human story of resilience, dignity, and the power of one woman’s voice in the face of systemic failure.

Review: Rose Byrne has explored some interesting projects over the last several years, including serving as an executive producer on her films and series like Physical and Platonic. Coming off her Golden Globe-winning performance and Oscar nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Byrne is back with another powerful performance that touches similar themes as her award-winning role, but from a very different perspective. Based on the true story of Amanda Ogle’s fight against a shameless towing company, Tow looks at elements of addiction, homelessness, and the spirit of perseverance in a seemingly unwinnable situation. With supporting turns from Oscar winners Octavia Spencer and Ariana DeBose, as well as co-stars Demi Lovato and Dominic Sessa, Tow is a feel-good movie that hits many of the right notes, though it misses a few others.

With bleached-blonde hair done up in a Rosie the Riveter-style bandana and donning false teeth, Rose Byrne plays Amanda Ogle, a homeless woman living in her 1991 Toyota Camry in Seattle. Trying to put her veterinary tech certification to use, Amanda is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic trying to get her life back in order so she can reunite with her teenage daughter, Avery (Elsie Fisher), who lives in Utah. Judged for her lack of a college degree, Amanda moves from her car to homeless shelters before ending up at a church facility run by Barb (Octavia Spencer). When Amanda finally gets a job opportunity, she finds her car has been stolen. When she tries to reclaim it from the impound yard, she is told she has to pay. Amanda decides to sue the towing company and ends up in a protracted battle with their corporate attorney, Martin La Rosa (Corbin Bernsen). Little did she know, but Amanda’s battle would last for over a year.

Compressing Amanda’s 338-day battle to get her car back into one-hundred minutes means that Tow keeps the momentum moving on the journey for justice, but always keeping the focus on Rose Byrne. While her lawyer, Kevin (Dominic Sessa), works hard on her behalf, this movie is another showcase for Byrne. Amanda is brash and loud and comes across like an unhoused Erin Brockovich, but this movie rests more on Byrne’s ability to convey so much with just her facial expressions. Clad in big pink sunglasses, boots, and cool jackets, Byrne plays Amanda as a single-minded woman who is too proud to admit she is homeless but is so much more than that. Tow tries to give us that same sentiment about the various other shelter residents, including drug addict mother Denise (Ariana DeBose), pregnant Nova (Demi Lovato), and bully Jocelyn (Lea DeLaria). There are moments of weakness for all the shelter residents, but the movie does not delve into their journeys; rather, it focuses on how their similarities to Amanda lend realism to her story. Tow tugs at the heartstrings with these moments, but they never really hit as much as they could have had the supporting players been more key to the overall story.

There is always an appetite for David-and-Goliath stories, especially those where the protagonist wins in the end, but the majority of Tow fails to dig into the failures of government and legal systems or to focus on the triumph of the human spirit in the face of uncertainty. Seeing Dominic Sessa and Rose Byrne rail against the stall tactics and unabashed greed personified by Corbin Bernsen’s character definitely makes you want to see the faceless corporation held accountable, but Tow never really takes us where it seems to want to go. On the flipside, we see the struggles Amanda faces and learn snippets of how she ended up homeless and alone, but, like her fellow shelter residents, the movie does not go deep enough into anyone’s journey beyond the year Amanda spent trying to get her car back. It makes for an inspirational story that could have been more inspiring. By the sheer force of Rose Byrne’s presence, Tow delivers some satisfaction.

Directed by Stephanie Laing and written by Jonathan Keasey and Brant Boivin, Tow is inspired by the real Amanda Ogle, who features in the closing credits alongside the real Avery and attorney Kevin. Jonathan Keasey and Brant Boivin make their writing partnership debut with this film, with Keasey having previously scripted the feature film Parallel. Stephanie Laing has worked extensively on series like Your Friends & Neighbors, Interior Chinatown, The Better Sister, and Palm Royale. Liang also directed 24 of the 30 episodes of Rose Byrne’s Apple TV series Physical, which explains the connection between the filmmaker and the actor/producer. The musical score is also memorable, hailing from Este Haim and Nathan Barr. Everything about Tow feels like what you would expect from an indie film, with multiple award-winning actors who lend a passion-project feel.

The direction that Tow heads is one you will spot a mile away, as it hits all of the expected beats of a heartfelt story about an underdog trying to stick it to the man. While it glosses over some of the more challenging and hard-to-see aspects of homelessness in modern society, the movie does a serviceable job of treating its characters with humanity and dignity. This is not an exploitative film, but it is one designed to evoke sentimentality. Once you reach the end of Tow, if you don’t feel a blend of justice and injustice for what Amanda went through, then you don’t have a soul. Rose Byrne’s performance is more than enough to warrant checking this movie out, even though the film isn’t as good as it could have been.

Tow opens in theaters on March 20th.