Janie JonesDon't you always hate it when a former lover drops into your life and leaves you with the daughter you didn't even know you had? Oops. Did I just say that out loud?

Anyway, that's exactly what happens to Ethan Brand (Alessandro Nivola) in David M. Rosenthal's Janie Jones, the trailer for which you can check out below. Ethan's a struggling rock musician with his own personal problems and barely two nickels to rub together when a former lover (Elizabeth Shue) shows up and suddenly reveals he has a daughter with her and then suddenly disappears. Brand, left to reconcile his past, learns a lot about himself as he decides to raise his daughter.

We absolutely loved Nivola's work in 2002's Laurel Canyon with Frances McDormand and Kate Beckinsale, so our hopes are set high for Janie Jones, which debuted at last year's Toronto International Film Festival and is also playing at this month's Tribeca International Film Festival. Nivola's crooning of Shade and Honey for the Laurel Canyon soundtrack sold us on the guy as multi-talented star, and he sings many of the songs in Janie Jones as well. Nivola clearly has skills as do Academy Award nominees Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Elizabeth Shue (Curb Your Enthusiasm). Breslin accompanies Nivola on a song for the Janie Jones soundtrack.

Looks like they may have given away a bit too much in the trailer though, so couple that with the fact that the story doesn't appear to be all that original in the first place (a little birdie confirms our suspicions on this) so we're tempering our excitement just a tad. As expected Abigail Breslin appears to shine once again.

You can check out the trailer for Janie Jones below. It's set to release next month on October 28th.