Tara Road (2005)

Marilyn Vine’s (Andie MacDowell) idyllic life in Connecticut is devastated by the tragic death of her only son Dale during his 15th birthday party. 3,000 miles away, Ria Lynch’s (Olivia Williams) marriage comes to a stunningly abrupt end in Dublin, Ireland, when husband Danny (Iain Glen) reveals that he is leaving her for his pregnant mistress, Bernadette (Heike Makatsch). An accidental phone call brings these two otherwise unrelated women together and, in their mutual need for space and time alone, they agree to a two-month house exchange. In swapping homes, both women slowly find healing and strength through new surroundings and the kindness of others and gradually learn to accept the reality of their changed lives.

Close to a Total Waste of Time

Although the synopsis of this movie sounds like it would be a good study in grieving, it is a huge disappointment. From a traditional values point of view, it is virtually a total waste. My wife was even shocked to discover that the Irish woman's youngest 'daughter' was actually a boy. If there is ever a time in a person's life when they feel a need to turn to God, it is after the death of a loved one; even more so if the loss is a child. It doesn't seem to even enter either parent's head. The mother even seems bewildered when two kind ladies gave her a sympathy card along with asking the parish priest to say a Mass for the repose of the boy's soul.

Instead, it seemed that everyone involved was more interested in sexual or quasi-sexual relationships with most everyone they met. [At least it seemed so.] When the movie finished, my wife said simply, 'I'm confused.' If there is any message to this movie, it would be that money solves everything. There are so many more realistic and moving movies to watch, I'd suggest watching one of them and forgetting this one. June 10, 2008

Oh, dear..."expectation adjustment" needed

I'd like to be perfectly candid with you: this movie is more deserving of two than three stars, but I cannot bring myself to rate it so lowly. Why? It's a question of expectation, and my hesistance to subvert it (for a very similar situation, see my review of _The River King_ DVD).

One's expectations are rightly high upon reading the back cover of this DVD. We have a screenplay based on a best-selling Maeve Binchy novel; an all-star international cast including Andie McDowell, Olivia Williams, and no less than Stephen Rea; a cutesy if gimmicky transatlantic house-swap premise; and a capable Scottish director. So, by the time you've popped this in the player, your expectations are or should be fairly high.

That's why the let-down, when it comes, is a blow. The acting abilities of almost every actor are severely tested here. Olivia Williams comes off the best; she is believable, at least, as a woman whose philandering husband turns her cozy world upside down. Andie MacDowell--well, I have few words to describe how disappointing, unsympathetic, and emotionally unresonant her performance here is. A real pity, because she is lovely to watch, with a beautiful face that is naturally expressive but which, here, is bafflingly blank, even after her character's warming "catharthis" points.

A bevy of fine, veteran Irish actors (Maria Doyle Kennedy, Brenda Fricker)are given short shrift with poor characterization and dialogue. Ah, the dialogue--wooden, clunky, and full of pregnant pauses. I do not include in the "fine" category the teenage actress playing Ria's daughter Annie; her scenes and dialogue are amongst some of the least believable, most poorly delivered in the film, and the movie suffers for it (she's an important character).

The director erred--grossly--in using *these* Irish/British and South African actors to play Americans. The characters are caricatures, one-dimensional and with poor American accents to boot. (The accent and acting of pan-Euro Jean Marc Barr alone are disorienting in the extreme). The choice to try to get wide panoramic shots of the "New England" neighborhood mystifies me, given that the scenery in the background is so clearly southeast African (it screams "safari").

And the ending--that deus ex machina ending that is straight out of a situation comedy, not the emotionally layered scenarios Binchy is capable of creating in her better novels.

I am smacking my head against my forehead, wondering "Why?" Why was a movie with so much potential given such painfully poor treatment? Why were the actors not on their game (and these actors are not exactly C-list)? Why were the situations treated with so little nuance as to come off as absurd and hackneyed--the cheating boss, the cheating husband, the Waiting to Exhale wronged-wife moment, the Other Woman subplots...?

So, it is with a heavy heart that I cannot recommend _Tara Road_ to people who, like me, had reasonably high expectations of it. What I *can* do is recommend it to people who expect no more than a transatlantic/Irish ambience, scenes--but not thoughtful explorations-- of family dysfunction, and a mild revenge-of-the-wife vindication sub-plot.

If those are your only expectations, you may just like this film, and more power to you; I really hope you do.



March 27, 2008

Pass a rainy day on TARA ROAD

Based upon a novel by Maeve Binchy that was selected as part of Oprah's Book Club, TARA ROAD is the story of two different women living continents apart. Fifteen-year-old Dale Vine (Christ Jaco Olckers) is tragically killed at his own birthday party while riding a motorbike given to him by his father. Dale's mother, Marilyn (Andie MacCowell), can't cope with the death and goes into a deep depression. She decides she needs to get away and makes a phone call overseas to find out about a possible house switching. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Ria Lynch (Olivia Williams) is informed at her son's birthday party that her husband Danny (Iain Glen) is leaving her for his pregnant mistress, Bernadette (Heike Makatsch). Ria is attempting to deal with this news when she receives a phone call from Marilyn. Deciding to take things into her own hands, Ria agrees to the house-switch. She goes to America and Marilyn comes to the house at Tara Road in Ireland. Though separated by thousands of miles, the women become connected as they bond with each other's friends and family, learning the secrets that each one holds, and gaining strength from the kindness of their new surroundings and the strangers that become friends.

TARA ROAD is a chick-flick without much romance. Marilyn goes to Ireland to figure out her life and falls more in love with her husband. Meanwhile, Ria comes to America and realizes what a jerk her husband has been. The movie doesn't offer any deep messages really and isn't a tear-jerker. It can best be described as an "adult coming of age story". The acting is solid across the bar. It's also incredibly short with a run-time of just over ninety-minutes.

The DVD includes a trailer for the film, an interview with author Maeve Binchy, and some other trailers. The Maeve Binchy interview is rather short, but also informative. As a bit of trivia, you can see Maeve Binchy and her husband in a cameo role as a restaurant patron at the bar where Rose Maria takes Marilyn. February 2, 2008

Trading lives

Trading lives with somebody else is something a lot of people wish they could do. Just take "The Holiday," for example.

And in "Tara Road, it becomes an important event for two women. This movie, adapted from Maeve Binchy's novel, is basically just an Irish/American chick-flick -- a determinedly sugary finale, but with fairly good acting and some truly gorgeous scenery in Ireland.

Three thousand miles apart, two women suffer horrific personal tragedies -- Marilyn's (Andie McDowell) son dies in a birthday motorcycle accident, and Ria (Olivia Williams) loses her hubby to his pregnant girlfriend. Given the chance to temporarily switch homes -- and lives -- they both jump at the opportunity. Ria heads for a quiet New England house, while Marilyn heads for Ireland's Tara Road.

No, I have no idea why they would swap houses with a total stranger, but still. Both women settle into the other's lives, and as they mourn for children and marriages alike, they begin to bond with new people, and discover new things about themselves. Unsurprisingly, they also get a bit of new closure (especially Ria).

I personally have never read a Maeve Binchy novel -- my tastes are funnier, more dramatic, more avant-garde or more fantastical. But "Tara Road" will probably appeal to those who liked "The Holiday" -- easy labels, charming settings (hey, that's not New England!), and okay acting on all fronts.

But director Gillies MacKinnon seems a little confused -- is he making a women's weepie or a cuddly comedy? The plot has some elements of both, being sentimental one minute and wryly funny the next -- sort of a Lifetime comedy. The main weakness is the ending, a rather absurd showdown between various characters that magically fixes all that is still wrong.

But along the way, you do get some very beautiful Irish scenery and pretty little looks at the title location. The New England scenery was kind of weird, though -- that obviously isn't New England at all.

Olivia Williams gives a lovely performance as the wronged wife, who struggles to heal from her problems; Andie McDowell gives a steady, rather ordinary performance. Most of the other characters are easy cliches, though -- the caddish hubby, the mistress, the quirky friends, the gay guys, et cetera, et cetera. But the actors do well with what they have.

"Tara Road" is a sentimental, pleasantly laid-back movie with a weak finale, but fans of Binchy -- and "life-swapping" stories -- will probably enjoy it all. January 8, 2008

Maeve Binchy's Marvelous Novel Comes to the Screen

I was thrilled to find this released on DVD in the US. Although it had played in theatres abroad, it was never released for big-screen viewing in US. Too bad, as I found it most enjoyable and a reminder of how great Maeve Binchy's "Tara Road" was as a novel.

Although the movie only recounts about the final half of the book, the director has been able to lay open the characters of Marilyn and Ria and expose their deepest hurts in this engrossing tale of crumbling marriages. Andie McDowell gives an excellent portrayal of the emotionally frozen Marilyn, a Connecticut mother, reeling from the death of her fifteen-year-old son on his birthday. The surprise gift from his Dad, a motorcycle, leads to his death and causes a wide rift between the parents. Across the Atlantic at another birthday party in Dublin, the content Ria Lynch (Olivia Williams) learns from her husband Danny (Iain Glen) that he is leaving her for his pregnant girlfriend. Both women are at the end of their emotional ropes and through a midnight phone call are connected and arrange a house swap. Believing no problem is so big it can't be run away from, the two women each slip easily into the other's life. Each learns in her own way that life will never be the same but that doesn't mean it is over. Binchy's wonderful tale of healing transfers to the screen thanks to outstanding casting, lush scenery, and heartfelt situations. "Tara Road" is a most enjoyable movie to curl up and entertain yourself with for a couple of hours.

December 19, 2007

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