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Tara Road
DIR Gillies MacKinnon • WRI: Cynthia
Cidre, Shane Connaughton • PROD Noel Pearson, Miron Blumental,
Sarah Radclyffe • DOP John De Borman • ED Pia Di Ciaula
• DES Derek Wallace • CAST Andie MacDowell, Olivia
Williams, Iain Glen, Stephen Rea, Ruby Wax, Brenda Fricker,
Maria Doyle Kennedy, Heike Makatsch, Alan Devlin, Sarah Bolger
For me, Maeve Binchy has
always been one of those writers who can capture a feeling,
an emotion, or indeed an event, in a masterful way. And not
only that, she has the ability to create this fuzzy-wuzzy
feeling that warms the reader and makes them feel safe. I
met her once in Clare - it's funny to think this, but if one
of her books took on a human form it would look exactly like
her! When my Mother heard I was going to see Tara Road
she gasped and oooed dramatically with delight. 'I love that
book,' she exclaimed (she actually exclaimed!) 'I can't wait
to see the film!' Uh-oh. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
Tara Road tells the story of two women
scorned by love and life, and their journey towards realising
that they have the strength and intelligence to deal with
whatever comes their way - go on the women!! Sorry, but I
had a major 'independent woman' moment after this film. In
general 'lovely' is the perfect word to describe this film,
and it is. There are so many characters I won't even try to
describe them all, but Stephen Rea and Ruby Wax are great
as are the gay/baker couple. The daughter is a bit of a moan,
and when I say 'a bit' I really mean she's a massive
moan. Her father, the Danny character, is such a slimy, greasy
so-and-so that he made my skin crawl at times. But that's
the thing about Binchy and the way in which she writes characters,
they make the viewer feel something and provoke a reaction,
and this really comes across in Tara Road.
Cinematically this film is no masterpiece, but
it is simply about the characters and their story. Whether
that certain crane shot was a success or not is irrelevant;
it's all in focus, so that's all you film buffs are getting!
I do have one slight problem though: When Andie MacDowell's
character is in the taxi coming from the airport, she takes
the most random route through Dublin - and when I say random
I really mean it made no sense whatsoever! Seriously, everyone
in the cinema was frowning as if to say 'Where the hell is
she going?' But in fairness, this film has to go overseas
and we can't keep it all to ourselves! But just so we're clear:
Trinity College is not beside that ridiculous Spire thing!
All in all, Tara Road is the kind of
film that makes you say 'aahh', and you will leave the cinema
smiling in spite of yourself. It's the kind of film that doesn't
take a lot of concentration, but in the end you'll be glad
you watched it. Not ecstatic, but glad. Rock on sisters!!
Aoife Redmond
Rated
12A (see IFCO
website for details)
Tara Road is released on 7th October 2005.
Tara
Road – Official website
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