DVD Mini Review - Tara Road
Maeve Binchy is a writer that I really like. I have read many of her books and find her to a great storyteller with a very warm way about her. You feel like you know her characters. Tara Road is one of her most popular books and I was so happy when I heard that it was being made into a film. Unfortunately, the film was never released in the US. The good news is that it was just released here on DVD.
Tara Road is the story of two women who are at a crossroad in their life. Ria (Olivia Williams) is a Dublin (oh how I remember those beautiful streets of Dublin) mother of two. She thinks that her marriage is in good shape and is shocked to find out that her husband Danny (Iain Glen) is leaving her for a younger, pregnant woman. Marilyn (Andy MacDowell) is a well off Connecticut woman who seems to have it all. But when her son dies in an accident her whole world comes apart. She can't face reality and she can't even relate to her husband. Through a set of circumstances the women trade houses for the summer. This is a healing experience for both of them.
I won't say much more about the plot. The story is about the people that inhabit it. Both Williams and MacDowell do a fine job in their roles as does Glen. Also doing good work are Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ria's friend Rosemary, Brenda Fricker in a small role as the feisty Mona and the wonderful Stephen Rea as Colm, the sensitive restaurant owner down the road.
Director Gillies MacKinnon has made some wonderful films - Trojan Eddie, Small Faces and Hideous Kinky. Tara Road can be added to that list. The screenplay by Cynthia Cidre and Shane Connaughton does justice to the book.
I highly recommend this film to those who are Binchy fans and those who love warm stories with interesting characters. I do feel sad that the film didn't get a theatrical release here but we do get a bonus on the DVD - a interview with Ms. Binchy herself. So do check out Tara Road.
You will be glad that you did.
Tara Road is the story of two women who are at a crossroad in their life. Ria (Olivia Williams) is a Dublin (oh how I remember those beautiful streets of Dublin) mother of two. She thinks that her marriage is in good shape and is shocked to find out that her husband Danny (Iain Glen) is leaving her for a younger, pregnant woman. Marilyn (Andy MacDowell) is a well off Connecticut woman who seems to have it all. But when her son dies in an accident her whole world comes apart. She can't face reality and she can't even relate to her husband. Through a set of circumstances the women trade houses for the summer. This is a healing experience for both of them.
I won't say much more about the plot. The story is about the people that inhabit it. Both Williams and MacDowell do a fine job in their roles as does Glen. Also doing good work are Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ria's friend Rosemary, Brenda Fricker in a small role as the feisty Mona and the wonderful Stephen Rea as Colm, the sensitive restaurant owner down the road.
Director Gillies MacKinnon has made some wonderful films - Trojan Eddie, Small Faces and Hideous Kinky. Tara Road can be added to that list. The screenplay by Cynthia Cidre and Shane Connaughton does justice to the book.
I highly recommend this film to those who are Binchy fans and those who love warm stories with interesting characters. I do feel sad that the film didn't get a theatrical release here but we do get a bonus on the DVD - a interview with Ms. Binchy herself. So do check out Tara Road.
You will be glad that you did.
posted by Film Fanatic | 8:32 PM
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