There are several impressive performance scenes where Buckley does all of her own singing, but I found that "Wild Rose" was worth seeing for the domestic drama and the character study of Rose-Lynn more than anything. Seeing her struggle to balance her responsibilities as a mother with her attempts to take advantage of new career opportunities is very compelling. The film does this in a fairly novel and interesting way too, focusing on Rose-Lynn's relationships with Susannah, Marion, and her kids, while avoiding any of the romantic storylines that usually feature in ascending music star movies. Having a musical career requires sacrifice, but rarely have we seen a film show this in such stark and painful terms.
I like the way that the film plays with the familiar structure of these music films. Our heroine has to travel a very unorthodox, winding road to get to the happy ending and the big showstopper performance that we know she's going to reach. Rose-Lynn starts out at a major disadvantage being a country singer in Glasgow where there's not much of a music scene, just out of prison and sporting an electronic ankle monitor for the first chunk of the film. Then she keeps making choices that run counter to what we've come to expect from similar narratives. Big opportunities keep not panning out, and there's some not-so-subtle material about class and socioeconomic differences. Writer Nicole Taylor leaves some odd ellipses and convenient plotting in the script, but these are minor and forgivable. I don't even mind that there's a very unlikely third act twist used to get Rose-Lynn to Nashville.
It helps that Rose-Lynn is always portrayed as a believable human being, immature and flawed. Buckley is wonderfully engaging and sympathetic, even when Rose-Lynn is breaking promises to her kids, or cluelessly asking Susannah to fund her career. Part of it is that she's so charming, it's easy to buy into the idea that Susannah becomes her fan and champion. Part of it is that Rose-Lynn is so young, and so clearly a work in progress. Part of it is that she's clearly a rare talent, and there's every reason to believe that her dream of stardom isn't out of her reach. I think the movie may also have my favorite Julie Walters performance. She's playing another non-nonsense working class woman, disher of tough love and reminder of harsh realities. At the same time, she's warm and maternal, and it's crushing to see her disappointment every time Rose-Lynn stumbles.
Director Tom Harper is mostly known for his thrillers, including the upcoming "The Aeronauts." His work here is intimate, mostly keeping us in Rose-Lynn's headspace and emotional sphere. It does a fine job of situating her in relation to the various and disparate environments she encounters, particularly the performance spaces. This is vital because of the amount of emphasis that is placed on Rose-Lynn's singing as an extension of her personality and her emotional state. As I've said, I have no appreciation for country music whatsoever, but Buckley's vocal performances and the staging of them throughout the film are very appealing and effective stuff.
"Wild Rose" is probably destined to be a cult film, one that would have probably done better if it was a biopic of a real country singer. However, it is quietly one of the most satisfying music films I've seen in a long while, and further proof that Jessie Buckley's star is one the rise.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment