Wild Rose

All the cast are great but Jessie Buckley is superb, portrayed a character which at times you could sympathise with, shake your head in disbelief and at the same time be urging her from the seat of your armchair to go for it! "Peace in this house" had me sobbing, the notes that Jessie hits, her tone beautiful. Dried my eyes and composed myself for the rest of the film and then left wiping my eyes again at the end of the last long; "Glasgow (no place like home)". Just wow!

For a long time I always said that crime thrillers were my favorite genre, but it's becoming increasingly clear that music based movies have overtaken that genre with the new release of Wild Rose. A movie that will inevitably (but unfairly) be compared to 2018's A Star is Born because of the subject matter, but it tells a different story about a musicians dream to be a star. Starring the up and comer Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose is a hard edge but sweetly rounded coming of age tale of a single mother who dreams of leaving Glasgow for Nashville, because she believes it's the only place where she can become a country music star. For someone who doesn't like country music (and that's being kind), I was instantly entranced by Buckley's voice and the catchy but emotionally resonant songs throughout the feature. And much like her work in last year's 'Beast', Buckley proves she is someone to be reckoned with, and through her performance as Rose, that there's simply no place like home.

9.7/10

Wild Rose Review:

Wild Rose tells the complicated story of Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley), a Scottish woman on a quest to become a country music star in Nashville, while also grappling with the responsibilities of being recently released from prison and a young mother of two children. Firstly I'd like to apologize for how late this review is. It's been a very busy week and now is my chance. For the second film for the Inaugural Northwoods Film Festival, Wild Rose was chosen for a screening. This came out back in June. I debated on going to see it at some point but there was no time since I'd have to drive two hours to go and see it. I'm so happy to have seen this. Wild Rose is one of the best films of the year. It's such an interesting screenplay and inspiring. Jessie Buckley's character of Rose-Lynn is a very complex character. She has her dreams but is restrained with the stresses and disappointments of life. She's also not afraid to hide her true self. I'm very confused why Buckley hasn't really been talked about in the Oscar race for later this year. On Gold Derby I've been checking daily on my Oscar nominations predictions (yes I'm already doing that and so are many people). Jessie Buckley isn't even listed as an option for the nominations so I can't even put her on my list for Best Actress. She's absolutely amazing. Definitely in my top five for best performances of the year. She's also a really good singer. The songs in the film are very good and on my mind. In particular one of the later original songs called Glasgow is brilliant. I really hope it can get into Best Original Song. The scene with that song is also just so emotional and brought tears to my eyes. I purposely decided not to listen to it until I saw the film. Listen to this song! For other performances, Julie Walters plays Rose-Lynn's mother and brings another strong performance. Her scenes with Buckley are very good. Their conflicting views bring for an interesting plot and great scenes. Sophie Okonedo plays Suzannah, the woman who Rose-Lynn works for as a maid. She was so enjoyable to watch and it just made me happy that she was actually interested in trying to help her with her career. I loved her. It's just a shame that when an event happens she's kind of out of the film for a while and nothing much with her anymore. I wish they had a little bit with her when she's back again. The acting in this is just superb! The screenplay by Nicole Taylor is very good. The only thing I'd say is some parts I could just tell how they would play out but I still liked it. Side note: I don't know if this was written in the script but sometimes when Rose-Lynn was singing by herself we'd get beautiful cinematography showing her singing, walking around and people were just playing instruments in the background. That was just a perfect way to see her view. If it wasn't in the screenplay then Tom Harper had a beautiful vision with his amazing directing. This is an overlooked film this year in my opinion. I don't want to spoil anything else. Everyone in our audience just adored it. The two people I saw it with really liked it as well. Here's some comments from Landen Alft who thought this was a perfect A+ film: Amazing acting, emotion and comedy. Amazing cinematography especially the singing scene in the house with the band appearing. Amazing everything. Definitely check this out when it comes out on digital and blu ray. I just really hope it's considered in the award race.

My Grade: A-

The main character is a foul-mouthed impulsive hard-drinking ex-con neglectful mother of two with delusions of making it big in Nashville. She somehow is also a sympathetic character, and is beautifully played by Jessie Buckley. You might need subtitles occasionally to catch the full Glaswegian abuse and humour she manages to spout out. Other standouts are her two little children - remarkable performances by both - and a pretty impressive bit of character acting by Julie Walters as her despairing mum - complete with what sounded a decent accent, if a Sassenach can judge that. As for the music and the plot.... it does the job but for me only occasionally hit the real emotional spot.

The whole story was excellently portrayed. Buckley excels both vocally and portraying the problems of so many in similar positions. It has ups and downs and doesn't shy away from challenging issues nor glorify them. Julie Walters alongside Buckley was perfect also. Although their greatness on set did outshine most of the supporting cast who had a daytime cheap tv drama feel about them although this did not take to much away. Also anything involving whispering Bob Harris has to be worth seeing. A feel good romp of a film.