Tara Road

Ria (Olivia Williams) lives in Dublin with her husband and two children, a newly teen girl and son a couple of years younger. Their residence is called Tara Road. Alas, bad, hurtful news arrives soon enough. After a birthday party for her younger child, hubby announces that he has a galfriend on the side and she's pregnant. Devastated, Ria doesn't know which way to turn. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Marilyn (Andie McDowell) is equally in despair. Her only child, a teen son, had a motorcycle accident and passed away, also at a birthday party. Not even her caring husband can raise her spirits. She sends him off to a vacation in Hawaii alone, for she has other plans. A while ago, Marilyn heard of a house swap in Dublin and calls the number. It's Ria, who answers in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, this exchange sounds just like what she needs, too. So, off Ria goes to Connecticut while Marilyn boards a plane to Ireland. Slowly, the plan works. Marilyn meets a gardener/chef Colin (Stephen Rea) whose gentle attention and good humor helps this Yankee immensely. Then, Ria is beset with Marilyn's good buddies who plan outings and conversations. But, is there still some secrets to uncover? If it is so, will Ria and Marilyn learn to unlock their hearts again? This lovely movie has too little of Ireland but otherwise is great! Actually, the scenes in Dublin are wonderful and so are the venues in the States. In addition, the acting is touching, with Williams and McDowell giving carefully nuances performances and the supporting cast, even the so-called villains, doing fine work, too. Costumes, script and steady direction help move the film admirably to the end. Are you a person grieving the loss of someone important or do you just like romantic, thoughtful dramas? Then, tarry someday with Tara Road very soon.

Andie MacDowell and Olivia Williams play American and Irish women respectively. Based on Maeve Binchy's novel, Marilyn Vine, must deal with her son's tragic death on his birthday in Connecticut. Ria has to deal with her husband's infidelity with her best friend Rosemary. The film is beautifully photographed with Brenda Fricker and Stephen Rea in supporting roles in Ireland. Ruby Wax plays Carlotta, Marilyn's American friend and neighbor. I don't think they filmed the Connecticut scenes in the states though perhaps for financial reasons. The film is ideal viewing for Hallmark and Lifetime movies though.

Have you ever been so lost you wanted to run away? If you envied Diane Lane's impulsive move to Italy in Under the Tuscan Sun, you'll probably love Andie MacDowell's vacation to Ireland in Tara Road.

Before the much more popular The Holiday, two women swap homes to help each other get over a personal hurdle. Olivia Williams, from Ireland, just got dumped by her husband, Iaian Glen, and travels to America to get her groove back. Andie MacDowell lost her young son in a tragic accident, and she thinks a change of scenery will help. Just like The Holiday, both women make new friends in their new houses and blossom in their new environments. While Olivia's scenes are a bit lighter and full of the fun her character needs, Andie's scenes are a bit darker. She meets Stephen Rea, who helps her deal with her grief and see light at the end of the tunnel. There are so many similarities between the two house-swapping movies, that if you liked one, it's a safe bet you'll like the other. Rent either one with a bunch of girlfriends and have a good time!

Andie MacDowell played an American wife, Marilyn Vine, and Olivia Williams played Ria, the Irish wife and mother. Marilyn loses her son tragically on his fifteenth birthday. Her marriage falls apart as well. By chance, Ria and Marilyn connect by telephone and decide to swap houses in Connecticut and Ireland. Marilyn goes to Ireland and tries to heal her devastating loss. Ria goes to Connecticut in America to escape her husband's infidelity with her best friend. I enjoy the supporting cast especially Ruby Wax OBE as Carlotta; Stephen Rea and Brenda Fricker. It is the kind of film made for Lifetime and Hallmark channel. If you enjoyed the novel, you will enjoy the movie adaptation.

I read the book (quite a large one I must say) some months ago and so it was still fresh in my memory when I saw this film. Well, this is one of the worse book adaptations I ever seen! From where to start? From the fact that the 3/4 of the book are literally gone? From the flat performances of all the actors with the likely exception of Andie MacDowel? The miscasting of Ria and Rosemary? The change of Ria in America that it looks like it happened in a split second? Not explaining why the house was that important?

I understand it is a big book and they should to summarized it, but it was supposed not to lose it's meaning on the way. Well, it certainly did. Ria is a strong woman at the book even before her marriage fell apart. In the film she is portrayed like a weakling, ready to collapse from the first set. She has a smile like a retard on her face and she's like wearing a sign "kick me".

Rosemary is supposed to be drop dead gorgeous woman in the book, while in the film she is more like an overdecorated spinster. Danny is supposed to be a man that looks considerably younger than his age, still having boyish looks in his forties. However, the actor looks like he is a 50 year old pretending he is 40 with that ridiculously long hair....

Lastly, the meaning of the house of the title, is that Danny was the one that chose it and hanged on to it in the first place and Ria only learned to love it because of Danny's affection to it. That makes his betrayal even bigger, since he made her love the house and he finally was trying to get her out of it.

The only reasons I did not grade this film with a 4 or a 3, was the cameo appearance of Ms. Binchy (the book's author) at a scene (at the restaurant's bar, the lady dressed in blue) and the somehow more condensed ending, even if seemed quite rushed.

If you really want to feel the magic of Maeve Binchy's book in a film, I would definitely recommend "The Circle of Friends (1995)".