Wild Rose (2019)

I watched this on my way home from Spain recently, where I was on a European airline, and therefore had greater access to the British Isles movies.  This one comes from Ireland and spoiler alert, it is terrific.

It’s the stuff of classic country tunes, this tale of heartache, honky-tonkin’ and hard-won redemption. The opening scene is Rose getting out of prison, for what we do not know until much later.  It’s also the stuff of every movie about an underdog who dreams of music stardom, with its hardscrabble origins, a raw talent, inner demons and a final triumph upon a glittering stage.

But  ignores a lot of those tropes and repeatedly upends your expectations of how a film like this is supposed to play out -- how it should look, how it should sound. It also has the benefit of an electrifying, star-making performance in Irish actress, Jessie Buckley.  As the title character, she is truly wild in all the best and worst possible ways: unfiltered and unpredictable, manic and magnetic, a charmer and a child.  The movie gives her the opportunity to take over the screen and mesmerize us, but  also knows well enough to sit back and watch and listen during the quiet moments. When Buckley’s Rose allows herself to be vulnerable, to expose herself to the uncomfortable revelations that come with introspection, it can be as powerful as when she’s belting out a song from the heart.  It is heart warming and bittersweet and feels very real.