Film Review - Wild Rose (15)

Ain't no yellow brick road runnin' through Glasgow.

If A Star is Born tells the story of one woman's catapult-trajectory into musical fame, Wild Rose focuses on realities that are rather more mundane. Sure Lady Gaga's character Ally had to swallow some tough truths about life in the music industry, but the 'Rose' of Tom Harper's new film may never get a foot in the door to begin with - and it's not just the flaky nature of the X-Factor era that's keeping her back. Wild Rose doesn't have the glamour of the Gaga remake, but what and who it does have is impressive in its own right.

Jessie Buckley plays Rose-Lynn Harlan, singer since the age of fourteen at the Grand Ole Opry - not the one in Nashville, Tennessee, its namesake in Glasgow, Scotland. She's just completed a year-long prison sentence so stardom is scarcely beckoning, but then 'Johnny Cash was a convicted felon', as she reminds one detractor. A cleaning job at a well-to-do couple's townhouse provides her with an unexpected lead in her search for success, but a criminal record isn't the only thing holding her back. She's a mother of two young children, with her own mum (Julie Walters) constantly reminding her of her primary responsibilities in life and how incompatible they are with artistic strivings. Rose's dream of Nashville is fraught with real-life complications.

The Wild Rose story is familiar to anyone who's followed the travails of musical wannabes on reality TV. What it has in addition is a tough honesty that undercuts much of those shows' sentimentality. The sweary, funny, sometimes emotionally bruising screenplay gets to the heart of Rose, refusing to sugar-coat either her or her grim circumstances. Harper's direction is appropriately edgy, while the cinematography bleeds out colour to emphasise housing estate grey. The gulf between Rose's environment and her Americana fantasies couldn't be more clear.

Carrying the film on her shoulders and bearing it up nearer to greatness is Buckley. Already a star for those who've seen TV drama Taboo or the BBC's recent War and Peace saga (also directed by Harper), the girl from Killarney, Ireland is now on the cusp of global celebrity. Her Rose is mouthy and life-embracing, belligerent, damaged and vulnerable - instinctively honest in what she blurts out and yet simultaneously self-deluding. She's a mum who still acts like a child and who's most alive fronting a band on stage. To the credit of both actress and screenplay she's allowed to be a total train-wreck - barely likeable at points, as she stumbles from one disaster to the next. It's a strikingly real portrayal and thus all the more powerful when reality finally hits. As for her singing voice - it's as soulful as her Glaswegian speech is earthy, rivalling Gaga for her emotional richness and vocal control. It provides Rose with an undeniably special talent at odds with her drab surroundings. 

Buckley isn't alone in delivering first-rate work either. Julie Walters brings her customary realness, tempering Grandma's disapproval with warmth and making us feel the woman's despair. Two lovely child performances complete Rose's family (while acting as endearing obstacles to her showbiz greatness), and Sophie Okonedo is amusingly over-the-top as our heroine's social-climbing employer/number-one-fan Susannah.

To quote Tom Jones, however, this is all about the voice, and in this case the tempestuous personality behind it. Rose may not always be easy to like, but we understand her conflict and ultimately root for her - that she'll embrace her family like they need her to, and still get to share her gift with the world. Is that too much for a working-class Glasgow girl to ask?

Gut Reaction: An emotional gamut - laughter, irritation, sympathy, sadness - and a bit of joy (not least at the dramatic and musical craft on display).

Memorable Moment: No chords. Just the painful truth.

Ed's Verdict: 8/10. Wild Rose is a solidly told story of frustrated dreams, but it attains a whole other level due to a lead performance of gobsmacking awesomeness. World, time to meet Jessie Buckley.

Film Review - Fighting With My Family (12A)

Don't worry about being the next me. Be the first you.

 

First up - you don't need to be a fan of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to enjoy Fighting With My Family, any more than you need to be a boxing nut to enjoy Rocky. Wrestling aficionados might get an extra buzz from the film (the loudly whooping pair in front of me certainly did), but this is a great cinematic ride whatever your sporting preferences or lack thereof. If you like a funny and heartfelt family drama or a well-told underdog story, this is still for you. Very much so.

Inspired by a 2012 documentary of the same name, the movie tells the story of the Knights - a wrestling family from Norwich, UK. Rough-diamond parents Ricky and Julia (Nick Frost and Lena Headey) have both found salvation in the sport and in each other, their grown-up children Saraya and Zak (Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden) throwing themselves into the ring with equivalent fervour. It's a family business complete with a rough-and-tumble entourage from their council estate and rowdily entertaining local wrestling bouts. Then the razzle-dazzle US verion arrives in the form of London tryouts for the WWE. Saraya and Jack audition as a brother-sister act, sights set on the training centre in Florida. But while the outcome spells potential glory for one of them, it also threatens to fracture the family as a whole.

Fighting With My Family is written and directed by Stephen Merchant, a fact which explains its comedy sensibilities, while keeping the depth of its drama a welcome surprise. (Merchant did co-write poignant coming-of-act tale Cemetery Junction with Ricky Gervais, so perhaps I should have seen the latter coming.) The establishing scenes with the Knights and their extended wrestling family are full of brash humour, much of it courtesy of a rough but lovable Frost; a scene where they introduce themselves to the 'posh' parents of Zak's girlfriend is a lol-worthy delight. But it's when Saraya and Zak have their X-Factor-style moment of crisis that the story really hits its stride. She must attempt a transformation amid her body-beautiful American rivals from small-town Goth-girl into WWE star Paige. He, on the other hand, faces a totally different, existential kind of challenge, as all his dreams recede. The decision to balance the stories is a crucial one, grounding the film in tough reality and providing it with both heart and guts.

Despite moments of hilarity, Merchant takes the wrestling world seriously and so does his cast. Pugh, so mesmerising in Lady Macbeth, is terrific casting as Saraya/Paige, internalising all the character's passion and self-doubt, but letting it burn in her eyes. She gives and takes serious punishment in the fight sequences too. Lowden (who's already proven himself in films as diverse as Dunkirk and Mary Queen of Scots) is equally impressive as Zak; his emotionally bruising character-arc is a stark counterpoint to Pugh's more physical one. Frost and Headey (Cersei Lannister herself) round off the warm and rumbustious family unit perfectly, looking like you've never seen either before.

Vince Vaughn puts in entertaining work as WWE trainer Hutch, basically a lite version of his Hacksaw Ridge drill sergeant, but with some added dimension courtesy of a sobering backstory. And popping up occasionally to sprinkle both wisdom and Hollywood star power on the proceedings is Dwayne Johnson as himself. A driving force behind the film's making, The Rock is smart enough to step back and let the other cast members do the heavy lifting (including at points of each other).

All involved here bring the 'fixed-not-fake' world of professional wrestling to vivid life - a bone-crunching form of show-business that has a theatrical appeal all its own. While maintaining its Rocky/Creed structure throughout, Fighting With My Family manages to be its own beast - subverting both plot- and character-expectations and never letting the WWE training scenes drown out the 'family' element. It's a film about finding your path, whether starry or humble, while not forgetting the influences that shaped you. Even with its occasionally earthy language (thanks Nick Frost), this is a family movie in every sense.

Gut Reaction: I'd expected to laugh and I did, but the degree to which I cared about these characters is what I remember most. 

Memorable Moment: Yultide sibling smackdown. 

Ed's Verdict: 8/10. Raucously funny at some points and stone-cold serious at others, Fighting With My Family is a movie that earns its feel-good moments. Full of both emotional and literal body-slams, it'll have you properly cheering by the end.