MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:
Set in 1967, THE MIRACLE CLUB is a heartwarming film that follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) of Ballygar, a hard-knocks community in Dublin, who have one tantalizing dream: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year. When the chance to win presents itself, the women seize it. However, just before their trip, their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) arrives in Ballygar for her mother’s funeral, dampening their good mood and well-laid plans. The women secure tickets and set out on the journey that they hope will change their lives, with Chrissie, a skeptical traveler, joining in place of her mother. The glamor and sophistication of Chrissie, who has just returned from a nearly 40-year exile in the United States, are not her only distancing traits: Old wounds are reopened along the way, forcing the women to confront their pasts even as they travel in search of a miracle. Their shared traumas can only be healed by the curative power of love and friendship.
REVIEW:
The Miracle Club is the latest British quaint small town dramedy that has made it across the pond. It has all the usual solid thespians that can makes this stuff look slightly dramatically weighted yet feel soothingly universal in a tear drop sort of way: Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, and Dame Maggie Smith.
It’s set in the tumultuous but fondly remembered year of 1967, at least for its desired demographics, those who grew up watching BBC anthology dramas like Masterpiece Theater. It has a reliable Brit director that can wring out the proper maudlin amount required, Thaddeus O’Sullivan, a veteran tv director with the proper Irish credits. The screenplay finds enough subtle emotional notes from its old ladies visit to Lourdes (the one of the miracle of Saint Bernadette fame) structure to give it comfy reassurances for audiences to assuage feelings of grief, grievance, while dealing with the usual dramatic tropes of unwanted pregnancy and the role of the Catholic Church in a largely Protestant United Kingdom.
The trip to Lourdes emphasizes the miracles that this club of women are seeking. Lily’s (Maggie Smith) and her two closest friends, Eileen (Kathy Bates) and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) who has a curiously mute young son, along with Chrissie (Laura Linney) the estranged daughter of a recently departed third friend are the main pilgrims. Lily has a bum leg. Eileen has a maybe cancerous lump on her breast. Dolly is hoping for a miraculous voice for her silent child. Chrissie just wants explanation and reconciliation for forty years of estrangement. In one way or another they will all get their own small miracles.
The cast from top to bottom all work and play nice with each other. Each get their shinning solo moments. Linney, the character with the most emotional depth, is especially notable as Chrissie the wounded, self-contained interloper who returns from the United States after a breaking period of estrangement. She does wonders with her taunt mouth and vigilant stare. O’Casey also does some very notable work as the upbeat but wavering in faith Dolly.
Director O’Sullivan manages to keep the strained moments to a proper tension, and keeps the melodrama mellow enough. He knows when to use the easy laugh and when to ask for teardrops. The right acting at the right moment is the miracle he manages here.
The Miracle Club gets a 3.0/5 or a B. It’s streaming on Netflix.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Screenplay by
Story by
Jimmy Smallhorne
Produced by
- Chris Curling
- Joshua D. Maurer
- Alixandre Witlin
Starring
Cinematography
John Conroy
Edited by
Alex Mackie
Music by
Edmund Butt
Production
companies
- Zephyr Films
- City Films Entertainment
Distributed by
Release dates
- 9 June 2023(Tribeca)
- 13 October 2023(UK and Ireland)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
Countries
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
Language
English
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