Film review: ‘THE MIRACLE CLUB’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

A cast that includes Maggie smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney is not a bad start for a film.  They appear in the low-key, tear-jerking drama of faith, guilt and redemption, The Miracle Club.

Set in a small Irish seaside town in 1967, the film employs a quirky premise to set up the story. Three devout Catholic friends Eileen (Kathy Bates), Lily (Maggie Smith) and young mother Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) all somewhat disillusioned with life, make a pilgrimage to the site of the purported appearance of the Virgin Mary, at Lourdes in France.  They hope the site’s claimed miraculous powers will cure whatever is making Dolly’s son mute.  Eileen and Lily, however, also have more personal reasons for attending. Unexpectedly joining them is Chrissie (Laura Linney) Eileen’s former best friend and Lily’s prodigal niece who fled to America under dubious circumstances 40 years ago. The trip becomes a test of their faith and the catalyst for revelations about each woman’s past.

This slight, occasionally predictable but also quite moving film is very much designed for an older demographic who may be having difficulty finding a watchable film at the moment.  It would be hard to think of a movie more distinct from the retina roasting, ear drum mangling, special effects orgy, superhero films colonising most cinema screens these days (Barbenheimer aside).

While the plot of the Miracle Club is pretty slender and its depiction of working-class Irish people occasionally a little clichéd, these top-drawer actors extract as much personal drama and emotion from the story as we might hope.  Just watching Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith and Laura Linney interacting on screen is a privilege.  Agnes O’Casey also acquits herself well and is not lost amid the big names. There are some fairly obvious parallels between the women’s situations and the messages of the gospels but thankfully aren’t too fanciful and don’t allow the characters to escape the reality of their lives.

Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan occasionally diverts from the personal drama with some attempts at humour mostly involving the gormless husbands (Stephen Rea and Mark McKenna) trying to take on domestic duties while their wives are away but these scenes not exactly side splitting.

The film also tends to skim over some seemingly vital issues. The husband’s characters aren’t sufficiently developed and the awkward complexities of the women’s relationships with them are resolved too abruptly.  Also, while the film briefly critiques the nature of the women’s religious beliefs and the apparent commercialisation of faith, it doesn’t explore these issues in sufficient detail.

While it feels a little underdeveloped and occasionally clumsy, The Miracle Club is a likeable small film that will prove quite poignant for some viewers and heartwarming for most.

Nick’s rating: ***

Genre: Drama.

Classification: PG.

Director(s): Thaddeus O’Sullivan.

Release date: 3rd Aug 2023.

Running time: 90 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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