A star-making performance from Jessie Buckley turns the oftentimes meandering Wild Rose into a must-see movie.
The opening sequence of Wild Rose introduces us to our twentysomething protagonist Rose-Lynn Harlan as she is released from jail, has sex with her on-again/off-again boyfriend out in his backyard, and finally as she makes her way back home to her two children that she hasn’t seen during her entire stay in jail. Wandering through the streets of Glasgow and singing country music, Rose-Lynn is a hurricane, coming back into her life to upend everything that her mother had did in Rose-Lynn’s absence. But at the center of this storm is the beaming grin of Jessie Buckley, an unbelievably charismatic actress and performer that takes Wild Rose from a narratively haphazard film and makes it a one-of-a-kind character study.
Jessie Buckley in ‘Wild Rose’
Wild Rose is the story of Rose-Lynn as she contends with her need to support her two kids, her sometimes too protective mother, and her new job as a housekeeper while still trying to find success as Scotland’s first big country singer. It is an absurd premise in many ways, but Buckley saves it and makes this woman feel real in ways that the script does not. Conversations between Buckley and her on-screen mother (Julie Walters) are delivered in such a heavy Scottish brogue that it is hard to make out the dialogue, but the energy that Buckley and Walters convey is enough to sell you on the power of this movie.
After her arrest for drug smuggling, Rose-Lynn is placed on house arrest in her small apartment only allowed outside to go to work during the day. Her job is as the housekeeper to Susannah (Sophie Okonedo), who brings a calming energy to the chaos surrounding the film. When Susannah hears Rose-Lynn’s singing voice, however, she makes it her mission to bring success to Rose-Lynn, building a friendship between the two as well.
If all of this sounds overstuffed already, then you have found the central flaw of the film. The main conflict of the movie ends up being a “can she have it all” narrative surrounding whether Rose-Lynn can have a music career and children, but this story is one of many that are constantly at play in Wild Rose. The film is so densely packed that even moments when the movie should be able to breathe feel forced, save for every time Buckley gets the chance to sing.
Wild Rose’s love of country music is infectious, with original songs (including one co-written by Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen) mixed in with classics. Cementing the story of a young woman finding success in country music is a cameo from Kacey Musgraves, filmed before she was a multiple Grammy winner and could believably be singing in a small bar in Nashville. Dramas about young people trying to find success can come across as bitter or hopeless depending on how they are handled, but Wild Rose builds a perfect tale of a woman who as the talent and ambition without ever making her into the fool. She puts in the work and we just have to hope it pays off.
If Wild Rose finds an audience (it’s set to be released on June 14th nationwide), then I expect Jessie Buckley to become an overnight sensation. Rarely have a character and an actress been so well matched, and with any luck, Wild Rose will launch Buckley to the highest strata of stardom. Much like Rose-Lynn Harlan, this is a star just waiting to be born.
Wild Rose screened May 1st at the Tribeca Film Festival.
