Wild Rose bounds into screens and into your heart

I don’t like country music. And I certainly don’t like films which err on the side of musicals. Eugh, no. So I went to see this hesitantly!

But this film may be both erring on the side of a musical and also all about country music – but it gets you from the moment it starts. This is all down to the indomitable Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley). She’s like a boundless puppy hurtling through life – desperate to follow her dream of being a country singer in Nashville.

The reality is she’s just been released from jail and has two young children – in Glasgow. I Google-mapped how far Glasgow actually is from Nashville – and they’re nowhere near each other (in case you wondered!). In fact, they’re so far apart that Google won’t even work it out for me when I try to get a distance. And Google works out everything – so it’s definitely far. So you can understand Rose-Lynn’s frustration that she’s a long way from her dream. And although she’s wearing her yeee-har white country boots – she also has an electronic tag which means she’s going nowhere fast – except sprinting home to meet her curfew.

Rose-Lynn’s mum (played brilliantly by Julie Walters) just wants her to tow the line, get a job, stay out of jail and be there for her children. Not much to ask you’d think – but it is because essentially she wants Rose-Lynn to be ordinary. And ordinary is the very last thing Rose-Lynn wants. She is restless and hungry – in fact she’s ravenous for her dream to be a country singing star – but she is forced to start conforming, well to sort of conform. She gets a cleaning job for the wealthy and connected Susannah (Sophie Okonedo) in a posh bit of the city and Susannah can’t help be woo-ed by Rose-Lynn’s charm, confidence and cheek.

I can’t say much more without giving the story away but this story is all down to the characters – and each one of them is mighty. Rose-Lynn has all the up-front charisma of a female version of Robbie Williams at his most boisterous – but she’s also wracked with doubt. Doubt about her ability, doubt about her belief in herself, doubt about her role in the world. This delicate dichotomy is what makes you want to stand up and cheer for Rose-Lynn. Because she’s so SO real.

Nicole Taylor wrote the screenplay – and it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s both heartfelt, charming, brutal and utterly absorbing.

I was utterly moved by the last five minutes and you’d have to have a soul of hard cold granite if you’re not moved too!