Tara Road
Tara Road
| 11 May 2005 (USA)
Tara Road Trailers

A grieving Connecticut mother temporarily switches houses with a woman in Dublin, Ireland.

Reviews
Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Syl Andie MacDowell and Olivia Williams play American and Irish women respectively. Based on Maeve Binchy's novel, Marilyn Vine, must deal with her son's tragic death on his birthday in Connecticut. Ria has to deal with her husband's infidelity with her best friend Rosemary. The film is beautifully photographed with Brenda Fricker and Stephen Rea in supporting roles in Ireland. Ruby Wax plays Carlotta, Marilyn's American friend and neighbor. I don't think they filmed the Connecticut scenes in the states though perhaps for financial reasons. The film is ideal viewing for Hallmark and Lifetime movies though.
berthine Liked the movie after some initial troubles, as it has lost SO much of the subtlety & history in the book & it puts a magnifying glass on only the last third of the book from when the 2 women connect. But it turned out to be very good in it's own right, concentrating on the crossroads and working through grief. The music also gives a powerful cachet. The Irish male Blarney charmers are snake bastards, well portrayed and seem to come off lightly. The loss of the dream related to them is a familiar theme for Maeve Binchy by now, it also figures in her book Firefly summer. You might enjoy it. Give it a try. It is good stuff for a nice crazy evening with Irish slants & Ruby Wax!
selffamily Given that I have read the book (at least once) and loved it, I felt that this made the transition to the Big Screen fairly painlessly, after all it was a Big Book and time is limited. I went with someone who had not it, and we both enjoyed the film. I didn't find the acting hammy nor the shortcuts overly intrusive. A six-part drama would have covered all points better obviously but this movie told the tale adequately, the characters were all well-drawn and the mood of the book translated well onto the screen. I loved that we could get the ambiance of each home quickly and the circle of friends that each woman had. The kids were great - my only criticism would perhaps be that Danny was not quite smooth enough; it was hard to fall for his legendary charm.
Clair Smith I love this book and had heard it was coming to the big screen, but cannot remember seeing it advertised in England. I happened to look on another film and saw an actor who had been credited as appearing in Tara Road 2005, which I then looked up. I have read some of the comments posted by other users who have seen the film and note that it was screened in Ireland. Was it screened in England and if so, how on earth did I miss it! Reading other comments makes me want to rush out and watch it now, but I note a comment that it is not available on DVD. ANyone with any info can you please let me know. Out of all of Maeve Binchy's books, this one was my favourite and I can read it over and over again, so the film would be a real treat.