Movie Review - Tara Road with Andy MacDowell (2005)

The film Tara Road is taken from the novel of the same name by the well-loved Irish writer Maeve Binchy. It has an unusual premise in which two women, one Irish and another American, both needing time away from their respective problems, swap houses for a short time. Marilyn Vine (played by Andie MacDowell) flies to Ireland to stay in Ria Lynch's ramshackle house on Tara Road. (Ria is played by popular British actress Olivia Williams). Ria travels to America to live in Marilyn's large estate in New England.

Marilyn has an unresolved heartache having lost her 15-year-old son Dale in a motorcycle accident. She cannot even express her grief to her husband. Ria Lynch is told by her husband Danny that he has fathered a child by another woman whom he loves and wants to be with. Danny has been a successful businessman but we get inferences that the business is beginning to falter. Marilyn and Ria have never met but they speak to each by phone during their swap.

Ria and Danny's children remain in Ireland with their father Danny for a time and Marilyn gets to know them as they are thrown together socially. The characters spend time at Colm's restaurant (Colm is played by Steven Rea), and Colm is very much attracted to Marilyn who likes his friendship but wants to remain faithful to her husband who is in Hawaii while she chose to go to Ireland instead of accompanying him on their planned vacation. Ria's children eventually go off to America to be with their mother for a short time.

Both women hope that the change of venue will give them a new perspective on their problems and a new direction for the future. One wonders though whether this has actually happened and if the house-swapping needed to take place. But it does make for an interesting story as we are introduced to the new characters that each woman meets during her adventure.

Steven Rea and Brenda Fricker have minor parts in the part of the story taking place in Ireland; other than these two and the two main characters, none of the actors are familiar to an American audience. A bit of trivia is mentioned on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website. Maeve Binchy is seen for a brief time in the movie as a patron at the bar of Colm's restaurant. One other novel of Maeve Binchy's has been made into a film - "Circle of Friends" with Minnie Drive. However, the film chose a different ending than the ending that took place in the novel. Maeve Binchy did not make an appearance in "Circle of Friends" though.

I enjoyed "Tara Road" as I have always enjoyed Maeve Binchy's novels. Her fans will no doubt like this film; those unfamiliar with Maeve Binchy may not give it great kudos.

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Movie - Tara Road (2005)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429153