Fresh out of jail after one year imprisoned for narcotics possession, Rose-Lynn Harlan is a 23 years-old working-class girl from Glasgow, Scotland, who tries to rectify her chaotic life: foul-mouthed, streetwise, rebellious and free-spirited, Rose-Lynn reunites with her children, older Wynonna and younger Lyle, cared for during her imprisonment by their grandmother Marion, who openly despises her daughter's lifestyle. A worker in the bakery of a shopping center for twenty yea... (Full plot summary below)
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Fresh out of jail after one year imprisoned for narcotics possession, Rose-Lynn Harlan is a 23 years-old working-class girl from Glasgow, Scotland, who tries to rectify her chaotic life: foul-mouthed, streetwise, rebellious and free-spirited, Rose-Lynn reunites with her children, older Wynonna and younger Lyle, cared for during her imprisonment by their grandmother Marion, who openly despises her daughter's lifestyle. A worker in the bakery of a shopping center for twenty years, Marion struggles to understand her daughter, who becomes determined to travel Nashville, Tennesse (country music's cradle) to become a famous country singer. Due to a lack of resources and her poor academic studies, Rose-Lynn tries to return to her former job as a singer in the country bar Grand Ole Opry, having been fired by owners Jackie and Alan after they learn about her conviction. Thanks to Marion's good name, Rose-Lynn gets a job as a cleaning lady in the house of Susannah, an upper-class woman married to James, and mother of little children Rory and Nell. Blessed with talent, charisma, cheek, and a powerful voice, one day Rose-Lynn is discovered singing in her daily work by Susannah, who befriends Rose-Lynn and decides to help her to travel to Nashville by throwing a fund-raising party especially for her. Therefore, troubles are around the corner: Wynonna and Lyle are time and time again neglected by a mother unable to reconcile with them who hides their existence to Susannah, James mistrusts Rose-Lynn by the way that Susannah is interested in her, and Marion sends an ultimatum forcing her to make a choice between her dream to be singer, or her reality to be mother. Troubled, auto-destructive and badly influenced by her friend and occasional lover Elliot (a fan of alcohol, night and wild partying), Rose-Lynn finds herself trapped in a crossroads struggling against her worst enemy: herself.
Leave your thoughts about Wild Rose.
| Original-CinKim HughesWild Rose may not be what the summer season typically delivers to cinemas, but audiences miss it at their peril. |
| Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDespite all the limitations on her life, Rose-Lynn is one of the most free-spirited creatures to ever be put on film. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanTo its great credit, the movie turns left when you expect it to turn right, taking a route that is less well traveled, yet more plausible. |
| The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinPure dead gallus (that's Scots for 'wonderful'). |
| VarietyOwen GleibermanWild Rose, the closest thing to a sleeper I’ve seen at Toronto this year, is a happy-sad drama of starstruck fever that lifts you up and sweeps you along, touching you down in a puddle of well-earned tears. |
| TheWrapYolanda MachadoUltimately, of course, it’s Buckley who makes Rose-Lynn soar off the screen. It’s a dazzling, raw, intoxicating performance, and when she sings, it’s simply electric. |
| The AtlanticDavid SimsThat Rose-Lynn is an onstage force is easy to tell from the second she picks up a microphone, but Taylor makes this film less about her gift than about the maturity she needs to take it beyond the local Glasgow pubs. As a result, the film’s melancholy but uplifting closing notes land that much more powerfully. |
| Austin ChronicleSteve DavisThe movie is like an old honky-tonk song, a little sentimental but full of heart. It torches and twangs without getting too hokey. |
| Philadelphia InquirerGary ThompsonThe script is shrewd about the problems that money can and can’t solve. Wild Rose also threads the needle between the genre expectations and its own brand of realism, grounded in the very palpable heartache Rose feels as she tries to survive in the space between her family obligations and her artistic ambitions. |
| Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangThe screenwriter, Nicole Taylor, and the director, Tom Harper, compose their story in clean, stirring melodic lines that they return to again and again, treating Rose-Lynn’s many setbacks — as well as her small, crucial steps toward growth and self-discovery — like subtle variations on a refrain. |
