Wild Rose: Ample “Flower” Power!

If you're a country music fan, you need to go see "Wild Rose."  Jessie Buckley stars as Rose-Lynn Harlan, and she gives an AAW performance that is a MUST-SEE!  Props to the Director, Tom Harper, for getting great performances out of Jessie and the other leads. The film begins with Rose-Lynn getting released from jail, where she has been for a year due to a heroin-related offense.  She isn't really free, however, because she is under house arrest from 7PM-7AM.  In her early 20's, Rose-Lynn has only one passion – singing country music.  She has a great voice and is charismatic on-stage, where she sings at a local bar.  Rose-Lynn lives in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Glasgow, in the UK.  She feels that she should have been born in America and longs to go to Nashville, where her dream is to become a big country star. Unfortunately, Rose-Lynn has a serious personality disorder.  She is selfish, irresponsible, impulsive, explosive, self-defeating, and externalizes the blame for her numerous problems. Rose-Lynn has no marketable skills, so she gets a job as a housekeeper for a wealthy family.  The homemaker, Susannah (Sophie Okonedo) hears her sing and wants to try to help her get a singing career going.   Rose-Lynn has considerable obstacles to fulfill her dream, however, among them being a single mother of two children, both named after country stars – Wynonna, age 8 (Daisy Littlefield), and Lyle, age 4 (Adam Mitchell).  The children are being raised by her mother, Marion (Julie Walters).  Rose-Lynn loves them, but she is so undependable that her relationship with her children is very strained.  Marion is at the end of her rope cleaning up Rose-Lynn's messes. Will Rose-Lynn get her act together and fulfill her dream?  The answer may surprise you. The movie has a great country soundtrack with songs by Wynonna Judd, Trisha Yearwood, and Kacey Musgraves, among others. Bottom Line: "Wild Rose" is a "thorny," wild ride well-worth taking.