Off the Rails

I laughed and cried throughout this beautiful film. This is truly a gem for my generation, the forgotten ladies in our 50s who have a wealth of experience and plenty of life yet to life. We can all relate to at least one character in Off the Rails, which is not only a timely reminder to live life to the full, but also to appreciate the friends we have and to come out of the pandemic wiser and kinder.

I also secretly love that middle aged male critics don't get it. This one is for us!

This clever inversion of the road movie genre sees a group of women trying to recreate their teenage Interrail journey from London to Mallorca and wittily confronting the reality of life in their 50s along the route.

Making the most of its superb cast and great Blondie soundtrack, the film powers through Europe and a succession of misadventures that threaten to derail the journey. Strong female characters are front and centre throughout the film and when Dan (Ben Miller) tries to ride to their rescue he finds the ladies have other ideas.

Trainspotters may quibble about the representation of the European rail network, but film buffs should look out for the cinematic references: the final scene, for example, is a carefully-crafted homage to Thelma & Louise.

The film is released at a difficult time: Brexit and Covid took a toll on the very idea of European travel and, of course, Kelly Preston sadly died last year. However, the essence of the film is a promise of new beginnings and it ends with a sorely-needed message of hope.

Kate, Liz and Cassie meet for the first time in years, at the funeral of their close friend from their college days Anna, who leaves then train tickets, and one final mission, to see the lights in Palma, together with her daughter Maddie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, way better than the score and number if reviews would suggest, it's sweet, it's amusing, it's uplifting, the acting is wonderful, they're all so natural.

Favourite scene had to be the pregnant lady, very funny and quite moving. I also enjoyed that moment in The French Fashion shop.

This features some exquisite location work, some beautiful places, and some well known sites too.

Blondie's music is terrific throughout, a real mix, some of the early stuff, and definitely some later recordings, you can hear how Harry's voice has changed.

I thought the cast were wonderful, I can't pick out a single performance, but there is no denying the comedy brilliance of Sally Phillips.

A great supporting cast, including Ben Miller and Judy Dench.

8/10.

Good idea, for a film with a reasonable cast bbut just woefully scripted and totally predictable at every turn.

The script is dull, cliched and not very believable. I also don't think there's a lot of chemistry between the 'friends' (or emotion, it feel contrived). The lack of character development might be explained by a lack of understanding where each person has come from, seeing as they have been separated for so long and have each obviously lead very different lives with different challenges (let alone what they were like when they were young).

If only the script was better, maybe this movie may have had a chance...