‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ Review: Finding Love Down on the Farm
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ Review: Finding Love Down on the FarmJohn Patrick Shanley adapts his play “Outside Mullingar” into a movie. (Don’t worry about the accents.)Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan in “Wild Mountain Thyme.”Credit…Kerry Brown/Bleecker StreetDec. 10, 2020, 7:00 a.m. ETWild Mountain ThymeDirected by John Patrick ShanleyDrama, RomancePG-13Find TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Whenever a movie has its performers speak in a regional dialect, the world entire suddenly teems with accent experts. “Wild Mountain Thyme,” written and directed by John Patrick Shanley (adapted from his play “Outside Mullingar”) is set in Ireland. And it started getting pushback in that country when its trailer dropped in November. Film people on social media made sport with the speaking styles of its American, English and Irish cast too.But come now. Each film is its own circumscribed world. Hearing is an even more subjective sense than seeing. And playing accent police officer without qualification while watching a movie is ultimately doing it wrong. That said, motley accents are the least of this movie’s problems.[embedded content]This is a “who is going to inherit the farm” story in which that question is abruptly resolved pretty much halfway through. It is also a romantic comedy/drama whose tone ping-pongs from grave to lyrical to absurdist willy-nilly, and hits all those registers at fortissimo volume.Its premise is simple: Anthony (Jamie Dornan) loves girl-on-the-farm-next-door Rosemary (Emily Blunt) but can’t let her know. He’s got some glitch that renders him, he believes, bad boyfriend material — at least. As their respective parents (one is played by Christopher Walken, who’s funny and has a lovely final scene) shuffle off this mortal coil, the two find themselves facing only each other. Oh, and also a rich American potential interloper, played by Jon Hamm.At the film’s end, in a stormy scene with distant echoes of both “The Quiet Man” and “I Know Where I’m Going,” Blunt and Dornan face off in passionate screwball mode, and sparks fly. But the viewer’s patience may have been too harshly tested en route to this point to make much difference.Wild Mountain ThymeRated PG-13, for a little accented barnyard language. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Google Play, FandangoNow and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
