The Miracle Club

A small (1 hour, 31 minutes), intriguing film that will die quickly at the box office.

Set in Dublin, 1967, it involves several aging friends trying to win a prize to travel to the sacred French town of Lourdes. A good friend has just died and the arrival of her forgotten daughter from America has left them in turmoil.

The visitor is played by the talented Laura Linney. She was forced to flee to the States 40 years earlier at the age of 17 when she was pregnant. The friends of her mother, played by Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates, drove her into exile to avoid shame. Tragedy immediately happened when Ms. Linney’s boyfriend drowned in a suspected suicide.

The film revolves around Ms. Linney’s sudden reappearance to attend her mother’s funeral. In the process, Ms. Smith, the mother of the dead boy, and Ms. Bates must confront their past when Ms. Linney decides to join them on their trip to Lourdes. They discovered that you don’t experience miracles in that legendary Catholic site, only forgiveness.

Let me close by saying that this film is not for everyone. While it has great actors ranging from Smith and Bates to Stephen Rea and Niall Buggy, who play their angered husbands, the film resembles a 1940 Hollywood movie.

It really works as a one-dimensional provincial film. Yet I enjoyed it so keep that in mind.