Off the Rails

Written by Jordan Waller and Directed by Jules Williamson is this rather uneven comedy. Three friends (Sally Phillips, Jenny Seagrove, Kelly Preston) are brought back together by the untimely death of their friend Anna, who leaves for them a gift, four European inter-rail tickets, so they could finish the journey they never completed when they were younger. A trip to Majorca to see a once a year natural light show in Palma cathedral. Joining them as they retrace their steps is Anna’s daughter Maddie (Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips).

There is nothing original in the plot, it’s a road trip movie, there’s adventures or mis-adventures, romance, drunken incidents and of course the secrets in the three friends lives that surface throughout the film. As well as the need to deal with unresolved issues in the relationships between the three of them, all loosely accompanied by the music of Blondie, think Mamma Mia with a better soundtrack.

The film is all over the place in reality, the comedy is hugely uneven, with much of it missing the mark, but that’s not to say it’s a complete failure. There plenty of parts in the film that work really well. It has a beautifully done and emotional opening with Judi Dench stealing the scenes as Anna’s bereaved mother and there is a very predictable but still touching ending.

The film does have a good heart and the relationships between the four main characters work well as they mostly balance the comedy and emotion, although not always avoiding the slip into melodrama.

The script and at times direction are very clunky as the film lurches from scene to scene, but the likeable characters keep you onside even when the story doesn’t.

It carries the added poignancy of been the last film of the late Kelly Preston, making some of those emotional moments more touching.

It would be wrong to say this is a good film, but it also isn’t a terrible one, with just enough good things in it to keep it on the rails it often tries to fall off.