Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Saoirse Ronan Gives Oscar Buzzed Performance in Bleak, Beautiful “The Outrun,” Streaming Starting November 5th

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Election day is coming, but a few other things are happening on November 5th.

“The Outrun,” a movie whose title I can never remember — The Outset, The Upshot? — is coming to streaming after a four week run in theaters.

“The Outrun” made no money in its US theater release and didn’t get much attention, but it’s marvelous. Saoirse Ronan — Oscar nominated for four films including “Ladybird” and “Brooklyn” — gives the performance of her life as Rona, a 29 year old London girl with Scottish roots who is utterly lost. It’s up to Academy voters now to rescue it from oblivion.

The movie, directed by Nora Fingsheidt, takes place in the Orkney Islands on the northern most outstretch of Scotland. It’s winter, and dismal, but also gorgeous, and this is the place Rona (Ronan) lands to get sober after a wild time partying and drinking. Cinematographer Yunus Roy Imer captures of all it brilliantly, exposing the raw nature of Rona’s recovery in muted, washed out colors.

“I’m only happy when I drink,” she says at one point. She’s not kidding. She is dead serious. Her drinking lands in her some pretty tough spots, which we see in flashbacks in the non linear screenplay. Fingscheidt, an award winning German director, cuts back and forth as Rona comes to terms with her parents (the father is severely bipolar), her traumatized childhood, and her sometimes violent present in colorful London.

Saskia Reeves and Stephen Dillane are excellent as the parents. But the movie is all about Rona. You can’t take your eyes off of Ronan. She’s a beacon of light in a dark passage. Even though “The Outrun” didn’t score an audience in theaters, I hope it’s embraced on streaming platforms like Apple etc. “The Outrun” is one of the best films of 2024.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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