The actor stars alongside Jamie Dornan as stubborn farmers in this clumsy adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s play Outside Mullingar
If you’ve seen the trailer for Wild Mountain Thyme, writer-director John Patrick Shanley’s not-quite-a-romcom about two thirtysomething “star-crossed” (slow to settle into their inevitable pairing) lovers/farmers in rural Ireland, then you’ve most likely slammed into the question: what is going on with the accents? The mere teaser, with narration by American actor Christopher Walken, triggered an Irish accent emergency upon its release last month. The fears were justified: the accents are indeed bad. But that could be overlooked, perhaps even be endearing, with the requisite romcom chemistry or whimsy found between two emotionally repressed, isolated people learning to open up. Unfortunately, Shanley’s adaptation of his 2014 Broadway play Outside Mullingar has little to recommend besides some truly beautiful shots of Ireland’s County Mayo – it’s a visually verdant but emotionally flat film whose confusing friction between two miscast leads frustrates rather than engrosses.
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