Variety
It doesn't take too long for Jim Sheridan's period romance "The Secret Scripture" to contort itself into a befuddlingly bungled mess. But at the outset, it seems to have everything going for it.
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The Secret Scripture
Vanessa Redgrave, Rooney Mara and Eric Bana star in this adaptation of Sebastian Barry's award-winning novel directed by six-time Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan.
"Roseanne McNulty (Redgrave) must vacate the soon-to-be demolished mental institution in Roscommon, Ireland that she's called home for over 50 years. The hospital's psychiatrist, Dr. William Grene (Bana), is called in to assess her condition. He finds himself intrigued by Roseanne's seemingly inscrutable rituals and tics, and her fierce attachment to her Bible, which she has over the decades transformed into a palimpsest of scripture, drawings, and cryptic diary entries. As Grene delves deeper into Roseanne's past, we see her as a young woman (Mara), whose charisma proves seductive. We learn that she moved to Sligo to work in her aunt's café, fell in love with a dashing fighter pilot (Jack Reynor), and that a local priest (Theo James) fell tragically in love with her." (Toronto International Film Festival)
2016Rating: M, Mature themes, sex scene and coarse language108 minsIreland
Drama
- Director:
- Jim Sheridan ('In the Name of the Father', 'In America', 'My Left Foot')
- Writer:
- Jim SheridanJohnny Ferguson
- Cast:
- Rooney MaraTheo JamesVanessa RedgraveEric BanaJack ReynorAidan TurnerSusan LynchTom Vaughan-Lawlor
The Secret Scripture / Reviews
Total Film
Jim Sheridan's first Irish movie since The Boxer has trouble unpicking its mysteries, opting for a romantic soap that sees Rooney Mara's heroine face ostracism after falling for Jack Reynor's RAF pilot in '40s Sligo.
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The Guardian
Young Rose, initially feisty, becomes an unknowable non-entity. We never truly understand her and Mara quickly becomes visibly bored.
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Stuff
All the window dressing in the world isn't enough to hide the fact that this misbegotten load of old tosh really doesn't add up to a coherent or credible yarn. Avoid.
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Screen Daily
It is an elegantly crafted, expertly acted old-fashioned weepie that manages to sell a whopper of a plot that would bring a blush to the cheeks of Nicholas Sparks.
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Empire Magazine
A maudlin adaptation hampered by low energy and lapses of logic, The Secret Scripture does a disservice to the book it is based on, and the Irish history it plunders.
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