In this narrative film full of comedy and adventure, three female friends in their fifties, and the eighteen-year-old daughter of the women’s recently deceased friend, head out on a rail journey through Europe. The women intend to repeat the trip the women took after they graduated from college.
As the title implies, detours take the women off their planned train route. Each woman comes to terms with where she is in her life and what possibilities lie ahead. Directed by Jules Williamson, Off the Rails takes viewers to Paris, Barcelona, and Collegno in northern Italy, and to Spain’s Palma Cathedral. Music by the Blondie group accentuates the action and the emotional tones of the movie throughout this feature film.
Kate (Jenny Seagrove), Liz (Sally Phillips), and Cassie (Kelly Preston) learn their friend Anna has passed away. The women have not been in close contact for a long time and are reunited at Anna’s funeral. Anna’s mother, played by Judi Dench, gives a heartfelt eulogy and Anna’s daughter Maddie (Elizabeth Dormer Phillips) plays one of her mother’s favorite songs “Dreaming” by Blondie. The three friends sing quietly along.
Anna’s mother gives them a parting gift from Anna—tickets to unlimited European rail travel for a month to see the “disco ball effect” through the stained-glass window at the Palma Cathedral in Spain. This is the event that the women missed on their graduation trip to Europe. Maddie has a ticket to go with the women as well.
The first stop is Paris where the women begin to reveal their struggles in life: Kate is in debt, Liz’s husband is cheating on her, and Cassie is fighting for custody of her son. Since Maddie dropped out of school to take care of her mother, her university applications are rejected.
The next stop is Barcelona, but the women take a detour and get off the train at Genoma to have fun at a folk festival. Thanks to Maddie, Kate meets Dan (Ben Miller), a musician, who leads the women to a noisy bar with lots of music, drinking, and dancing. Liz, who offered to hold everyone’s cash and passports—except Maddie’s-- loses her fanny pack.
On the next train, Maddie meets a charming young Italian man. When this train has technical problems, the women depart the train and go with Maddie and her new friend to Collegno, Italy. Cassie makes friends with the mayor played by Franco Nero. Tensions rise between the women; Maddie heads off on her own.
Since the women no longer have passports, the mayor has his pilot fly the women to Barcelona. More hilarity ensues as the ladies miss their boat to Palma and resort to drastic measures to make the final leg of the journey to find Maddie. Off the Rails contains excellent acting by the lead roles and appearances from Judi Dench and Franco Nero. A drama worth watching. Recommended.
What public library shelves would this film be suitable for?
Off the Rails is suitable for library shelves with comedy or adventure films. It could also be shelved with drama.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Off the Rails is suitable for a public library’s feature film collection, especially those focused on female stories and aging.