Competing against the landscape: Kelly Gough as Aoife. Photo / Supplied
Competing against the landscape: Kelly Gough as Aoife. Photo / Supplied
Tarrac, directed by Declan Recks, is in cinemas now.
One might argue there’s a place for movies that are so bad they’re good, and even enjoyment to be gained from those that are so bad they’re risible. But there’s nothing so frustrating as a film that is competently made yetlacking in originality of story, power of emotion or film-making panache.
Tarrac is the blandly well-meaning and unaffecting story of Aoife (Kelly Gough, Broadchurch), a young woman who escaped the small Irish coastal village of her childhood for a stressfully busy job in Dublin’s big smoke, but now returns home to look after her sick father.
Gruff Lorcan Cranitch (recognisable from 1990s television shows Cracker and Ballykissangel) plays the embittered Bear, who jibes his daughter for bothering to come back. Unsurprisingly, in this plot full of cliches, the uncommunicative pair are both still grieving the death of Aoife’s mother many years earlier.
But the potential arises for dad and daughter to reconnect when former rower Aoife is invited to train with some local lasses. The aim: to compete in a prestigious race, where the girls will slog away in Irish boats called naomhógs.
We’ve seen this family breakdown story a million times, and its intersection with a tale of “sporting underdogs defying the odds” makes Tarrac even more frustrating for delivering absolutely nothing new. While the performances are fine (apart from some slightly over-the-top “drunk acting”), the most impressive thing about the film is the landscape of Kerry’s southwest coast.
The most interesting thing about Tarrac is it’s all in the Irish language, following the recent fashion of 2022’s excellent The Quiet Girl and last year’s exhilarating rap biopic Kneecap for showcasing the language. But unless you get excited by scenes of boat races, in trying to deliver emotion this film simply runs aground.
