Review: A Date for Mad Mary
Released from a six-month stint in prison in time for her best friend's upcoming wedding, Mary (Seána Kerslake) is heard compiling all the "things you need to know about Charlene." Charlene (Charleigh Bailey) is kind and honest and a good person and someone who'll always have your back, amongst other things. If Mary's melancholy reading makes one think she's eulogising Charlene, then one wouldn't be very far off.
It's not Charlene herself that's dead or on the verge of dying, but rather Mary's friendship with Charlene. Though being away for six months may have been a huge stumbling block in their decades-long friendship, it's clear that the two are on two very separate paths. Whilst Mary is eager to see Charlene after so long a separation, Charlene is too caught up in the lead-up to the wedding, her self-involvement resulting in a series of missed phone calls and awkward exchanges between friends who were once "thick as thieves."
Mary begins feeling the slights when Charlene fails to welcome her home and continues to feel it when Charlene doesn't even note a plus one on her invite. After all, everyone Mary knows is already coming to the wedding and the cost is 60 quid a plate - she's only being practical. This propels the aggressively standoffish Mary to go on an online dating site in the hopes of finding a date to bring to Charlene's wedding. Things take a turn when Mary develops an attraction to Jess (Tara Lee), an aspiring musician who has been hired by Charlene to be the wedding videographer.
Based on Yasmine Akram's play 10 Dates for Mad Mary, the film does a great job of tweaking the usual conventions of a romantic comedy. Though Mary's relationship with Jess is slightly undermined by having it be an explanation for her behaviour, there's no denying the warm and lovely connection that Kerslake and Lee forge. There's a stirring scene of Mary coming face to face with the victim of the attack that landed her in jail; the scene is all the more powerful for being wordless. Though there is an unevenness in director Darren Thornton's handling of the material, the charming performances and overall pleasing quality makes A Date for Mad Mary a solid character study, a piercing observation on female friendships, and an often funny romantic comedy.
A Date for Mad Mary
Directed by: Darren Thornton
Written by: Darren Thornton, Colin Thornton; based on the play 10 Dates for Mad Mary by Yasmine Akram
Starring: Seána Kerslake, Tara Lee, Charleigh Bailey, Denise McCormack, Barbara Brennan
