BONNEVILLE

Three women from Idaho take a road trip across the United States to deliver the ashes of one of their dead husbands to his daughter. This film is aimed with almost pin-point precision at a very particular demographic, almost to the exclusion of everyone else. Featuring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, their performances aren’t enough to overcome the loose plot and often meaningless adventures that come across as cheap, thinly veiled escapism rather than the interesting dramatic narrative you want it so badly to be. It often shifts jarringly and awkwardly between the tragic and the comic, the two elements sitting uneasily together rather than supporting each other. Kathy Bates’ charm does offer some redemptive moments, and, in general, women over 45 will have fun and enjoy themselves, so long as they don’t mind being treated like women over 45. (Michael Farrell)