Any film that stars Dame Maggie Smith will immediately get a second look from most movie lovers. Add the names Kathy Bates and Laura Linney and it’s starting to look like a pretty spectacular cast.
Maggie Smith’s latest film, The Miracle Club, has the veteran in a very different role from the Dowager Duchess in Downton Abbey or Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies,
The year is 1967 and the country is Ireland. Close friends Lily (Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates) and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) live in a hard knocks Dublin suburb they share a dream – to visit the sacred French town of Lourdes, where miracles are thought to happen to the faithful.
There is a talent quest to win tickets to Lourdes, and the sight of Smith, Bates and O’Casey in costume and belting out the pop song My Guy is a sight to behold. With a little luck, the trio secure the tickets to Lourdes. But then a fly in the ointment appears in the form of Chrissie (Laura Linney), the daughter of a recently deceased friend who is seen by the women as a cold-hearted deserter of her mother, who has briefly returned to Ireland from where she lives in America, to sort out her late mother’s affairs.
Chrissie manages to secure a ticket on the Lourdes pilgrimage, with a little help from a kindly and savvy parish priest (Mark O’Halloran).
To aid the drama, Lily and Eileen end up as room mates on the trip, which creates a few sparks but also begins a process of healing and forgiveness.
There are some great lines from Eileen’s traditionalist husband (Stephen Rea) but what is remarkable about this film set in the 60s is that the male characters are simply support roles, with the women being front and centre. How many films do we see that have that kind of gender balance? It helps that Smith and Bates give powerful performances, matched by Linney in her more difficult role as the outsider who is gradually forgiven.
The script is warm and witting and it can certainly claim to be a feel good movie. Hearing Smith’s version of an Irish accent is at times hard to believe, but an actor of her calibre simply makes you accept it.
Bates is a standout as the tough mother who has a heart of gold. The Miracle Club is a film to be enjoyed for its journey and its humour.

• Julie Houghton