A Mother's Day present
Irish drama glides along smoothly thanks to strong work from its leads
Direct from Ireland — the island, not the Republic — and just in time for Mother's Day comes A Bump Along the Way, a touching drama dealing with the topic of — who thought to call it this? — geriatric pregnancy.
The “geriatric” in this case is Pamela (Bronagh Gallagher), a 44-year-old single mother raising her teenage daughter Allegra (Lola Petticrew) in Northern Ireland. And the pregnancy is the result of a one-night stand with Barry (Andy Doherty), a 24-yearold local who bolts when he hears the news.
The one oddity in the screenplay by first-timer Tess McGowan is that Pamela never even considers the notion of abortion. Politics aside, it seems an unrealistic stance, especially considering health issues that had her convinced she was infertile.
In any case, she quickly decides to go ahead with it, much to the dismay of Allegra. Her daughter isn't so much jealous as she is worried what her friends at school will think. Kids can be a judgmental bunch, and it gets worse when Allegra gets drunk at her 16th-birthday celebration.
Director Shelly Love doesn't really break any new ground with the story, but it glides along smoothly enough on the strong performances of the leads, completely believable as a somewhat wild quadragenarian and her please-don't-embarrass-me-mammy daughter. And while Pamela is the main focus here, there's enough screen time devoted to Allegra and her crush on a boy at school to make her character more than just a prop.
A Bump Along the Way doesn't feel overly engineered, but my guess is it'll make viewers appreciate their mothers a little more. It may also make older mothers happy they're not going through all that again.