Greater depth is further fortified with a series of conflicts that increased in intensity, within each of the three acts, beginning with each and every woman’s struggle to disrobe.
August 17, 2006 (Press Release) --
Girls has just about enough charm to snare you exactly where it wants you. You can tolerate all the cringe-worthy moments of English parochialism, small town quaintness and copious menopausal flesh, because Calendar Girls embodies a quirky and uplifting tale that just about gets away with it.
The age-old stuffiness of The Women’s Institute, Rylestone Branch, comes under attack when two of the groups’ freer spirits decide to apply a dying mans’ wish all too literally and expose the blossoming flower of womanhood in the form of a glossy calendar, ripe to adorn garage walls everywhere. After her husband John (John Alderton) loses his battle with leukaemia, Annie Clarke (Julie Walters) and her vivacious best friend Chris Harper (Helen Mirren) feel compelled to honour his memory in the way that is wholly inappropriate, sending shockwaves rippling through the entire WI. Very soon their tastefully crafted invention explodes into a national and global phenomenon. What was intended as a fund-raiser to buy a new couch for the hospital waiting room turns into a fully-fledged media feeding frenzy, and the unconventional pin-up girls, startled by their own success, are snared in the middle.
With an indiscernible visual style, no more interesting than say your average ITV “drama premiere”, Calendar Girls manages to succeed on the back of a surprisingly dynamic script and a number of characteristically assured performances from the capable ensemble cast, that levitates the whole shebang above small screen mediocrity. Director Nigel Cole gets the measurements correct, stirring in plenty of decent interplay and characterisation, predominantly amongst the women, with just a pinch of playful sauce and titillation intended as the films’ major selling point.
The central friendship between Annie and Chris, and the eventual strain it is placed under as their enterprise develops, carries the prevailing themes of the film dealing with femininity, friendship, community and the pitfalls of fame, coherently. Supporting roles are divided up between a host of familiar female faces from British television, all of whom are allowed portions of screen time to develop smaller side-plots. Annette Crosbie plays pragmatic Jesse, the matriarch of the group, pseudo-sophisticated Celia is played by Celia Imrie and mousy dark horse Linda Bassett (from East is East and The Martins) is Cora. All sacrifice their respectability and expose their contrasting characteristics whilst vying for which month of the calendar to appear on, with April being surprisingly popular? The brief introduction of each individual within the group dynamic adds texture to an uncomplicated tale, and offers multiple opportunities for comedic repartee. Far from obscuring the focus of the main story, personal slants on the basic theme are integrated so successfully into the central thrust of the film that the added multi-dimensionality enhances a potentially one-note story.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
written by Nik Huggins
The age-old stuffiness of The Women’s Institute, Rylestone Branch, comes under attack when two of the groups’ freer spirits decide to apply a dying mans’ wish all too literally and expose the blossoming flower of womanhood in the form of a glossy calendar, ripe to adorn garage walls everywhere. After her husband John (John Alderton) loses his battle with leukaemia, Annie Clarke (Julie Walters) and her vivacious best friend Chris Harper (Helen Mirren) feel compelled to honour his memory in the way that is wholly inappropriate, sending shockwaves rippling through the entire WI. Very soon their tastefully crafted invention explodes into a national and global phenomenon. What was intended as a fund-raiser to buy a new couch for the hospital waiting room turns into a fully-fledged media feeding frenzy, and the unconventional pin-up girls, startled by their own success, are snared in the middle.
With an indiscernible visual style, no more interesting than say your average ITV “drama premiere”, Calendar Girls manages to succeed on the back of a surprisingly dynamic script and a number of characteristically assured performances from the capable ensemble cast, that levitates the whole shebang above small screen mediocrity. Director Nigel Cole gets the measurements correct, stirring in plenty of decent interplay and characterisation, predominantly amongst the women, with just a pinch of playful sauce and titillation intended as the films’ major selling point.
The central friendship between Annie and Chris, and the eventual strain it is placed under as their enterprise develops, carries the prevailing themes of the film dealing with femininity, friendship, community and the pitfalls of fame, coherently. Supporting roles are divided up between a host of familiar female faces from British television, all of whom are allowed portions of screen time to develop smaller side-plots. Annette Crosbie plays pragmatic Jesse, the matriarch of the group, pseudo-sophisticated Celia is played by Celia Imrie and mousy dark horse Linda Bassett (from East is East and The Martins) is Cora. All sacrifice their respectability and expose their contrasting characteristics whilst vying for which month of the calendar to appear on, with April being surprisingly popular? The brief introduction of each individual within the group dynamic adds texture to an uncomplicated tale, and offers multiple opportunities for comedic repartee. Far from obscuring the focus of the main story, personal slants on the basic theme are integrated so successfully into the central thrust of the film that the added multi-dimensionality enhances a potentially one-note story.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
written by Nik Huggins
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