Since 'Calendar Girls' is a British comedy about older people who strip down for cash, it draws the obvious comparison to 'The Full Monty' by American reviewers. Although both films take place in Yorkshire ('The Full Monty' happens in Jarvis Cocker’s hometown of Sheffield) and feature lovable and unique characters, 'Calendar Girls' falls short on substance. It’s amusing and heart-warming, but it won’t make you guffaw like 'The Full Monty' does.
For one thing, the blokes in 'The Full Monty' are unemployed, while the 'Calendar Girls' are raising money for cancer. I’m not saying that being out of work is funny, but it certainly has more opportunity for hilarity than a devastating disease does. 'The Full Monty' fellows walk the gritty streets of Sheffield to the unemployment office every day, but the women in 'Calendar Girls' are comfortable enough to enjoy Tai Chi atop gorgeous, green, rolling hills and leisurely lectures at their local WI (Women’s Institute) meetings about how to bake cakes. Their houses are enormous, especially by English standards.
The two main characters,
Chris (Helen Mirren) and Annie (Julie Walters), are adorable together. The film starts out with scenes of them trying not to burst into hysterics due to boredom at their monthly WI meetings. The utterly serious leader of the group brings in speakers on such fascinating topics as broccoli and quilting each month, and the speeches are so dull that they are comical. With playful gleams in their eyes, it’s immediately apparent that Chris and Annie are born rebels. The other women take baking competitions seriously, but Chris prefers to get her baked goods from Marks & Spencer.
The two best friends have lovely husbands who raise flowers for a living, but tragedy strikes when Annie’s husband John (John Alderton) is diagnosed with cancer. Annie’s pain is exacerbated by the fact that the couch in the family waiting room at the local hospital is falling apart. As a memorial to her husband, Annie wants to purchase a new couch for the waiting room to provide a small bit of comfort for families dealing with loss, but how can they raise the ₤1000 required? Every year, the local WI prints a fund-raising calendar featuring innocuous photos such as churches and flowers that earns the group about 40 quid. Inspired by her teenage son’s pornographic magazine and a Page Three Girl calendar in the local auto body shop, Chris decides to create a sexy calendar featuring middle-aged women.
The idea scares many of the women in the WI at first, but Chris assures them, “It’s not naked; it’s NUDE!” In addition to struggling to recruit a woman for each month, Chris and Annie need to get approval from the conservative WI. “Without the WI name, it’s just pornography,” they reason.
While 'The Full Monty' builds up to the nude finale, the actual shooting of the calendar occurs fairly early on in this film. I guess director Nigel Cole figured that many people would be familiar with the story of the real life calendar girls (the film is based on a true story), so it would be pointless to try to make the movie suspenseful. So, for those of you looking for an action-filled movie, you’re looking in the wrong place. The conflicts are mainly interpersonal, as we know from the start that the ladies are going to succeed.
The best scenes in the film are of the production of the calendar and the lead up to the big event. Once the ladies achieve fame (or notoriety to some) and raise loads of money, the film gets a little bit boring and loses much of its humour. Oh, and in case you were wondering, you’ll see less skin in this film than you did in the Super Bowl halftime show. It’s a PG-13 (UK: 12A)movie.
Since she spends most of her time raising money for cancer research and posing nude, Chris ends up neglecting her husband Rod (Ciarán Hinds) and teenage son Jem (John-Paul Macleod). Seeing his mother reading his x-rated magazine, strip in the kitchen with a bunch of women, and be featured in tabloid news stories, of course, traumatizes poor Jem. I felt so sorry for him as his classmates giggled behind his back. I felt that this aspect of the story was left a bit unresolved, and I sympathized with Jem, since I know what it’s like to have an embarrassing mother.
The scenery is gorgeous, and it will make you want to go to North Yorkshire immediately. One aspect of the film that I found disappointing was the soundtrack, which consists of uninspiring, early R&B and a bland Beach Boys song. The Full Monty was greatly enhanced by its energetic soundtrack (who could forget the toe-tapping to “Hot Stuff” in the queue?), but the soundtrack to Calendar Girls just feels out of place and random.
'Calendar Girls' is a fun, chick flick with talented British actors. Like the real life Yorkshire ladies, this film creates a stir, but don’t expect anything revolutionary.
108 Minutes, 2003
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Very thought provoking review welldone. I think it is on my list of films to watch this summer so I will definately check it out!
LR_17 01.06.2004 21:14
I love this film so much! I have it on DVD and watch over and over again all of the time. I just recently bought it on DVD for my best mate because she loves it so much! Leila :)
magdadh 09.05.2004 12:40
The review made me want to watch the film, told everything I needed to know and wasn't in the least boring which is often a feature of lenghty film reviews (for me at least). Diamond well deserved thus and that's why E from me. I think the son's angle is probably quite funny and I suspect I wouldn't feel much sympathy for him but here we go. I'm rather keen on addingbeing an embarassing mother to being an embarassing wife.
In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters,Calendar ... more
Girlswalks a fine line between sappiness and snickering and ends up both wonderfully funny and gently touching. When her best friend Annie (Walters) loses her husban...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters,Calendar ... more
Girlswalks a fine line between sappiness and snickering and ends up both wonderfully funny and gently touching. When her best friend Annie (Walters) loses her husban...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
CALENDAR GIRLS is the hilariously quirky comedy starring Golden Globe winners Helen Mirren ... more
and Julie Walters and directed by Nigel Cole. When twelve extraordinary members of the Women's Institute, a proper local charity, decide they need to find a new ...
Advantages: British comedy done well with mature women bearing all Disadvantages: Subplots could have been explored a bit more and there was a bit of a loss in focus towards the end
ickkate 03.08.2004 (03.08.2004)
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Review of Calendar Girls (DVD)
![Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78498835.jpg "Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]")
Feb 23rd, 2004
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