In the sleepy Yorkshire town of Rylestone, not a lot happens. Each week the local women venture down to the local church hall for the regular WI meetings, where they learn about Arts and Crafts and Broccoli. When the husband of Annie, one of the WI members, dies from Leukemia, her best friend Chris comes up with a plan to raise funds for the local hospital, which treated him, by having the women of the WI appear in an arty, nude calendar. After much cajoling, they manage to convince enough members of the WI to join in, and after a bit of opposition from the WI's president, the calendar gets the go ahead and is created. Too their surprise, the calendar is a huge success and causes quite a stir both in England and across the waters in America. As the media frenzy around the calendar reaches fever pitch, the strain starts to take its toll on the friendship between Chris and Annie.
Calendar Girls is loosely based on the true story about the ladies of the Rylestone WI, who back in 1999 set about creating their infamous charity calendar. I say
loosely, as with any true story, there is always a certain amount of poetic license used when adapting them to the big screen. In the case of the Calendar Girls, the use of poetic license is more than justified, as it helps to make this film a very enjoyable and warm tale. What is really enjoyable about this film and true stories in general, is that the plot is on the whole original and unique, which makes a change from the formula driven films which are the mainstay of the movie industry.
The film is a whole mixture of genres with the emphasis being on the subtle comedy, but included in this, you have plenty of drama and a nice touch of sentiment. A lot of the comedy comes from the actual photo shoots, but there are some lovely comedy scenes through out the film, such as when Chris is demonstrating how they are going to pose for the shots with out showing too much, when her son and his friend walks in and sees her topless. Although at times the sentiment does seem to cloud the actual story, the film would not be as enjoyable without it.
The film basically has two lead characters, Annie and Chris. Annie Clarke is played Julie Walters (Educating Rita) and her best friend, Chris Harper, is played by Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, Prime Suspect). I mention them both in the same sentence as there is no separating them. The film is built around there characters and it is down to the on screen rapport between Mirren and Walters that this film is so good. The rest of the cast reads like a who's who of British TV with appearances from Annette Crosbie, Penelope Wilton, Geraldine James and John Alderton amongst others.
The film is directed by Nigel Cole (Saving Grace) and in general he has done a very good job of making this movie. He has managed to make it enjoyable and fun but without loosing the emotion behind the story. If I was going to pick a fault is that at times the film seemed to loose its pace and became a little boring due to it, but this is just one criticism of an all round enjoyable movie.
= The Cast =======
Helen Mirren .... Chris Harper Julie Walters .... Annie Clarke John Alderton .... John Clarke Linda Bassett .... Cora Annette Crosbie .... Jessie Philip Glenister .... Lawrence Sertain Ciarán Hinds .... Rod Harper Celia Imrie .... Celia Geraldine James .... Marie Penelope Wilton .... Ruth Reynoldson George Costigan .... Eddie Reynoldson
*****************************======================= The Message & Christian View Point =============================
There are a lot of messages in this film about friendship and making the most out of a bad situation but what struck me more, was that it broke down the typical stereotypes of what an older woman should be. Just because a woman hits a certain age does it mean that she stops being attractive and beautiful. What this film achieves is to demonstrate that beauty is more than just how the person looks on the outside, but it is the inner self that radiates out which creates the beauty.
Calendar Girls is an enjoyable fun comedy which tells a beautiful true story. The only thing which lets this film down is the sometimes very slow pace, but other than that, this film is full of subtle humour, wonderful performances and honest sentiment. This will appeal to anyone who likes gentle films with a lighthearted sense of fun to them.
Calendar Girls is available on Amazon for £5.97 which is a great price.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
I loved this film, I have it in my collection. The line "I think we're going to need bigger buns" made me laugh my head off...... Thanks for reminding me that we all need to laugh xx
susie191 18.03.2006 17:27
Several laugh out loud moments in this film! Susie
fabulous_girl 16.03.2006 13:49
Good review- this film was a real tear jerker for me
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: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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 ...
![Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78498835.jpg "Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]")
Mar 11th, 2006
exceptional by (1%):
very helpful by (99%):
