Calendar Girls (DVD) > Reviews

Advantages: Ciao calender girls
Disadvantages: Ciao calendar boys

...imagine us stuffy Brits .’ Calendar Girls’ was that 2003 flick!. Unlike ‘Four Weddings’ and ‘Bridget Jones’, this is based on a true story as most of you will know, so avoided feeling like three tiresome Middle Class situation comedies stuck together with Tescos ‘super-grip’ glue like the above. Yes some English girls do have big bottoms and go to lots of weddings looking for suitors and Chardonnay, ... Read review

Advantages: sweet characters, funny details, beautifully filmed
Disadvantages: a little short on plot, end half drags

...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 ... Read review

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

...dies. Soon the yearly WI calendar is being planned and Chris begins to hatch a plan that will hopefully raise enough money to buy a new sofa for the family room of the hospital in which John died. Needing to raise more money than last year's local churches calendar the duo attempt to do justice to John's memory. His view was that Yorkshire women and flowers are similar because the last stage is the most beautiful. Time to strip ladies - in a tasteful ... Read review

Advantages: True story which will take you through every emotion
Disadvantages: Not everyones cup of tea

...but in the case of Calendar Girls she was so adamant that I would like it that I eventually gave in to her constant quizzing as to why I still hadn’t watched it. The film is based on a true story about how a small group from the Women’s Institute decided to add a bit of spice to their ordinary calendar in an attempt to raise money to purchase a sofa for the local hospital where Annie’s (Julie Walters) husband John (John Alderton) lost his fight ... Read review

Advantages: Emotional, Sentimental but fun
Disadvantages: A bit slow at times

...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 ... Read review

Advantages: Amazing cast, heartwarming story
Disadvantages: There will probably be copycat attempts

...watch out for the real calendar girls, who appear in this scene as a rival WI cake baking group! The solid friendship which the two women have is strengthened as Chris becomes Annie's rock throughout John's illness, and ultimately his death. I found this so upsetting, even though after reading press reviews, I knew the idea for the calendar was hatched after the death of one of their husband's, it comes so suddenly, and I actually gave myself a ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful scenery, excellent cast, warm characters, charming story.
Disadvantages: We know how the story ends.

...also lots of older couples. Calendar Girls seems to be the sort of film that brings out those who rarely go to the cinema. They made a special trip to see this and by the sounds of the laughter around us, we all loved it. So, what is it all about? For those who don’t know, it follows the true-life story of a group of women from the Knapeley Women’s Institute (W.I.) in Yorkshire. When one of them suffers a bereavement, they feel they ... Read review

Advantages: funny, warm, great scenery, brilliant cast
Disadvantages: the film was over too soon

...Philip Glenister We went to see Calendar Girls last weekend. The problem with looking forward to seeing a film so much is that sometimes the real thing comes as a huge disappointment. From the first minute, this film does not disappoint and there is a roller coaster of emotions throughout. The time just flew and I can honestly say that it was one of the most enjoyable films I've seen for many a year. What's it about? The movie is based on ... Read review

Advantages: It's true and they raised lots of money
Disadvantages: none

...a discussion about the annual calendar and what should go on it and normally it raises about £50 for the WI. While Chris is out in a local mechanic garage with her son she sees a calendar which has nude models in it and she gets an idea for a calendar, with all the WI ladies in it. She gets this idea because John Clark, whose speech she delivered to the WI, said that it was “The Last Stage of the Flower that is the most Glorious” which he meant ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, cosy, warm with an excellent cast
Disadvantages: None

CALENDAR GIRLS was undoubtedly one of the biggest hits of 2003 and that rare gem – a good British movie. Most British films appear to be either comedies or arty films about middle-aged women. Calendar Girls is both and it succeeds where many fail. Based on the true story of ladies from a women’s institute in North Yorkshire, Calendar Girls is funny, touching and heart warming. THE STORY The women’s institute is the equivalent of a Good Housekeeping ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, witty, warm and gentle.
Disadvantages: A tad slow, perhaps, the right mood is needed.

...composed mainly of the over-50s, Calendar Girls is primarily the story of Chris Harper and Annie Clarke. Bored of endless dull lectures, and more interested in Tai Chi than milk marketing and broccoli, as shown in the opening segments, they long to really do something new, and the utterly unexpected impetus is, unfortunately, a terrible personal tragedy. Annie‘s husband John, a keen gardener, dies of leukaemia, and the cold discomfort of the relative’s ... Read review

Advantages: Makes a change from nubile young things
Disadvantages: The nudge nudge wink wink element from some

Calendar Girls Yesterday, I went to see the film Calendar Girls. This was a rare treat to go to the cinema as money has been exceedingly tight of late and both me and mine needed a pick-me-up! I remember the furore back in the late 1990’s, when I was working for a charity, around a calendar that had been produced by the WI that featured naked middle-aged women. At the time my colleagues felt that maybe we should produce one too in order to ... Read review