Calendar Girls

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Nigel Cole delivers a charming, touching, funny story with a message. Based on the true story of a few society women in England who decide to do a quasi-nude calendar to raise money for a cancer center. The well-known story itself holds few surprises, but the cast is so wonderful and the dialogue so crisp that one can't help but enjoy the film. Helen Mirren ("Gosford Park") and Julie Walters ("Educating Rita") lead the mostly female cast who bare it all ... sort of. As much as I liked the film, I do believe the two leads should have flipped roles to make this even more effective. Also, the pacing is true British, as many of the lines are missed due to U.S. audience out-loud laughter. Be forewarned if you see it in a full theatre ... you will miss a few lines. A wonderful movie for all ages and both sexes!

In the small town of Knapely, Yorkshire, England, Annie Clarke (Julie Walters) has just lost her husband, who was ill with leukemia. Inspired in his speech to the local Women's Institute, where he said that "the flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire", and "the last phase of the women of Yorkshire is always the most glorious", her best friend Chris Harper (Helen Mirren) decides to make a calendar with twelve local middle-age women nude to raise funds for the wing of leukemia treatment in the local hospital. The calendar becomes well succeeded, making them famous and affecting their lives.

"Calendar Girls" is a good dramatic comedy, with an interesting screenplay and great performances of Julie Walters and Helen Mirren. It becomes funnier because of the behavior clichés of the British husbands. I found hilarious the scene of the breakfast, when the husband tells his wife that she is nude in the newspaper, and then he asks for the bacon. This movie is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Garotas do Calendário" ("Calendar Girls")

Did you know what makes the difference between "Art and Pornography"? Well it´s the artist. This was one of the stroking scenes of the film "Calendar Girls". This film is profundly moving and even more because it is based on a true story. The women of the W.I club somewhere in Yorkshire are famous for plum jam and speeches on different household or gardening items which are mostly quite tedious. The situation changes by the time the husband of Annie (Julie Walters)suffers from leukemia and can´t get through. Annie´s best friend Chris (Helen Mirren)comes up with the idea of a nude calendar with the women of the W.I. club to raise money for a settee at the leukemia ward at the local hospital. At first everybody is quite suspicious but the calendar turns out as a tremendous success which brings the girls even to Hollywood.

I have rarely ever seen such a heart-warming and inspiring film. This movie makes you laugh and cry almost at the same time. (My favourite scene was the one with the oregano-joint ;-).) As most British comedies the actors were fabulous and the jokes did not seem constructed like they do in most Hollywood productions.

This film is a hymn for all middle aged women. It shows the world that 40+ women can look great even when they are nude. "The women of Yorkshire are like the flowers of Yorkshire in the last state of their lives they look best."

This film is highly recommendable for everybody even if you just want to see the beautiful landscape of Yorkshire.

If you said to me that I'd enjoy a heart-warming tale about a group of stripping housewives from Yorkshire then I'd probably direct you to my current DVD collection, which includes such "heart-warming" films like "Desperado", "Predator" and "Die Hard". To put it bluntly, stuff like that normally turns me right off. So imagine my surprise to find myself genuinely enjoying this film which has a winning formula of gentle humour, a strong ensemble cast and, although I hate to say it, a heart-warming ending. And yes, it's another British film with people taking their clothes off. "The Full Monty" has a lot to answer for!

"Calendar Girls" is set in a branch of the Women's Institute in northern England where best friends Anne (Julie Walters) and Chris (Helen Mirren) tire of the relentless tirade of boring speeches and endlessly singing "Jerusalem". After her husband dies of leukaemia, Anne resolves to raise some money with Chris by producing an unusual version of the W.I. calendar. Having gathered enough support, they shoot a nude calendar and despite the reluctance of the W.I. leadership, the calendar's roaring success quickly brings fame and fortune to the women. But success isn't all it's cracked up to be, testing the relationships of the women with their families as well as each other.

I already felt that "Calendar Girls" was the sort of film that would fit in perfectly in the TV schedules on a quiet Sunday night when nothing else was on but I'm pleased to say that I greatly underestimated this film. True, it is a gentle film that rarely threatens to be controversial or the sort of thing that would upset your Granny. But the performances of the strong cast mean that the plot, based on a true story, never fails to captivate your attention. It's a perfect blend of tragedy and comedy and ultimately, that's the sort of thing that the film's audience is looking for.

On the flip side, I did feel it went on for too long and there were still aspects of the story that weren't fully explored such as the impact on Helen Mirren's son (John-Paul Macleod) or what happens to the women after the publicity died down. The ending also felt strangely rushed and was a bit of a letdown. Perhaps with better writing and pacing, this could have been an absolute classic but "Calendar Girls" is still a film very much worthy of your attention. It's not as saucy as "The Full Monty" but it is a simple, unassuming film with modest aspirations that manages to be a roaring success. It's a hidden gem of a film and perfect to give to your Granny for her birthday.

I did not expect to enjoy this movie; from the few descriptions I'd seen I thought it would be a string of silly gags about nudity. I could not have been more wrong. The story involves some normal, believable characters dealing with grief and with the habitual narrowness of their lives in a creative way. I liked them and believed in them. At times some of the characters seem a bit to good to be true, but far more often I found myself thinking "yes, I know people like that." Their flaws and errors of judgment are handled well. When I first saw this movie I was totally unaware that it was based on a true story; that fact just put the cap on it. There's a little bit of saccharine, but a lot more unfiltered honey.