Calendar Girls

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.

One of the most delightful films of recent years, `Calendar Girls,' a distaff version of `The Full Monty,' is the true story of a group of middle-aged English women who became international celebrities when they designed and posed for a nude fundraising calendar that sold millions of copies worldwide. Julie Walters and Helen Mirren head a wonderful cast, with Walters as a woman whose husband dies of leukemia and Mirren as her best friend who comes up with the idea of the calendar as a way of both honoring his memory and raising money for the local hospital.

The risk for any `feel good' comedy is that it will become cloying, coy or cutesy. Luckily, `Calendar Girls' boasts an enormously witty screenplay and first-rate performances by its highly gifted cast. Each of the `girls' is given her own unique personality so that we see them not just as a group, united in this inspiring endeavor, but as individuals working through their own personal demons on the rode to the project's completion. The women face the expected roadblocks and snafus in the form of `shocked,' disapproving voices in the community, but their belief in the rightness of their cause brushes all such problems aside.

This charming film provides more genuine, out-and-out laughs than almost any comedy of recent times. `Calendar Girls' is heartwarming, touching and inspiring – and what more could one ask from a `feel-good' film than that?

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!

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.

Although I prefer the older films of the forties and fifties, I was quite touched by this one. Beautifully filmed in the "ee by gum" country of Northern England ( and with the sun, to boot ), this was a real pleasure for the eyes. I went to school in Lancashire so many of the sights were familiar to me ( though this was Yorkshire ) but the countryside is similar and apparently less wet than Lancashire, being to the east of the Pennines. The theme of the film was an interesting one and shows that you don't have to be young to be sexy - I found all our ladies very sexy and the calender had very good taste - it was delightfully erotic and not pornographic at all. The film reminded me of Billy Elliot ( also made in Ee by gum country ) but I liked that less and Full Monty which I found far less interesting. Like French Cinema, British Cinema nowadays doesn't produce many lively and interesting films - that prize falls to the Americans - but just once in a while, a little gem is produced ( other examples are Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral ). calendar Girls was just such a gem and I was very happy to discover it. I was also pleased to see Annette Crosbie from "One Foot In The Grave" whom I adore as an actress as I do Julie Walters whom I found most attractive in Educating Rita and who seems even lovlier in Calendar Girls. Bravo !