Military Wives (M)
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3 stars
There's a subgenre of British cinema we might call "Plucky Poms". In these seriocomic films, people suffering some sort of disadvantage - economic, personal, whatever - find a way to come together and succeed, usually in an offbeat venture, despite a few bumps along the way.
One of the best examples is The Full Monty, the director of which, Peter Cattaneo, also helms Military Wives, which is not nearly as good. It's one of those movies where if you like this kind of thing, you'll enjoy it, but while it is likeable and well acted, too often it feels somewhat generic and predictable.
One really bad thing about Military Wives is the title, as unimaginative as could be. At least it's honest.
Although the film is completely fictional in terms of its story and characters, it is based on a real-life phenomenon: there are dozens of Military Wives Choirs in military bases in Britain and overseas.
Although the film is completely fictional in terms of its story and characters, it is based on a real-life phenomenon: there are dozens of Military Wives Choirs in military bases in Britain and overseas.
Written by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard, Military Wives begins on a military base as women and children farewell their husbands, spouses and parents who are off to Afghanistan.
Although they're a diverse group, they are united by the military connection and the pride, love and trepidation that is inevitable as their loved ones are deployed.
The colonel's wife, Kate (Kristen Scott Thomas - The English Patient, Gosford Park) takes it upon herself to become the community leader. She aims to get the women to devise activities to divert their thoughts as they await the return of their loved ones or devastating news. However, activities such as knitting are met with little enthusiasm.
What seems more promising is the idea of a choir, but the officious, uptight Kate comes up against Lisa (Sharon Horgan - Disenchantment, Adventure Time), a more down to earth woman. While Kate wants the choir to be Serious, singing hymns and aiming for perfection, Kate thinks they should have fun and sing more popular songs like Time After Time.
Eventually the two work their way to a tenuous partnership and bring the women together to sing. But there are plenty of challenges to come and not all of them have to do with the choir.
We learn the most about Kate - who's more sympathetic than she first appears: she's lost a son in combat and buys things from TV shopping ads to relieve her anxiety - and Lisa, who's having trouble with her rebellious teenage daughter. But other women have their moments, both serious and comic, along the way.
While the switches between the dramatic and the feel-good occasionally seem forced - particularly at the end - there's much that's fun and touching if not terribly original here.