FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Nigel Cole. Produced by: Suzanne Mackie & Nick Barton. Written by: Juliette Towhidi & Tim Firth. Director of Photography: Ashley Rowe. Edited by: Michael Parker. Music by: Patrick Doyle. Released by: Touchstone. Country of Origin: UK. 108 min. Rated: PG-13. With: Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton & Annette Crosbie.
Add Bend It Like Beckham's feminism with The Full Monty's upturned English
propriety and
you get Calendar Girls, where a group of women of
a certain age
pose nude for charity. Yet refreshingly, this straightforward comedy keeps
its preciousness in
check. In their picturesque Yorkshire village, Chris (Mirren) and
Annie (Walters) endure
interminable meeting after meeting of the monthly Women's Institute, hearing
yet another lecture
on jam making. Life long friends, Chris comforts Annie when her husband, John (Alderton), is diagnosed
with leukemia. Inspired by John's praise of older
women, Chris insists that the WI's next fund-raiser calendar showcase,
instead of country churches, the women instead, naked - correction -nude
(since the photos will be
artistic), with proceeds going to the hospital where John had been treated. Chris convinces
enough members to pose for all 12 months, including the grandmotherly Jessie (Crosbie).
After the
women have confronted their fears, overcome bureaucratic hurdles, and the
calendar becomes a
bestseller, a weaker conflict emerges: Chris's insatiable drive to be in
the spotlight. However, it
is a change of pace for a film based on a true story to even hint that those
involved not only
basked in the media attention but also sought it out. Mirren's Chris is
amused throughout,
whether from finding her son's hidden porn magazine or in her fascination
with the semi-clad
calendar girls hanging in her mechanic's garage. Such is the film's droll
sense of humor that,
during breakfast in an abundant garden, Jessie’s husband informs her, "You're nude in the
Telegraph this morning. Please pass the bacon." This
predictable, but
engaging, fable remains compelling largely because the leads, Helen Mirren and
Julie Walters, bring an
intimacy to their characters' relationship. And never does the cast
mug to the camera. Although the
material is somewhat slight, Mirren and her cohorts give it weight and
verve. Kent Turner
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