Rating: 
Summary: Fact is Better - in many ways - than Fiction
Review: CALENDAR GIRLS would be a fun sport of a movie if it were pure fantasy: the terribly unBritish idea of women-over-50 bare-ing their bodies for a calendar published yearly by their dreadfully dull Yorkshire Women's League all for the purpose of raising money to support the loss of one member's husband is as an idea funny in and of itself. But the fact that this story is an embellishment of an event that really did occur makes it even more joyously delightful. This is another of the British specialties of small, intimate, regional movies along the lines of BILLY ELLIOT, the Aussie FULL MONTY, etc. Here we have a cast of superb actors having a wonderful frolic in the incredibly beautiful setting of Yorkshire England. Helen Mirren and Julie Walters lead the ladies (and gents) through this daring play on Playboy Calendars and manage to make a truly believable case for the pulchritude of our heroines. Along the way Director Nigel Cole pauses for subtle statements about infidelity, mistresses, teenage drug use/abuse, death, and Hollywood commercialism. It is all part of reality in his capable hands and certainly makes for a richer experience than pure comedy. Helen Mirren proves yet again that there are few roles she cannot conquer. This reviewer only wishes that her recent HBO performance in Tennessee William' THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE with Olivier Martinez and Anne Bancroft will soon be released on DVD. Mirren is surely one of the finest actresses on the stage and on film today.
Rating: 
Summary: Obscuring the naughty bits
Review: In 1999, eleven members of the District Women's Institute in Rylstone, North Yorkshire, England posed starkers on a year 2000 calendar printed up to collect funds to benefit leukemia research after the death of John Baker, Assistant National Park Officer for the Yorkshire Dales and husband of WI member Angela, of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998. What made the venture unusual was that the models were all just local ladies in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. In the UK, 88,000 copies were eventually sold, and 250,000 in the States. CALENDAR GIRLS, based on this story, has been characterized by a principal as about 75% accurate in the re-telling, with the remainder being scriptwriter's embellishment for comedic or dramatic effect. The original idea for the calendar was suggested by Angela's friend, Tricia Stewart. In the film adaptation, Helen Mirren plays Chris Harper (based on real-life Tricia Stewart) and Julie Walters and John Alderton play Annie and John Clark respectively (based on Angela and John Baker). The calendar saga, from conception to realization and international fame, is centered in the fictional village of Knapley. Harper originally gets the idea after 1) finding a soft porn magazine hidden in her teenage son's room and 2) noticing a girlie calendar on the wall of a village shop. The plan is to produce and sell 500 copies of the calendar to raise the 900 pounds necessary to buy a new sofa for the Relatives' Waiting Room in the local hospital in which John Clark died of his disease. Not only must Chris and Annie surmount the understandable reluctance of their friends and fellow WI members to pose nude (not "naked"), but also convince the chairwomen of the District and National WI that the reputation of the organization won't be sullied. There is, of course, some nudity in the film, but, as on the calendar itself, it's discreetly done. The naughty bits are strategically hidden by sticky buns, flowering plants, and such. But enough of Helen Mirren is seen for the viewer to realize that physical beauty and maturity of "that certain age" are not mutually incompatible. Though the script touches on such sober subjects as teenage drug use and spousal infidelity, the film as a whole is delightfully witty, charming, warm, and poignant. And then there are the beautiful Yorkshire towns and fells in which the movie was shot. Is this one of the year's best films? No. Is it a great cinematic achievement? No again. But, I'm giving it five stars anyway because, as an entertainment vehicle, it's everything I ask for when I go to a motion picture show. I sat and watched with a silly smile on my face for almost the entire run time, and left the cinema in no way unsatisfied. What more could one reasonably want?
Rating: 
Summary: Helen Mirren and rest of cast are great, movie just mediocre
Review: When Annie's husband dies, all she wants to do is help raise a little money to buy a new sofa for the waiting lounge at the hospital. Her best friend, Chris, comes up with the idea of a nude calendar. What begins as a delightful comedy (based on a true story) begins to drag at the halfway point--especially a subplot involving Chris' son, who is never really developed. Honest opinion: aiming for a more mature audience and having an R-rating would have worked better. Great acting by all--just not enough to save the movie from mediocre status.
Rating:
Summary: Nude, not naked
Review: Calendar Girls relates the true story of fifty-something British countryside women who are spurred into action when Annie's husband, John, suddenly dies of cancer. Annie spends many days and nights in the local hospital as her husband is getting treatment, suffering on a lumpy sofa in an unglamorous waiting room. When her husband dies, she is determined to do some charity work to provide a better family room for other families that have to undergo the same experience. It is her friend Chris, slightly eccentric and known for her "crazy ideas" who takes up her cause and storms full speed ahead with it. Both are members of the local Women's Institute, a national organization for women that usually deals with cupcakes and gardening tips. In one of the meetings, the president of the WI decides that this year's calendar should feature local churches. It is not until later that Chris realizes that a better way to raise money for charity is by making the calendar more interesting. Inspired by the calendar of semi-nude (not naked!) girls hanging in the local bicycle repairman's shop, Chris realizes that she and the other women need to take things one step further. With her usual enthusiasm and deterministic nature, Chris convinces half a dozen women to show their bodies for a local photographer to make the calendar. The movie is touching and both bitter sweet and hilarious. One of John's last speeches to his wife refers to the sunflower and how Yorkshire women are like them, because each stage is better than the last. The sunflower features on the calendars. Chris is keen to make the calendar a success, so that enough money can be raised, but the overwhelming response to her press releases come as a massive surprise to her and the other women, when the national news stations get wind of the story that takes the women all the way to Hollywood. Not everything is a success, however. We witness deterioration of a marriage, the sleazy behavior of news reporters, and a son's demise into drug use - all peripherals to the main story. The mix of fifty-something nudes and traditional British country side events is funny, offbeat, and incredibly well acted by some of the best British celebs. Generally a feel-good film, with plenty of laughter and real-life drama. A true Yorkshire Rose ... or should I say, sunflower?
Rating:
Summary: great chick flick
Review: i saw this movie (twice) on a virgin flight back from london. i laughed and i cried and when it started up again i kept watching. this movie shows what women can do when they put their minds to it, and how much fun it is to have success in an all female group. women have been coming together forever in clubs and societies, and this movie turns it all on its head.
GO TO THIS MOVIE AND SHOW THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY THAT WE WILL SUPPORT FILMS THAT TREAT WOMEN WITH DIGNITY
Rating:
Summary: A most pleasant surprise.
Review: Had the pleasure of watching this film on a recent flight from London to Seattle. Most entertaining. Reminded me, in some measure, of "Waking Ned Devine". The cast gives believeable performances, and the story line, although a bit weak in a couple spots, is very rewarding.
My wife and a good friend were in adjacent seats on the flight, and had watched another film while I was watching the 'Girls'. I convinced them to watch it on the second showing (9 hour flight yeilds about three viewings), and they were equally impressed. I'll definitely see it again in the theater when it's released state-side.
Rating:
Summary: A very British comedy
Review: There may be some eyebrows raised over the decision to release this movie in the UK, France, Germany and practically everywhere else in the world before the USA. I'm not sure I understand it fully myself, but I can see that to show it first in the USA could have been risky. Three-quarters of the way through the film, several of the 'girls' go to Hollywood where some of them don't have an altogether wonderful time. I guess the producers wanted to establish some international momentum for the movie before letting it loose on an American public who could regard it as anti-tinseltown. The movie itself stays pretty close to the real-life story -- even the classic quote about "no front-bottoms" is faithfully melded into the strong script. Julie Walters and John Alderton put in superb performances as the loving husband and wife soon to be parted by leukemia. Helen Mirren is also very good in her part, and I guess I wasn't the only male, in what I have to admit was a mainly female audience, who was glad that Mirren had revoked her previous commitment never to remove her clothes on screen again! In its wonderful depiction of the rugged, hilly landscape, the movie should do wonders for the Yorkshire Tourist Board. But it will probably be less helpful for recruitment to the Women's Institute, even though the WI is backing this movie on their Web site. The WI is seen as being endlessly concerned with trivia and with protecting its wholesome reputation. (You will get very fed up with piano renditions of 'Jerusalem' by the end!) What flaws does the film have? Well, there's no climax in the place that you'd normally expect it. Some loose ends which should have been tied up don't get tied up -- for instance, do the girls eventually take off their clothes again for the Hollywood ad? As a concept, the plot comes dangerously close to disappearing up its own end. At one level, the story says "This calendar must have been a great achievement because a film was made about it." But this is that film. So, if the film hadn't been made, would it have been such a great achievement? The scriptwriters are plainly aware of this paradox, so there is plenty of self-doubt that plagues the characters by the end. Several of the original calendar girls refused to have anything to do with the movie, which was in part financed by Disney. I can see their point -- if the media world is alien to you, it's hard to get involved without feeling sullied -- but ultimately the world is a slightly better place for this movie having been made, and I don't know anyone who hasn't enjoyed seeing it.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing Story. Bland Movie.
Review: "Calendar Girls" is a fictionalized account of the events surrounding the publication, in 1999, of a nude calendar featuring the ladies of the Rylstone Women's Institute of North Yorkshire, England. The calendar caused a media sensation in Great Britain and the United States on account of its photographs of women of a certain age performing quaint everyday tasks in the buff. In the film, Chris (Helen Mirren) organizes the calendar to raise money on behalf of her best friend Annie's (Julie Waters) husband, who is dying of leukemia. "Calendar Girls" dramatizes the challenges of convincing a group of middle-aged and older women to pose nude, garnering support for the project, and coping with the resulting flood of international publicity. The cast is well-suited to their roles. The characters are all appealing. But "Calendar Girls" takes too much time to get off the ground and moves very slowly once it does. This "dramedy" isn't nearly as funny as it should be. It's just bland. The story of the WI calendar is really more interesting than this film. As for "Calendar Girls" accuracy, this really is a fictionalized account. The characters do not represent real people specifically, except for Chris and Annie, who are based loosely on real women. Any strife between characters in the film is dramatic license. The calendar's photographer was not a stranger, but one of the ladies' husbands. The calendar was indeed intended to raise money for a local hospital's cancer ward on behalf of Angela Baker's husband, John Baker, to whose memory "Calendar Girls" is dedicated. And a similar 2004 calendar featuring the actresses in this film has been released as a further fund-raiser for charity. The DVD: Bonus features include two mini-documentaries and four deleted scenes. "The Naked Truth" is a 15-minute documentary about the real story behind the infamous calendar. It features interviews with the women who organized and graced the pages of the calendar and its photographer, following the calendar's story from its genesis to this film's premiere. "Creating the Calendar" is a 6-minute short about filming the nude scenes and photographing the calendar for the movie. Captions are available in English, subtitles in Spanish. And dubbing is available in French.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Talent
Review: Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, Mosquito Coast) is arguably the British equivalent to Meryl Streep. Based on a true story, this film never panders to the sappy or maudlin clichés that could have destroyed it. Instead, Director Nigel Cole (Saving Grace) creates an atmosphere of true friends bonding during a sad moment and turns it into a lovely, funny story that keeps growing, seeming like it might to spin out of control. These women, all considered well past their prime, pose 'nude' for a money raising calendar for the local hospital. It is done with the kind of taste and humor only the British can pull off. It is at times, touching and hilarious. In a time when older actresses can't seem to find work, this group of talented heavyweights show the experience and talent they have used for years. This is a wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: a smart, lovely comedy!!
Review: This movie is inspired by a true story where these middle aged women go in the nude posing for their calendar which becomes a huge success! I really loved this movie for its wonderful acting and it was hilarious!! The whole way I felt like cheering the women on! This movie made me laugh out loud and its a great change from some other funny movies that all they offer is bathroom jokes and other stupid humor. This is a one of a kind smart hilarious movie!!
| 
