MILITARY WIVES
***
Dir: Peter Cattaneo (12A, 112 mins)
A formulaic feelgood drama that panders shamelessly to the heartstrings, anchored by two fantastic actors. Director Peter Cattaneo brought us The Full Monty years ago and here retreads similar territory – although instead of stripping miners, we have military wives. Based loosely on the true story of a group of women on a military base who found solace in singing whilst their husbands waged war abroad, and gained chart-topping success, this adds some friction to the mix. Kristin Scott Thomas plays chilly, stiff-upper-lip Kate, who’s lost her son in battle while her husband is still embroiled in the Afghanistan conflict. She, along with the other soldiers’ wives, wait for news of safe returns or tragedy for their loved ones. She chairs the social committee, a welcome distraction from the pressures of being a worried wife. This brings her up against Sharon Horgan’s less traditional Lisa, who thinks the women need strippers rather than boring social gatherings. They ultimately decide on a choir as the vehicle to bring all the wives together and the disparate group of women start to gradually coalesce, becoming passable harmonisers and friends. It inevitably leads to an opportunity to sing at a Festival Of Remembrance with predictable, shamefully manipulative results. Scott Thomas and Horgan manage to lift the proceedings with committed and adventurous performances that paper over some of the more cliché-ridden aspects of the script and its occasional clunky gear shifts. Horgan is particularly adroit at finding moments of caustic comedy, while Scott Thomas excels at brittle repression, and they bounce brilliantly off each other. Director Cattaneo keeps the crowdpleasing elements spinning, although some lurches from comedy to earnest drama are a little forced. Nothing about the film comes as a surprise as it relentlessly ticks emotional boxes, but the warmth is evident and inescapable. Do-re-mi.
Opens Mar 6
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