|
Little Voice review
:. Director: Mark Herman
:. Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks
:. Running Time: 1:37
:. Year: 1998
:. Country: UK
|
If you were expecting the metamorphosis of a mousy girl with a knack for imitating singers to a beautiful siren, rest assured you will leave the theater disappointed. Very disappointed and sullen even, all due to Mark Herman Mark Herman's poor control and shameless overacting reminiscent of Jim Carreyas Ace Ventura.
This is the story of an impish young woman named L.V. (played by the talented Jane Horrocks) living with her whorish mother above the record store of her now deceased father. She spends her days alone, listening to her father's favorite female vocalists. Occasionally she sings too, and not only can she sing along, she sounds exactly like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Shirley Bassey and others. Her bitter, chain-smoking mother (disastrously overplayed by the usually convincing Brenda Blethyn) brings home a sleazy nightclub promoter (an equally wretched performance by Michael Caine), who of course hears her and convinces her mother that Little Voice is the key to the riches they have been cheated from all of their depraved lives. You get the picture. Once her performance is over, she wants nothing more to do with singing in public. The conspirators, however, plot their exploit. After her performance (which really is a treat to watch), the movie becomes more than a little ridiculous. What passed as a less than mediocre comedy suddenly becomes high drama, pitching vengeful mother against fed up daughter ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
But wait! Is there anything redeemable about this picture? We forgot to mention the quiet boy who has fallen for the shy girl, Ewan McGregor! If anyone can play a pasty faced pigeon lover it's our future young Obi, who has a unique gift for playing endearing losers. The performances of Jane Horrocks and wan McGregor constitute one shiny nickel in a pocket full of grimy pennies. Chalk up some more talented actors at the mercy of bad writing and bad directing.
Anji Milanovic
 Movie Reviews: British Films
read our Latest Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews since 2012
|
|
