Calendar Girls

  Plot Summary

Chris (Helen Mirren) and Annie (Julie Walters) are members of the local Women's Institute. The two Yorkshire women attend the Institute's meetings but spend most of the time giggling at the back of the hall during boring talks about jam, flower arranging and broccoli! When Annie's beloved husband, John (John Alderton), die's of leukaemia the idea of producing a calendar to raise money for leukaemia charities is born. Instead of having "nice" pictures of the Yorkshire countryside, Chris comes up with the idea of doing a nude calendar. While most of the members of the Women's Institute are shocked at the idea of middle-aged ladies baring all, some, in spite of their inhibitions, volunteer.

Review

This comic story is based on the real-life Yorkshire women who gained celebrity status when they produced a nude calendar. Each month pictured one of the middle-aged ladies going about their everyday tasks of gardening, cooking, knitting etc. The only thing unusual is that they were pictured in the nude.

It's a funny story and this film tells it in an enjoyable, entertaining way with plenty of laughs. The idea of the women posing nude is funny in itself and there are plenty of laughs as the volunteers plan the project. It's a lot easier to say you are going to do something that actually doing it!  Especially when it involves taking your clothes off! The women are embarrassed and inhibited but their camaraderie encourages them to go ahead and do it. The cast bring an old-fashioned charm to the movie and all the "nude" scenes are all very discreet! The ladies are eager to stress that they are doing a 'nude calendar' not a 'naked calendar'.  The difference, they explain, is that nude is "art".

There is an underlying sorrow in the film as the idea for the calendar started from the death of one of the woman's husbands. Julie Walters plays the grieving widow and the calendar is a welcome distraction but below the surface she is heartbroken. Her friend Chris (Helen Mirren) is the driving force behind the calendar. Helen Mirren gets to deliver a lot of the laughs and looks like she enjoyed the part.

There is a solid cast in this film and you get the feeling from the beginning that while it might be a simple story it is going to be entertaining.

Bottom Line: A straightforward funny story that's well told and acted.

Reviewed by Niall Quinn, Premier Movie Reviews 2003

Genre: Comedy drama

Certificate: 12's

Director: Nigel Cole

~ Main Cast ~

Julie Walters

Helen Mirren

Penelope Wilton

Annette Crosbie

Celia Imrie

John Alderton

RATING

WORTH A WATCH