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Tonights selection was Little Voice.
The problem is I really need to watch the film again because I went in with preconceived notions about what I would be seeing.
The trailers for Little Voice make it look like a sweet little British slice of life comedy that Chappy knows I love so much. The previews show Brenda Blethyn being bawdy and laughing and Michael Caine dancing and waving from his convertable. It shows Ewan McGregor making goo goo eyes at Jane Hottocks from his cherry picker and most of all shows Jane Horrocks mimicking the great female singers of the 40's, 50's and early 60's flawlessly.
However , the trailers do not show how ugly and vicious Blethyn is to her daugter and just how "unwell" Horrocks is, or the extremely chilling and uncomfortable breakdown of Michael Caine onstage towards the end of the film.
I'm not saying I didn't like the film. The performances from all the main characters were excellent. The film was well directed. And most of all, the singing by Horrocks was stunning. I just feel that the trailers and ads for the film were misleading.
I was completely unprepared for how dark and mean spirited this film is in places. Throughout the film I kept expectingto like Caine and Blethyn because the previews portrayed them as a happy eccentric couple, and they just get uglier and nastier. By the end when Caine is slapping Horrock's around my jaw was agape.
Did anyone else have a similiar experience with this film, or am I completely loopy.
I wonder why the producers of Little Voice felt the need to mislead the public about this film?
My guess is... well, really, how do you truthfully sell a film like that? I assume they were trying to cash in on the audience goodwill generated by "Full Monty", "Brassed Off" and their ilk. Sadly, the box office for "LV" was rather bleak, so, while they may have grabbed an initial audience the word of mouth soon spread that it is not at all the pleasant, wee amusement the trailer painted it to be. It's very sad, films like this are rarely made these days and when a botched advertising campaign fails to generate much interest, the chances of it being financed again are slim. Having said that though, it was somewhat of a hit here in OZ, but looking at our "comedies" you can see we like a touch of darkness and despair to them.
By the way, how Micheal Caine didn't get some kind of Oscar nomination for that flick is beyond me. His best work in many a year.
| Thingummy on Little Voice June 16/99 |
Christ, I saw this ages ago now. I can't remember how much, but I do remember not enjoying it as much as I had hoped. I felt as though I was forcing myself to laugh at some bits, just so I agreed with the critics.
I'm not entirely sure about the "Fully Monty" cash-in bit. I honestly thought ther ver Monty was a lot more realistic, whereas LV was more grounded in realms of fantasy.
LV was also written as a stage play before FM ever gestated.
However, I do agree it was dark. There didn't really seem to be any kind of hope in the ending, and the closing shot smacked of tokenism to me. I do remember being somewhat buoyed by LV's "explosion" at mari towards the end however.
One thing I must say, though - WHY DOES NOBODY MENTION JIM BROADBENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS FILM? I thought the man was absolutely class, and had a realistic shot at Best Supporting Actor.