Little Voice

'Little Voice' is a simply made wonderful movie that revolves around LV, her mother Mari and her boyfriend Ray and Billy. LV spends most of her days in her room listening to old records of Bassey, Monroe and Garland. Her frustrated mother resents her attachment to music and spends her evenings partying and getting drunk. In the meantime, Billy, a young electrician, falls in love with LV. One day Mari brings along her new boyfriend Ray and Ray is introduced to LV. He discovers LV's singing gift and thus starts his obsession to make LV into a star. However, LV has other plans. 'Little Voice' boasts of a talented ensemble cast. Jane Horrocks breathes 'LV' as if she was born to play the part. The woman sure is an amazing singer. Brenda Blethyn, as the hateful frustrated mother is indeed...hateful. She's simply brilliant. Michael Caine as the selfish Ray Say is excellent. Ewan McGregor as Billy and Jim Broadbent as Boo are wonderful. 'Little Voice' also has some beautiful memorable scenes where the chemistry of the actors shine. The tender scenes between Billy and LV (as an innocent bond forms), between Ray and LV (where he tries to convince her to sing), the scene where LV sings on stage and the scenes with LV listening to her records are some of my favorites. Mark Herman's direction deserves full marks. Not a moment of this film drags on. It moves at a very fast pace and sticks to the main plot. What more can I say except: This is one of the finest comedy dramas that shouldn't be missed!

Highly Over-rated. Brenda Blethyn is virtually unwatchable. Ewan McGregor is not much better, neither is jane Horrocks (except when she's singing). Michale caine manages to salvage some dignity, but the film is the usual insult to the Bristish working class from the English film-making class.

An interestingly unusual British comedy, it is not very but funny but it is almost always amusing, despite a couple of silly, even if not dull, romances thrown in. The acting is the department in which the film scores best, with Jane Horrocks excellent as the title character, Michael Caine, who is hardly ever bad to have on hand, and Brenda Blethyn, who generally suits her character quite well, even if she does go a bit over-the-top at times. The rest of the characters played by the other actors are somewhat oddly developed, and it is all rather predictable fluff, but the way light and colour are distributed keeps the film rather fascinating, and it is definitely a good film, albeit not a great one.

This is a small and sweet movie. It is not perfect but it is worth watching. Brenda Blethyn's performance as an aggressive and self-centered mother is grating. But Jane Horrocks' performance as a shy, introverted young woman who has an extraordinary talent to sing in the style of famous singers is truly awesome. While watching the movie I assumed she was lip syncing because her range, from deep alto to high soprano was so great. If you are a musician or music lover, you should watch this tour de force of singing.

Waif-like LV(Jane Horrocks,a revelation!) is child-like,reclusive and almost catatonic,living under the thumb of her blustery,selfish and more-than-a-bit whorish mother(Brenda Blythyn,sucking up as much air as humanly possible). While mum is romancing(more like shagging)the local small-time promoter about town(Michael Caine,able to slip into yet another character with little effort),LV's rich,uncannily strong and facile voice catches his attention,and he sets about to use her talents to hit the big time. One who observes LV--a painfully shy girl who quietly,slowly mourns the death/absence of her father--knows that this course of action is going to be more ruinous than profitable somewhere down the line. Based on a somewhat obscure play written by Jim Cartwright--and penned with Horrocks and her brilliant vocal range in mind!--this movie,directed by Mark Herman,is a quiet little gem,not quite perfect,but packing enough charm to carry it easily. Ewan MacGreggor as LV's almost equally shy would-be-lover,Annette Badland as the near-mute hairstylist friend of LV's Mum and Jim Broadbent as an easily cowed local club owner add the right amount of plain,unforced depth that a charming,character-driven story needs. I saw this the first time as a free vid rent(love the perks of working in a video store!)eight years ago and decided to see this again and was charmed almost equally. Horrocks in particular is quite the find,both mousy and yet powerful,her prevalence over her problems,both internal and external are as rewarding as the talent she exhibits,watching this "litle" voice grow much bigger. A good movie that has become a GREAT cheap rent.

I was surprised at how much I liked Little Voice. It looks beautiful, with the photography striking and the scenery, lighting, costumes and locations equally so. The script has its funny and touching moments, and I liked how the story had sweet and subtle Cinderella-like undertones. The pace is also just fine, and Herman's direction compliments the film's strengths very well. In fact, my only complaints with Little Voice are its length, I feel it is too short, and sometimes in the film the working-class life is depicted a little too crudely. The acting is the film's biggest pro. Jane Horrocks is simply brilliant in the lead role, and she gets fantastic support from Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent and especially Michael Caine. Ewan McGregor is also very good and charming. In conclusion, an impressive little film made especially watchable by the big talent on show. 8/10 Bethany Cox

If, like me, you thought "Little Voice" sounded promising -- the story of an extremely timid young woman who can barely speak, but who has the remarkable ability to belt out, in private, standards in the styles of her favorite legendary singers -- then, like me, you might have been guilty of half-writing the plot out in your mind ahead of time. The premise is, of course, the stuff of show business fables -- the shy but talented person who blooms in the spotlight, using her talent to transform herself and express herself in ways that she can't otherwise. However, this movie refuses to go the fable route -- with, I think, less than satisfying results. I appreciate that the makers of this film have avoided the clichés of the genre. What I can't appreciate is what they've put in place of those clichés. "Little Voice" turns out to be a surprisingly sour film, one in which the main character, who's called "Little Voice" (LV for short), learns to express herself in spite of, and not because of, her talent. LV's attitude toward her gift is, and remains, totally passive; when she sings, she does so only for her dead father. A side plot involving a shy young man who keeps pigeons as pets and who befriends Little Voice holds out the promise that she'll find someone else to sing for, but the movie refuses to follow through. (Did the moviemakers think that would be too corny, too false?) The movie strives for a "realistically" upbeat ending; I don't think it's the one we want. It makes a hash of what has gone before, telling us that talent isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Why impress us with a glimpse of that talent, only to end up saying, in so many words, that it doesn't matter? Jane Horrocks (who, we're told, did all of her own singing) is smashing as Little Voice (she's so good, she almost gets away with a bizarre scene in which LV, facing a crisis, begins reciting lines from the close of a famous movie); Michael Caine is delightful -- until his last couple of scenes -- as the low-rent showbiz agent determined to bring Little Voice to the world. Brenda Blethyn is over the top as LV's overbearing mother; the character is written and played with all of the subtlety of a bazooka. (P.S. Yes, I knew that was Shirley Bassey singing the "Goldfinger" theme on the soundtrack.)

Have you ever been to karaoke and there's that one person who isn't drunk but still thinks she has the most fantastic voice in town—except she's pretty lousy but no one else seems to notice? If you belong to the rabble who have been sufficiently brainwashed into thinking that lady actually has a good voice, go ahead and rent Little Voice. I'm sure you'll love it, and think that Jane Horrocks is incredibly talented. For the rest of you, you'll probably do what I did when trying to get through this movie. It's a story about a young, very strange woman who listens to records of old singers incessantly to cope with her father's death and her mother's meanness. Then, she decides to sing along, and she sounds exactly like the original singers! So, when Michael Caine, a talent scout who's recently started dating her mother, Brenda Blethyn, hears Jane singing, he decides to start promoting her in nightclubs. The only problem is, Jane is that woman at the karaoke bar who thinks she's much better than she is! She doesn't sound like Judy Garland or Marilyn Monroe—but the audience is supposed to think she does. Not only is the entire point of the film completely lost to any audience member with ears, but Jane's character is obnoxious and impossible to root for. I couldn't stand it—I turned this film off.

Spoilers herein. Some good old fashioned performances here. Rather concocted story, but we never mind. I suggest you see this first, then immediately see `Moulin Rouge.' They really fit together so well that it seems manifest destiny. Watching this way turns this film into a self-referential study on why actors do what they do, how songs serve as stereotypical characters, and what performance is,

Mark Herman's follow-up to 'Brassed Off' is another affectionate look at working class English life, although without that film's heart and anger. Instead, it's largely an opportunity for a gallery of British acting talent to enjoy themselves, with Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn all outrageous in their roles. Surprisingly, Jane Horrocks, the ostensible star, has a smaller role than might have been expected, although it's hard to think of anyone else who could have pulled off the part. 'Little Voice' is not entirely coherent, a fairy tale without the ending, but it is wholly distinctive and in places very funny. One of a kind.