Military Wives

I could relate to this film! The choir, the sisterhood, the deployments & all that entails. Most of all however much of a rubbish day you have is the day when you need the choir the most.

Inspired by true events this film is truly uplifting, funny and sad , a true must see

We all know the story. This should have been amazing. But it was very weak. It failed to find the real magic. It cut out Gareth. It didn't use the music. Instead it went for awful beret wearing, saluting with the wrong arm and cringing stereotypes. I was annoyingly disappointed with this. A tiny bit of humour but that was it. I felt nothing. And the climax was woeful. Watch it on a damp Sunday (or pandemic) but don't expect too much. Sorry.

Perhaps it is the concept of it all rather then the movie itself, a whole group of women ,that seem to have nothing much to do except worry about their men and wait for them, find ways to make time pass. I just could not grasp how old fashioned it all seemed. Do none of these women have jobs and interests and a life outside of their husbands work? Do the armed forces still work like this around the world, men working and women sitting at home knitting and singing...I guess the movie is cute but so outdated somehow.

Military Wives It's in the title, a movie about women, feelings and issues, no action, no car chase, no sex, no crime, so it is for a very niche audience and certainly not everyone's cup of tea. With that said, once you had got through the clunky beginning (20 minutes) where they were all just unnecessarily nasty to each other it developed into a fine movie. What was good Thankfully it did not descend into men bashing, this was very well done. Whilst there were some squirming moments, yes it was definitely a movie aimed at a specific audience it had much to say about the human condition. The issues gently introduced were those a community, commonality and a group pulling in the same direction for a specific end. The whole purpose of the choir was to inject purpose into lives that were cast adrift due to avarice. No wallowing in self pity here. The very real way grief and loss was handled on a practical level was brilliantly handled. What was more problematic The level of emotionality was unrelenting, unsurprising most people have to crack on with their lives. An over-sentimental score, this can drag the atmosphere down when many of situations were comedic. The element of privilege, class and rank creating an us and them situation as a catalyst for division in the opening part of the movie was badly handled. The women were just nasty to Kate for no reason other than they resented her existence. It was formulaic in its "forming-storming-norming-performing", I feel this format is a little stale and scriptwriters need to be more inventive. It was inferred that people deal with grief in different ways, agreed, but they inferred the intensity of grief that Kate felt was less than one of the other wives, this cannot be right regardless of the time since the bereavement. Overall this movie was not the gush of mush I was expecting. Many issues were tackled and the trailer did an injustice with the "Feelgood Movie of the Year" strapline. I enjoyed this movie after the first 20 minutes and Kirsten Scott Thomas did a fine job along with the rest of the cast

This film start with a woman "Kate" passing through from a bunch of military guard, and she buying thing from another woman "Lisa" at the grocery store scene! As turnout, this film is about Kate and Lisa setup a military choir to perform at the Royal Albert Hall! Entire film full of boring conversation, and overuse of the arguing at the choir practicing scene! Make the film unwatchable! Barely laughable scene is, Red kissing Lisa, and fell into the closet! Barely touching scene is, the military choir singing the song wrote by Lisa at the Royal Albert Hall! At the end, the military choir applaud by the audience after performing the song wrote by Lisa! At the very end, the military choir practicing another song "We Are Family"! Still have an article indicate the motto of the military choir is "Stronger Together"! That's it! Another disappointed film!

Pre the coronavirus cinema shutdown I saw Military Wives, and it is now streaming. I roughly knew the story with Gareth Malone, the title gives it away, but this is a spirited retelling by director Peter Cattaneo of how a war bound squadron's loved ones at home find ways to keep their spirits up. Kristin Scott Thomas is perfect as Kate, the very proper wife of Greg Wise's Colonel being checked in at the gate to the Garrison her husband is in charge of. You can never be too careful on military bases. When I watched Kristin in Only God Forgives she was a revelation. But Kate is her natural habitat, the top lady on base, and slightly put out that Sharon Horgan's Lisa will be running the wives activities as the Sergeant Major's wife, when their husbands (and wife!) are away. The pair are the ying and yang to each other. Lisa who runs the NAFFI store also has to deal with her daughter flexing her wings and testing the base boundaries. But India Ria Amarteifio's Frankie is still game to watch Rocky with her mother on nights in. They are a blast. But the activity ideas are fairly pedestrian fun for the girls. Coffee mornings, knitting and wine. Until Amy-James Kelly's Sarah suggests they start a choir. Only if it's pop music and not hymns adds Lisa. But can any of them sing? Apparently not according to Jason Flemyng, reaching for the headphones. But it doesn't matter as they are only having a laugh, while watching Kate and Lisa battle it out out front. And yet slowly the women come together, Kate and Lisa not so much, in the feel good film that adds a drop of everything to the mix; accent, colour and class. And all the while the wives are shopping at the NAFFI, they are praying that they don't get the call. At the forefront of every family's thoughts in the military. Here Kate provides sensitive support to one of the young girls, exploring her own heartbreak at the recent loss of her own son. Kate's method of handling her emotions is to buy off the tv shopping channels. Hilarious. I thought what was sad, and something I had never considered before with life on base, is that if you lose your serving partner, then you have to leave the base too. Given many couples probably don't actually have another home, this must be doubly hard for the bereaved. The film doesn't have that many surprises given we know it will end at the Royal Albert Hall, but script writers Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn take a gentle comedy route to get there. As well as the sadness there are moments of pure delight, when we find Jess, played by Gaby French, can actually sing. Well obviously she can, she's Welsh. You in the back just open your mouths. And even Lara Rossi's Ruby who is tone deaf gets a vocal classification, it's not soprano!, and a line of her own to sing. She's thrilled and everyone is included here. And when Lisa decides to write their own song for the Festival of Remembrance, using the actual lines from their letters, it is their personal emotions that are wrote bare. Apparently this was actually true and it was a touching idea. But there will be tears in the carpark before the first chorus is sung. A great fun watch from Kristin Scott Thomas & Sharon Horgan and a largely unknown cast to me having the best and worst of times.

This is ok. More like a tv drama. Very formulaic and characters are a bit one dimensional. So a bit disappointing but quite entertaining.

There are good parts to this film and the story is definitely one worth telling but it sadly doesn't quite hit the mark. However I did feel it maybe wasn't aimed at men, which may be the reason it wasn't for me. I felt it was just a bit dragged out as the story lacked some depth despite the subject matter and would have been a better film has it been a bit shorter. I felt myself thinking "come on, get on with it" a few times in the film. Also the film lacked much of a twist, there were a few but none were exactly major shocks and everything that happened was virtually telegraphed. It's worth a watch but don't have high hopes

Inspired by the real life Military Wives Choirs network (consisting of 75 choirs throughout the UK and overseas), Military Wives follows a group of women who're left behind on the home front while their partners serve in Afghanistan. Using the catharsis of music to help them cope with the absence of their partners, they found the very first military wives choir. Managed by Kate (Thomas) and Lisa (Horgan), two women who possess extremely conflicting personalities and objectives, the choir steadily acquires widespread media attention that will result in the formation of an influential movement. Cattaneo's film focuses on the kinship shared between these women, each of whom have their own burdens to bear in the face of such uncertain adversity. Much of the films strength comes from the sincerity of the performances, particularly leads Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, who clash repeatedly throughout the film. Tunnard and Flynn's screenplay strikes a perfect balance in tone, too. It accomplishes a combination of both humour and tragedy (which is perhaps one of the most difficult dichotomies to nail in screenwriting) in a way that never feels superficial, and although it is clear to see the echoes of where it is all going to go, it's difficult not to become invested in the journey. Military Wives is a heartfelt film that is both uplifting and emotional, with standout performances and a truly brilliant final song that brings the whole piece together wonderfully.