The Sapphires

source: The Sapphires

I attempted to see The Sapphires back in October but an over-subscribed screening forced me into the shoddy, tedious Premium Rush. And then it pretty much disappeared without trace. After so much hype in the press and numerous freebie screenings for the public, it's a pity The Sapphires wasn't able to build on that publicity but, having finally caught it, it's not at all surprising. Pitched to cinema-goers who look for light entertainment rather than an education or emotional mauling, it was mentioned in the same breath as The Full Monty and even the sadly overlooked Kinky Boots. However, it's a very long way from the quality or magic of the former and is even in the shadow of the latter. Wayne Blair's feature directorial debut is the story of four Aboriginal girls who sing together, bicker and wind up in Vietnam, in 1968, singing for the American troops, managed and escorted by the frequently inebriated Dave (Chris O'Dowd). And that's pretty much it. There's a vague subplot about being ashamed of one's skin colour and a shy swipe at the white government of the time who took pale skinned Aboriginal children from their parents and placed them with white families to, um, whiten them, but it's barely worth bothering with here and was dealt with far better in last year's passable Oranges and Sunshine. One can't help feeling that if Blair had the balls to hit us really hard with the truth and punctuate it with the beautiful sounds of the music, he'd have a film that left its audience not knowing whether to cry with joy or horror and appreciating the power of both ends of the emotional scale. Instead he presents a mostly cheerful but ultimately bland waste of an evening. Remove the singing and The Sapphires is an awkward, stilted, obvious and insipid film that is occasionally spiced up by some god-awful overacting – just wait for the moment the girls emerge from a Vietnamese bar and screech on the street for all the evidence you need. The principals generally work well together as an ensemble and, for the most part, are enjoyable. O'Dowd, largely known from The IT Crowd, holds the film together and is engaging and funny with a hint of depth to him but he, like the others, is ill-served by and shallow screenplay and nowhere to go. Blair seems lost and relies too often on montages to propel a story he is unable to tell with pace, depth or real emotion. However, The Sapphires sing and it is worth spending the 103-minute running time in their company, though perhaps with a finger on the fast forward button. Better still, listen to the soundtrack and look at some photos of them. For more reviews from The Squiss subscribe to my blog at www.thesquiss.co.uk Like the Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/RpitOG

This movie is so real. I grew up in west NSW in a white family with a father who couldn't stand "blacks"! He owned a pub called the Globe! He raised his family in a predominantly "black" town. His best friends were Mr & Mrs White, ironically Mrs White was "black" but was never allowed to admit it. Mrs White committed suicide when she was 48. When dad died he had 6 "black" grand kids and 11 "black" great grand kids. He didn't mellow. He caused so much sadness and rejected so much love. Thanks for bringing to the world a taste of the cultural richness that constitutes Australia. I sing, cry, laugh, cry and sing from shame, pride and pleasure every time I watch The Sapphires. Another brilliant Australian film. Thank you.

"Even with Australian soul music The Sapphires fails to make an impression because it's character do seem well rounded" The Sapphires is based on real life. The story is about a girl group which includes Gail (Deborah Mailman), Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) who sing in and Australia singing competition but when they fail to win. They then meet Dave (Chris O'Dowd) who decides to work with the girls as they want to go to sing for the troops in Vietnam. The film set in 1968 deals with racial problems as well as inner fighting between women like these in a girl group. When the group get to their destination they try to fight for fame through their singing. The music of this film is a great mix of soul songs of the time that the women sing and make their own. The movie when it has the chance goes for the comedy and that was a major problem because the characters were so bad only making up for it with their impressive voices. The actor's try to make the most of the material but the passion through soul is not there and when they fight I could not help but laugh even though I feel they wanted it to stay more dramatic. The film was very boring until the girls went to the war country and sure it did improve by a small amount but it still did not make me care for the film overall. Chris O'Dowd the most known person in the film is trying to continue with his breakout character in 2011's "Bridesmaids" but unlike that cop this man was hard to watch. Chris is playing the same character but worse because at times like the girls in the group I could not help but roll my eyes up to the celling. Deborah Mailman plays Gail the sister who causes the most trouble in the group. The character is very unlikeable and the fact the writing led to her and Dave starting a relationship just felt wrong because they always clashed throughout. Even when we hear about her past it still did not make me enjoy the character more. Miranda Tapsell plays the only good thing about the film because she is just an outrages funny women. She nails some of her one liners but still with every other character she just was not well thought out. The film handled music well but the surrounding story was just bad to me. The cat fighting did not work well unlike other movies like this and it was a main plot making the film even harder to watch. MOVIE GRADE: E+ (MVP: Miranda Tapsell)

How fabulous to see a film that doesn't pretend to be anything other than a wonderful piece of entertainment . The Sapphires is honest, fresh and fun. Although the script is patchy in some areas, it is is definitely overshadowed by the music and the performances. The issues facing Aboriginal people in the 60's and which really haven't changed much today, are tackled in a way that is thoughtful and poignant. Some would argue that they are not forceful enough however that would have changed the whole premise of this movie and it just would not have worked. Chris O'Dowd as the jaded Dave, is funny and so very human and proves he has what it takes to be a leading man. Deborah Mailman as Gail, again proves that she is one Australia's finest actresses, Miranda Tapsell is a delight as the cheeky and funny Cynthia while Shari Sebben as Kay is charming and sweet. Jessica Mauboy delivers a good performance as the youngster Julie, but it's when she belts out powerful and soulful renditions of soul classics that this movie goes soaring into a place where where your feet tap and your heart sings. Haven't had so much fun at the movies in ages and it's good to see an Australian film that doesn't try to be something it's not.

The Sapphires is about four Aboriginal girls who get a chance at the end of the Sixties to go entertain the troops as a singing group in Vietnam. The film is one of those sneaky ones - not brilliantly made, or brilliantly acted - but it really does entertain - and isn't that the point? Full of great soul music, some good laughs, some nods towards the Rights struggle, The Sapphires is above all big hearted and is always refreshingly straight forward about its objectives. It is, however, a huge plus in that it does have a positive message and a wonderfully different take from the usual patronising view of Aboriginal life. If you like music movies like The Commitments you will enjoy this - we both thought it was pretty entertaining and a fun way to spend an evening.

Slightly sanitized in the portrayal of our indigenous people, it nevertheless does an amazing job of being funny, edged with drama, has a great soundtrack and an excellent cast who gave it their all. I loved it. Jessica Mauboy was brilliant in her soul singing, and I was thigh slapping away with a lot of the songs from the period, plus some new material that has me dead keen to buy the soundtrack. Miranda Tapsell had the best lines in a sharp script that she delivered brilliantly. The ending shows the real group it was based on, finishing on a high note. The inclusion of the black and white actuality footage added to the drama and the quality between the new footage and the old was significant.

How refreshing to see a movie starring aboriginal girls, who aren't portrayed as drunken, drug taking hopeless cases. I'm not denigrating those films—some are world-class—but its wonderful to skip out of a movie that shines with positivity telling a unique aboriginal story. The four girls who play The Sapphires are real gems (excuse the pun). Deborah Mailman as the tough-nosed big sister is a true talent and, of course, Jessica Mauboy fans will enjoy her fabulous voice and she can really act too. All the minor actors are a treat. Chris O'Dowd, most famous for his recent hit "Bridesmaids" has chemistry but he seems to portray the same character in every film. Time for him to move on to a psychopath before he is typecast. Please go see this and support quality Australian cinema. This one is very deserved of your dollar.

Oh dear.... I had high hopes for this movie, after hearing of it's reception at Cannes.... but what a let down. The cast are passable, Chris O'Dowd always makes me laugh, and Jessica Mauboy certainly shows she can hold a tune. The soundtrack is also very good. The writing and story however, are just awful. The clichés and stereotyping made it feel like one massive dose of deja vu. The movie seems to want to stuff as many 'issues' as possible into the story. Subsequently none of them are dealt with satisfyingly, with most appearing to be almost 'tacked on' to the story. The script is very poor..... Some of the lines are just toe-curlingly bad. I don't know much about the events on which this movie was based, but they had to be more interesting than the story I watched tonight....

It's easy to be cynical about this film -- yes the plot is a little clunky and some of the lines are cheesy. But it is a hugely enjoyable movie, with lots of good points. The four girl actors are all great and they don't over-play their parts. When the girls arrive in Vietnam you get a sense of how very young and wide-eyed they are, despite their wisecracks. Chris O'Dowd as the Irish manager is hilarious, although he doesn't venture far from his character on Bridesmaids, or TV's IT Crowd -- that is, the bumbling but endearing Irish sweetie. The music and costumes are fantastic and the cinematography is lovely. I loved how Aborigines were portrayed as being strong and loving, and how many Aborigines have white as well as black blood, and struggle to straddle both cultures. The film provides a slightly sanitised, but still worthwhile, picture of an interesting time in Australian, and world, history.