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 2003 PG-13 / Comedy Drama Directed by: Starring: |
- They dropped everything for a good cause.
Summary Capsule
- Nice British ladies raise funds for cancer research and a new sofa. Chaos ensues.
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Sue's Rating: I shall never be able to look pastry in the face again.
Sue's Review: Based on a true story (and it's so worth watching the extra features on the DVD), Calendar Girls is a charming British film about... uhm... well... look, don't get all sqeamish on me now, okay? I mean, I know most of you guys like horror and violence and spouting blood and really naughty words and all that stuff. Even in movies. But you can handle this. I promise. Be strong. For me.
Calendar Girls is a charming British film about a group of small town, advanced middle-aged ladies belonging to the local chapter of the Women's Institute Organization (WI) who decide to create and sell a calendar to raise money for the cancer ward of their local hospital. Well that's not so bad, you say. What sort of calendar? Views of picturesque churches? Scenic cows? Small fluffy infant mammals? No, I say to you. These ladies, in the fullest possible bloom of their lives before compost, pose nude. Not naked, mind you. Nude. Naked is smut. Nude is art.
They're not brazen hussies, nor are they retirees from the trade of negotiable affection. They're homemakers and shopkeepers, moms and wives. Most of them are as squicked about the idea of taking it all off as many of you undoubtedly are at the thought of them... well, taking it all off. They're also realistic enough to believe that just the novelty of the idea should sell enough calendars to raise the cash for a new sofa for the cancer ward's waiting room. It's also a chance for them demonstrate (beyond a shadow of any doubt!) their support and friendship for one of their own who has recently and tragically had to spend a great deal of time on the old uncomfortable couch that the waiting room currently offers.
It's actually very noble, insofar as airing out one's personal... private... doodads can be noble.
Maybe that's what I like the most about Calendar Girls. Not the doodads of course, but the friendships. Aside from Kyle, I don't know if I have any friends who would take it all off for a fund-raiser in my behalf. (Like Kyle needs an excuse anyway?) But I do have friends who have seen me through some pretty awful moments and episodes for no better reason than that they are my friends. These are the people in my life who might not commit the crime, but would certainly help me dispose of the body. Uhm, metaphorically speaking, of course.
In return, maybe I wouldn't bare all, but I bet I'd... well, I'd go to a Barry Manilow concert. That's what I'd do. That's the sort of person I am. I'd... I'd even sing along very quietly to Copacabana. I would! That's what true friendship is all about.
In any case, the proposed project runs into a tremendous amount of resistance from the local WI leader, a few dubious relatives and... well, when you get right down to it, from the subjects themselves. I mean, it's all great talking about it and planning backdrops, but when it's time for the bathrobe to hit the linoleum... well dang! It's a priceless and funny and wonderful process because there are few folks out there (excepting the aforementioned Kyle) who can't cringe and cower right along with our heroines at the situation they've gotten themselves into.
In fact, since the story is lifted (with admitted plot liberties) from a real event, it's almost impossible not to sympathize with, relate to, and cheer for the characters involved.
Better yet, even though I'd classify this as a story that appeals more to those of the female persuasion, there has not been one documented case of a human male having to tear his own eyeballs out during a viewing of this movie. Not one!
Calendar Girls is proof positive that a movie can be brilliant and enjoyable without having a big budget, rampant violence, space battles or serial-nookie. It's refreshing to see that the feat is still possible. It's well worth watching!
 So then PoolMan said he'd pose and...
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- The fascinating world of broccoli. Oooooh!
- The setting for the movie was absolutely gorgeous. I want to live there.
- GREYHOUND! There's a GREYHOUND! WOOHOO!
- The piano player rules.
- Anthrax? As in... heavy metal Anthrax?
- It took me a minute to realize that "orah-gahhhhn-o" actually meant oregano. Stupid language barrier!
- Did I mention that greyhounds make excellent pets?
- Intrigue at the country fair. Prize winning sponge cake or clever forgery? Film at eleven.
- Why not adopt a greyhound today?
- The photographer might have worked cheap but I bet his therapy bills were through the roof.
- Pastries.... the pastries aren't big enough... oh dear.
- The difference between naked and nude.
- Keyhole photography.
- I have two greyhounds. They are my friends.
- Possibly not a big news day in Great Britain. Hence the paparazzi.
- The rant at the airport was classic.
- No bra strap marks. They thought of everything!
- Tai Chi in the Yorkshire countryside. Strange, but nice.
Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?
Depends if you liked the movie or not. If you did, then definitely.
Unnecessary Background
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The calendar project began after John Baker, an Assistant National Park Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the husband of WI member Angela Baker, lost his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1998 at the age of 54. After being diagnosed, Mr. Baker planted several sunflowers and gave them to friends and family in the hopes that he would recover by the time they bloomed. Sadly, he passed away, but the sunflower theme was carried throughout the calendars.
The calendar was released in April of 1999. By that December, its sale had raised more than $550,000 for leukemia/lymphoma research.
Groovy Quotes
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Annie: You baked that?
Chris: I'm not a total dead loss as a woman. I can't knit or make plum jam, but I can bake a bloody Victoria Sponge.
Annie: Okay. Thank you.
Chris: Course, I didn't actually bake this one. I got it at Marks and Spencer, but the point is...
Marie: She's here to introduce us to the fascinating world of rugs-
[secretary whispers to her]
Marie: My apologies Iris, I stand corrected. It's not just rugs, it is in fact, all forms of carpeting.
Chris: Oh, thank God. For a moment I thought it was going to be dull.
Gaz: It's a difficult age. About now, women go through a difficult age. They become all irrational and odd and difficult to predict.
Jem Harper: How do you know?
Gaz: Me dad told me.
Annie: Of course, we're not going to go round parading ourselves in a room full of men. This isn't... France, for God's sake!
Chris: Lawrence, we're going to need considerably bigger buns.
Annie: Your son's been arrested.
Chris: Yes I know. And released, Annie, with ten grams of oregano. The only thing that'd be dangerous in is a quiche.
Annie: But he thought it was drugs, Chris.
Chris: How's Jem?
Rod: He made a quiche on Tuesday. We've been stoned ever since.
Cora: Annie, I am 55 years old. If I'm not gonna get them out now, when am I?
Richard (reading the paper during breakfast): You're nude in The Telegraph, dear. Can you pass the bacon?
Chris: We thought if glamour photographers can do it on a beach in Bangkok we can do it in a church hall near Skipton.
End Note: To date, the Calendar Girls have raised over £578,000. This has paid for a new leukaemia unit at the local hospital. And a sofa.
DVD Review
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Excellent interviews with the real Calendar Girls!
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This review page was last updated on 10.3.06
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