Calendar Girls (2003)

“Lawrence, we’re going to need considerably bigger buns.” – Chris

Number of Times Seen – Twice (22 Apr 2008 and 6 Dec 2020)

Brief Synopsis – After the husband of a women’s auxiliary in a small town gets sick, his wife and her friends decide to produce a calendar featuring them in the nude in order to raise money for the cause.

My Take on it – This is a movie that I saw years ago and recalled it being enjoyable, but I didn’t quite remember much besides the overall premise.

This is a film that has a great premise and is able to work on numerous levels as the story unfolds.

The fact that this is based on real events helps make things much more powerful and realistic because we can believe everything that happens so much easier.

The film has a great cast who make things feel so much more realistic the whole way through.

Julie Walters and Helen Mirren are both superb in the lead roles and really shine through in their characters especially given their down to Earth feel throughout.

They manage to develop all of these character in nice ways which help make each individual character’s story feel even more relatable to the viewer.

The movie has some very heavy dramatic scenes, but they pepper in lots of humor along the way which lightens the mood every so often.

The run time reaches almost two hours and is a bit too long for its own good, because a few scenes along the way drag along a bit too much.

Had they trimmed things a bit, it would have been much more powerful in its message.

Love the way that they chose to keep this story as tasteful as possible given the fact that they could have easily gone in the opposite direction.

This actually works to the film’s credit and makes things more enjoyable and fun to watch as things progress.

Bottom Line – Such a fun film that works on numerous levels, The premise is great and the fact that it’s based on a true event helps make things even more powerful and engaging to watch. The cast is great and Walters and Mirren both shine in the lead roles. The characters are developed well and the down to Earth feel of these characters helps make things feel more relatable throughout. The drama of this story is peppered with bits of humor that help lower the heaviness of certain scenes. The film is a it too long and would have been even better if they had trimmed it a bit. The choice to keep things as tasteful as possible also works to this film’s advantage and helps make things more enjoyable to watch. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – During the making of this movie, Dame Helen Mirren’s brother was dying of cancer. She was given the news he had died on the day they came to film the funeral scenes. Her tears and grief are real. (From IMDB)

Rating –Globe Worthy (8/10)