An indigenous Aboriginal girl group performing in some shanty town in the Australian outback are spotted by a washed-out Irish pianist down on his luck who perceives that the girls are talented and could be his ticket out of there. Not by singing their dreary country music at which they are addicted too, but by becoming soul sisters. It is the 1960’s after all and they are (almost?) black.
They get themselves a gig touring US Military Bases in Vietnam where these young country girls dodge a few bombs, find themselves, and discover true love can be just as hazard as working in a war zone.
This highly enjoyable crowd-pleaser of a movie is just like an Aussie ‘Dreamgirls’. Except the girls aren’t quite so black, or can sing quite so well, or are even as glamorous, and rather than going off to Miami to see their fame and fortune, they settle for a few dive bars in Saigon. But the lead singer does get demoted to back-up girl, and she does fall in love with the Manager ….so the similarities are definitely there. There is a darker side to the story as racism is rife and the girls and their families are still forced to suffer the bigotry and oppression that was so prevalent from white Australians.
Chris O’Dowd (currently in TV’s ‘Girls’) is wonderfully perfect as the Manager (and he really is Irish too), and the four girls, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell may not be scene stealing Jennifer Hudson, but they are great fun to watch and listen too. And there is that wonderful foot-tapping music that you have to sing along too. Well, I did!
I often complain that I never find enough light-entertainment that I really enjoy and actually watch to the end …. but here’s one that really did put a big grin on my face. Its now out in theaters in the US (and also in DVD in the UK ) so look out for it. It is great FUN!
★★★★★★★★★
Labels: Australian, comedy. drama, musical
