I recently saw a trailer for this and thought it looked quite charming. But here's what ol Ed in London had to say. Remember, this is just one person's opinion on the film. Yours could vary widely. Here ya go...
Last night i had the privilege of attending the opening Gala of the London Film Festival. The film they were showing was called Little Voice. I understand that you guys will actually see it on general release earlier than we British foke, so i thought I'd send you my review to give you something to look forward to. And I do mean look forward to.
Being a British film, you will probably be expecting something along the lines of 'The Full Monty', or knowing Ewan Mcgregor is in it , possibly 'Trainspotting'? Well, neither of these would be correct. Little Voice is the story of a girl, played by Jane Horricks who has a love for the great female singers of or time: Maralyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, etc. All she does all day is to sit, and listen to recordings of these artists, left to her by her belated father. Her mother is a total cow, and is a typical northern lady. Loud mouthed, brash, and totally apathetic to the needs of her daughter. She hated her husband, and ergo her daughter, as they share many of the same characteristics. Then, one day, her mother meets a showbizz guy by the name of Ray Say(Michael Caine), who, while getting off with the girl's mother downstairs, hears LV upstairs, singing. This girl can really sing. I mean we sat in the audience in absolute awe, as she sang during the film. She sounds exactly like all the stars mentioned above. i mean exactly. There was no sound track being used. This was, apparently her own voice. For a girl that most have never heard of(except perhaps maybe in the British version of Absolutely Fabulous where she plays bubble) it's quite an amazing achievement. Anyway, she then gets thrown onto the spotlight by this guy, and sings once to an audience, in memory of her father who she 'sees' in the audience. The next night, she won't do it,, and she returns to being this timid little character that wou ldn't say boo to a goose. Then, while everyone is out, there is an electrical fire, and it looks as if she will be trapped in her room, but the Ewan Mcgregor comes to save her, as the telephone installation guy, who had met her on a previous occasion, funnily enough while installing a telephone. Basically, the film ends with her standing up to her overly oppressive mother, and leaving the charred remains of her house to go and stay with Ewan, who loves pigeons.
That is about the best summary of the plot that I can give. It is far deeper than that, and I cannot convey the humour. Especially, as much of it is fairly British. However, this film was American funded, and is being distributed by Buana Vista, so it is somewhat tailored to the American Market. This film is seriously funny, but it is not as i say lik ethe full Monty. it's a more caring film, more sensative. One actually begins to empathise with the characters. It's also, therefore quite sad at times. Being such a short film, however, it is just the right length to hold you attention. Any longer, and it could be lost. Having said that, LV's voice would keep the audience firmly in their seats forever, i think. Especially, as this was in the newly refurbished 20k sound system Odeon, Leicester sq.
All i can say is that it was a bloody good evening. I met all the stars from the film. Unfortunately, it really wasn't the time or the place to ask Ewan any prequel questions, but one thing i can tell you about him is that he looked damned scruffy . Apparently the following morning(today) he is off somewhere shooting a new film, which sounds very British. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
call me Ed.
