Military Wives
3 stars
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Jason Flemying, Emma Lowndes, Lara Rossi, Gaby French
Duration: 112mins
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd
Based on real life events, Military Wives tells the very uplifting story of a group of disparate women living on an army base who, as their partners are on tour in Afghanistan, come together to form the very first military wives’ choir.
Friendships are formed, shoulders are cried on, emotions run as high as some notes, and differences of opinion lead to blow-ups, but as the choir tentatively sings its first notes, these amateur choristers find they are helping each other through some very difficult moments… and go on to become a media sensation as choirs are formed on bases in the UK and beyond.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan lead the ensemble, as respectively, Kate, who has already lost a son to the war; and Lisa, who has to contend with the difficulties of raising a teenage daughter while her husband is away. Despite living on the same base they barely know one another and appear to have little in common. The former is a reserved woman who bottles up her emotions and whose officious manner soon puts people’s backs up, the latter a more down-to-earth, if rather frazzled character. A clash is imminent as Lisa takes the organisation of the base’s social events from Kate.
Courageous women, some of whom have had to deal with tragedy head-on and yet carry on
Kate and Lisa’s relationship forms the backbone of the movie, as it evolves on the basis of their many differences and complete opposite ways of doing things. Lisa has a more easy-going attitude towards the women’s singing, while Kate’s teaching methods result in singing that is ‘joyless and in tune’. Initial forced politeness between them soon leads to acceptance and the lowering of barriers – despite some rather angry moments, and Scott Thomas and Horgan play wonderfully off each other in perfect harmony adding much spark to the proceedings; as between them they soon whip the budding singers into shape, much to the delight of base commander Crooks (Jason Flemying).
It is no great revelation to say that Military Wives breaks no ground in the telling of its familiar and feel-good tale, yet for all its predictability, it is chock-full of charm.
It boasts a winning combination of British stiff-upper-lip-ness, genuine emotions and some pretty hilarious moments to offset a couple of truly dark ones, as friendships are tentatively formed and as these women find common ground in the music that will melt the hardest of hearts... and to top it all, it has a toe-tapping soundtrack of some 1980s pop favourites to underscore it all.
Scott Thomas, Horgan and the extensive ensemble of characters – the singing revelation, the one who can’t carry a tune to save her life, the young widow, the footie fan – gel in a way that is infectious, and you can’t help but want to stand and cheer when the choir is given the chance to showcase their talents in front of an audience.
Kudos also to the ensemble to raise the film beyond a simple comedy drama. The script by Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn clearly, if unfussily, makes the point that life for these wives can be very tough – they often feel isolated, and suffer from a heady mix of boredom and anxiety as their partners are away, while they have to go through the minutiae of everyday life, and deal with their emotions in myriad ways.
In Kate, Lisa and the rest of the group are a gaggle of courageous women, some of whom have had to deal with tragedy head-on and yet carry on. As the film reaches its rousing climax it is not hard to appreciate why the Military Wives Choirs network has come to play a vital role in the lives of women in the military community together.
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