Little Voice

A slightly twisted film about a brutally shy young lady (LV), an overbearing cliche come to life mother, a slime ball agent and (of course) a slightly odd, yet kind hero(?) figure played by none other than Ewen McGregor, Little Voice is well worth the rental fee.

This movie is absurd, dark, funny, dramatic and at times heart wrenching. A little compassion will get you a long way towards enjoying it. The roles are played very well by talented actors, engrossing you in their turbulent little world.

If you like your films off the wall, this is the movie for you. If you prefer only mainstream Hollywood stuff, stay away!

This is a wonderful film that showcases not only the music, but also a full roster of powerful performances. Every one is excellent, but it's the two most subtle of them all that steal the show.

Jane Horrocks has proven that she can be so much more than Bubbles, the airheaded secretary from AbFab. She's more than a match for every other powerful actor on the screen, and considering her co-stars that's quite an accomplishment. Her chemistry with the wonderful Ewan McGregor is remarkable; the story of their characters could have made a gentle, beautiful love story on its own, but as it is, their attraction gives hope for both of these gentle, quiet characters. I would've liked to see more attention paid to McGregor's character, but that could simply be because where McGregor is concerned, there can't really ever be enough.

Michael Caine is deserving of his Golden Globe. Showy as his role undeniably is, he never pushes it too far. This performance is another example of his versatility and his formidable onstage presence.

Brenda Blethyn has become one of my favourite actors since I saw Secrets & Lies; here again, she's a wrecked mother who lives in a dream world, but with added layers of violence and neglect toward her only child. She can speak volumes with her thickly-shadowed black eyes and an omnipresent cigarette. We never get the full story on her relationship with her late husband, LV's beloved father, but the tension and the words unsaid are brought to a boil in a key scene between Blethyn and Horrocks.

Come Oscar time, it would be wonderful to see Little Voice get some recognition.

Little Voice is much more than simply a star vehicle for Jane Horrocks.

It is a very clever translation of a stage play to the screen, which preserves the theatricality of the original by deliberately cartoon-like design and construction of shot, and through calculatedly large acting performances. (Anyone who has seen Michael Caine's TV masterclass on film acting, which consisted largely of advice to reduce every effect to an absolute minimum, will be amused by the sheer scale of his performance in this movie.)

It is a very English movie, in that it shows something of the oppressive decay of an English seaside town. Scarborough is in fact one of the prettier Northern resorts, as some of the external shots in the movie show, but the buildings and interiors could have been shipped directly from the grottier parts of Blackpool. I could smell the rancid chip fat.

It is a fine demonstration of the power of popular songs. When LV sings "Over the Rainbow" in imitation of Judy Garland, anyone with any musical sense will be moved. As Noel Coward said, it's strange how potent cheap music can be.

Contrary to the impression given by some reviewers (doesn't anyone read film credits these days?), Jane Horrocks does not sing every number in the soundtrack. Listen to the original Shirley Bassey belting out "Goldfinger" as Michael Caine (Ray Say) sits in the betting shop punting precious money for LV's launch concert on some three-legged nag. Horrocks is brave to compete with the originals in this way, and she is far from shamed by the comparison.

Unfortunately, Little Voice has some annoying flaws. As in an English seaside postcard of the 1930s, fat people are funny. Why? Because they're fat. Pigs, actually. Roll on the movie where a tubby gets to belt out a Judy Garland torch song.

Horrocks is extraordinary, but all the other actors in the film turn in first rate performances. Jim Broadbent as the seedy nightclub owner and failed comic Mr Boo is brilliant - sad, hopeless and hilarious. Brenda Blethyn as the raucous tart and abusive mother Mari is repulsive and cruel, but also pathetic. Ms Blethyn's performances often annoy me, but to attain the heights of Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford - in a movie that is actually good - is quite an achievement. Michael Caine as clapped out agent Ray Say ranges from vulgarity to charm to vicious selfishness with utter conviction and apparently without effort. He cannot sing a note, but his raging punk rendition of Roy Orbison's "It's Over" reduced the nightclub audience in the movie, and the cinema audience at the Odeon West End, to jaw-dropping silence.

This movie is grand guignol crossed with a postcard by Eric Gill. It is "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" with great songs and North Yorkshire accents. And yes, Horrock's impressions are wonderful. Little Voice is not just a star vehicle, but she surely is a star.

Summary:

This is the story of a painfully shy girl who takes comfort escaping the harsh world of her overbearing mother by enclosing herself in a world of music. The peace she finds while playing her late father's records is the only world she's at home in. She sings the songs to her father's memory with an unbelievable ability to capture not just the voices of artists such as Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, and Marilyn Monroe but also the tone, the passion and the quality that made them legends. This ability is overheard by a talent agent who sees fortune in her voice. He tries to rip her out of her private world and force her into the terrifying spot light.

My Opinion:

I watched this film and was amazed. The characters of LV (Jane Horrocks) and Billy (Ewan McGregor) are just so adorable that you love them from the moment they are on screen. The performances of all the supporting players are good but the performance of Jane Horrocks is amazing. It's the kind of performance awards were created to celebrate, but got no where near the kind of recognition it deserved. Hardly saying anything throughout the first part of the film she communicates so much through her eyes and expressions. Then when she sings she does not just 'mimic' the voices of legends but proves she is a legend in her own right.

Jane Horrocks! wow - I had no idea that she is such a tremendous mimic. I was slightly intoxicated whilst watching this film, and assumed that they were using the extracted original vocals of singers such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland etc. I was gob-smacked when the closing title said 'Jane Horrocks performed all her own songs'. Christ on crutches.. to call her gift 'a talent' is a travesty. Anyway.. about the film. The acting is mostly excellent (apart from LV's mother who goes right over the top in parts.. although she does manage to make you cringe and really feel her desperation). Michael Caine plays a great dirty minded but likable agent character (the man's a god - watch 'Get Carter'). I felt genuinely sorry for LV - a sweet and agonisingly introverted girl with an amazing ability to mimic other singers. Thank god Jane Horrocks isn't as shy as the character that she portrays in this film - it would be such a shame if her gift had never been exposed this way.