I Am Woman

Greetings again from the darkness. Does penning and recording a feminist anthem warrant a film biopic? Well, when the singer is Helen Reddy and the song is "I Am Woman", the answer is a resounding yes. This is director Unjoo Moon's first narrative feature film, and she is working with a script from Emma Jensen (MARY SHELLEY, 2017). As with any biopic, its effectiveness comes down to the lead performance. Here, Tilda Cobham-Hervey is both strong and invincible as Ms. Reddy.

We first see a wide-eyed Helen Reddy walking through New York City clutching the hand of her very young daughter Traci after arriving from Australia in 1966. She's in pursuit of a recording contract, but instead ends up singing at a mostly empty nightclub and living in a roach-infested rundown hotel. It takes almost no time for her to experience multiple instances of sexism and chauvinism. With no prospects for a better life, Helen meets up with fellow ex-pat Lilian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald, PATTI CAKE$, 2017), a journalist who shows her the town and offers her friendship.

Lilian throws a party for Helen, and after locking eyes across the room, Helen meets Jeff Wald (Evan Peters, "American Horror Story"), an up and coming agent at William Morris. By 1968, Wald has convinced Helen that Los Angeles is the place to kick off her singing career, and along with Traci, they move into a beautiful home and fill it with typical California dreaming. Jeff's managing career starts to build, and Helen gets frustrated at his lack of attention to her career. There are some funny comparisons of Deep Purple, Tiny Tim, and Helen's singing styles, but finally Capitol Records gives her a shot at recording a single.

Helen's career takes off, as does her friend Lilian's, who becomes the 'Mother of Rock' with her Rock 'n Roll Encyclopedia, and subsequent reviews and articles. In fact, Ms. Roxon deserves a biopic or documentary highlighting her influence on rock journalism. As Helen puts out hit records, her husband Jeff is managing many successful acts. Money is pouring in (and out) and in contrast to Helen's common sense manner, Jeff partakes of drugs and alcohol to extremes. Of course, the key component of Helen's career and the movie is in regards to her writing the title song ... a song that the skeptical executives of Capitol Records said made her sound "too angry".

It was Lilian who introduced the women's movement to Helen, but Helen was inherently ambitious and strong-willed ... it ended up being the perfect match. Reddy supported the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), even as Phyllis Schlafly fought hard against it. Helen's 1972 song "I Am Woman" became a huge hit, and later the anthem for a movement. But Helen Reddy's story isn't all rainbows and unicorns, and despite a dose of clichés, and some overacting on the part of Peters, the movie does an admirable job showing how she reacted to the challenges.

Director Moon's husband Dion Beebe (Oscar winner for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, 2005) is the cinematographer, and he does nice work with the stage performances, as well as the more intimate moments. However, it's Ms. Cobham-Hervey who stands out. I've only previously seen her in HOTEL MUMBAI (2018), and she captures the determination and charisma of Helen Reddy. We see her strength as she instills life lessons in her kids, and goes toe-to-toe with her husband. It's an impressive performance.

The movie shows us Helen's 1982 Las Vegas act, and we hear most, if not all, of her hits, "Delta Dawn", "Leave Me Alone" (actually a pretty annoying song), "You and Me Against the World", "Angie Baby", and obviously, "I Am Woman". Later, in 1989, we see a grown up Traci talk her retired mother into performing her most famous song at the Washington DC rally of the National Organization of Women. It's quite a moment that encapsulates the empowerment that Helen Reddy devoted her life to. The movie doesn't go there, but it's unfortunate that Ms. Reddy has been afflicted with dementia since 2015. Like all great artists, her work will survive her.

My Review- Netflix. "I Am Woman." My Rating 7/10

I remember seeing Helen Reddy perform at The Hodern Pavillion in Sydney and the billing was Helen Reddy October 4, 1975 Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, AUS (supported by Peter Allen) Helen was a huge star in America after a very bumpy start in Los Angeles thinking the she had prize won on Brian Henderson's Bandstand included an American recording contract. Helen had just won The Starflight International Contest but arrived in America and the Recording Executives didn't want to know her at first. At that Sydney Concert Helen Reddy had a triumphant return to her native country and Peter Allen was just gaining popular success ,what a great show that night in Sydney with two great performances on stage. In those days Australia unlike today was more isolated from the entertainment media frenzy we have today and Helen Reddy's great success wasn't really appreciated apart from her Anthem for Women's Equality the title of this Biopic "I Am Woman." In 1974, at the inaugural American Music Awards, Helen won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. In television, she was the first Australian to host a one-hour weekly primetime variety show on an American network, along with specials that were seen in more than 40 countries. This movie's screenplay by Emma Jensen drew from Helen Reddy's auto-biography 'The Woman I Am: A Memoir' (2005). The film was made and first released just under fifteen year's after its first publication. It was intended for Cinema release but due to COVID 19 had its Netflix premiere today and it's a very entertaining and well directed debut movie for Unjoo Moon . Director Unjoo Moon was awarded the Athena Breakthrough Award for this picture at the 2020 Athena Film Festival in New York City. The best thing for me in this familiar "Star Is Born" type scenario of girl singer eclipsing her husbands talent and success is Tilda Cobram-Hervey . She was very impressive in Hotel Mumbai 2018) and she is much more impressive in "I Am Woman." especially capturing so well the unique tone of Helen Reddy's voice and also the look and character of this strong woman ,who changed the history of Women's Liberation by writing such a historic song with collaborator Ray Burton. "I Am Woman" was the first number one single for Capitol Records since "Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry five years earlier, in 1967. It was the first number one hit on the Billboard chart by an Australian-born artist and the first Australian-penned song to win a Grammy Award (in her acceptance speech for Best Female Performance, Reddy thanked "God, because Shemakes everything possible"). It also became the second Helen Reddy hit - after "I Don't Know How to Love Him" - to peak at number 2 in Australia. Tilda Cobram-Hervey certainly deserves all the critical praise she has received for her performance as Helen Reddy. Tilda was named by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the breakout stars of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for her role in this movie. Helen Reddy's husband Jeff Wald played well by Evan Peters is not a sympathetic character and his addictions included gambling and substance abuse so I was pleased to see in the credits that he did find recovery from his vices. It's an entertaining and well done film and worth a look to appreciate another example of the talent our nation has produced .

The first thing I saw was Tilda's eyes, they are a match for Sandra Bullock, in every way. Now to the nitty gritty.

I enjoyed the watch, especially as I only became aware of it very recently. One can be critical, I won't. To view a current movie in the current pandemic times, is wonderful.

It is actually a good movie. I have no idea of Helen's history therefore, I cannot speak of it, all I know of is her songs, and that's enough. I presume that is the hook for the movie, and I was hooked.

I'm 97 years old so, I presume what I think anymore, no matters. What I think matters to me, and Helen Reddy mattered to me, and many others.

To coin a modern idiom, Nuff said.

My wife and I watched this at home on BD from our public library. We both grew up in the 1960s, we both are familiar with Helen Reddy and her music. But we never knew the backstory, her origins and the obstacles she encountered when she traveled from Australia to the USA to make a music career.

I find myself wondering how the younger (under 40) viewers react to this movie, we found it very interesting and a very worthwhile viewing. The acting is spot on and they found a young 20-something Australian singer to sing the Reddy songs.

Overall a very worthwhile movie.

I was a youngster living in Australia when Helen Reddy hit the scene and although she was kicking it in America she was proudly Australian and Australia was certainly proud to own her. I know her politics caused a huge stir and she was either loved or hated because of her politics. Either way she had presence and was a power house singer. Watch any you tube video and she commanded respect. None of this came across. I don't know Tilda's work but this felt far too big for her. Her build was tiny and lithe where as Helen Reddy was a strong looking solid woman. Check out her abs and broad shoulders on her performance 'I am Woman' on the Midnight special 1971. I wish I'd had abs like that and I'm a male! Also, Helen Reddy was a confident in your face singer and stared directly into the camera, often closing her eyes as she hit the soul part of the song. Tilda looked like she was timid and about to run off the stage, particularly when she sang in front of the crowd at the monument. So, nope. Her voice fell short too, reedy and lacking the force Helen Reddy was famous for. An unconvincing performance in my view. Helen Reddy did so much more than this movie showed and it's a shame her parts in movies and TV specials was left out. It only touched lightly on her politics so we never got to see her fierce avocation for women's rights. It was as if all she did was the songs and it wasn't.

This should have been a 2 or 3 part mini series or at least touched on other work on stage and screen. I felt a little cheated and to be honest, the story felt sanitised. No disrespect to to Tilda Cobham-Hervey who did her best. Unjoo Moon said she didn't know her before doing the movie, it showed.