Annie-Mary à la folie!

I'm a big fan of Rachel Griffiths work both in films and TV. Originally from Australia, she has mastered roles as an American, and now Welsh. I found her character in this film a delight, and was entertained from beginning to end. If you liked Waking Ned Devine, The Full Monty or Brassed Off, you should find and see this film.

This film is superb. It's bonkers, realistic and fabulously fresh. It doesn't fit in with any common genre and really makes one feel a part of this bizarre Welsh community portrayed in the film.

The characters are full and rounded, peculiar perhaps, but they are completely real. I've shown this film to a group of Year 11 students I teach, and they loved it. I've also shown it to my mother and she loved it too.

It has universal appeal and the fact that it doesn't follow normal conventions is what makes it attractive and utterly brilliant.

This is definitely the 2nd best film I've ever seen (Once Upon A Time In The West is my fave). But Cerys Matthews lends her all here. It made me laugh - it made me sigh - it made me cry. But mainly it made me feel so proud to be Welsh!

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I enjoyed every minute of this film, and I think that's the great thing about it; it's consistently entertaining. It's got funny moments, touching moments, sad moments, and a downright beautiful finale that left me feeling warm.

It's not a blockbuster, it doesn't have car chases or explosions or explore the depths of the human psyche, but it's very enjoyable in a down-to-earth sort of way.

The characters really draw you in and are excellently portrayed by the cast, with unintrusive directing that lets the superb script do the work. I was surprised at how low this film had scored, and recommend that anyone who roots for the underdog or has ever wanted to just say 'Nuts to the lot of you, I'm doing what *I* want' will enjoy Very Annie Mary. Go on, give it a try. You might like it...

When you go see this film, please sit back and relax. This is a fable, a story where, yes, eccentric characters are overdramatized, but anyone that's been to Wales will see just that, the people are very funny. Rachel Griffiths is excellent, as is Jonathan Pryce, as her bullying Welsh father. This is not a US blockbuster, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be. The story has heart, and the one scene where Rachel's character (Annie-Mary) goes up in a balloon in a dance hall was very funny. The accents are hard for folks that don't understand any language other than American-English, but when you see a Liverpool film, a Scottish film, do you expect to understand anything other than the loveable laughable characters? View, sit back, relax..and enjoy the experience of "something different".