The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls

This New Zealand documentary exposes the lives and careers and Lynda and Jules Topp, superstars in their home country for their country singing and comedy routines. They're also openly lesbian, activists on many causes, and they live on a farm as they did when they grew up.

The above description has so many apparent contradictions that I had to see this movie. There is so much to like about these women and the principles by which they live. Here are some examples:

• many good causes including anti-discrimination laws, aboriginal land claims, and nuclear disarmament.

• using humour, friendliness, and inclusion to draw in middle-of-the-road voters during a debate for a bill that would outlaw discrimination against gays and lesbians.

• staying true to their roots by entertaining rural audiences while still being out lesbians.

• also staying true to their roots by refusing to "update" themselves to be more palatable to audiences in the US or England.

The footage of their careers goes back to the early 1980s. The film also has a moving turn when the family must deal with cancer.

Overall, the fun spirit is what moves this film. Even the names of some of their characters can cause a laugh. Imagine a pair of hoity-toity rich sisters named Prue and Dilly Ramsbottom.

Very entertaining. - dbamateurcritic.

The older I get, the more moved I am by people who perfectly express who they are. The Topp Twins are "New Zealand icons": yodelling lesbian comic singers with (as one show-biz type acknowledges) zero commercial prospects but who are nonetheless approaching three decades into a career as peerless audience-pleasers with perfect entertainment pitch. This film tells the story (including the Topps' key role in the repeal of sodomy laws in NZ just by being more fun than the opposition) with no frills but enormous heart.

But wait! You also get: the funniest lesbian joke I've ever heard. (Hope that's not a spoiler)

What a great movie this is! If you like to be entertained and have a good laugh, you will like this movie. It is a very interesting tale of two remarkable Kiwi women who are identical twins. It charts their lives from early years growing up on a farm, their involvement in New Zealand's political and social issues of the times, and their rise to fame on the national and international stage. The subjects are likable and down to earth, and funny and spirited. They have an amazing joyous attitude throughout everything, and the audience can feel this. The singing of the twins is also great, with beautiful harmonies. It is presented in a straight forward and simple style, which is perfect, as the main subjects are so diverse. The director has allowed the twins' humorous eccentricities, their love of life, and strong joyful spirits to shine through! Don't miss it!

The Topp Twins are accomplished musical stylists, episodically gifted songwriters, respectable cultural commentators and excruciatingly dreadful comedians, but that's not why this movie was made. It's actually a sort of socio-political pornography aimed squarely at existing fans. The purpose of this movie is essentially to allow people who've never knowingly met a lesbian and don't know which end of a sheep to feed to feel smug about liking and hating all the right things - hooray agrarian sensibilities and homosexual law reform, boo 1981 tours and nuclear ships. The Twins seem all too happy to contribute to this, not even complaining when the editors fade out their most lovely song, "Milestones", in favor of an interview where they congratulate each other for being so humble as to not use limousines on tour. We do eventually learn the real reason these girls are untouchable - they're lightning rods for the conceits and enthusiasms of New Zealand's suburban, heterosexual, middle-class liberal establishment - but that reason is nothing much to be proud of.

I am a big fan of the documentary genre but I would not have chosen to see this film. I didn't know a great deal about the Topp Twins and I wasn't that interested. I went because my 60 year old mother wanted to see it. I am very glad that she did. I think this is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. I was immediately engaged in the story and I found the Twins themselves to be inspirational. I enjoyed the music, laughed out loud, cried a little and came away feeling a better person simply for having spent an hour and a half with these two wonderful women. And I wasn't the only one who responded in this way. I have never before been to a film where the audience clapped along with the music and applauded at the end as if they were at a live concert. I honestly enjoyed every minute.