Anyone who was around in the 70's and think this will provide an accurate nostalgia trip will be disappointed. The hairstyles, at least those of the male actors, are far too modern looking for 1976. The Incredible Hulk TV show is referenced two years before it aired (at least we can safely assume it's the TV show, it's highly unlikely the scriptwriters had the Marvel Comic in mind). More lazy 70's pop culture tropes follow. As someone else pointed out almost no one in the UK would have heard of The Ramones at this stage outside of a tiny London punk clique.Characters are too thinly sketched. One main female characters romance with a DJ she spots at a Northern Soul venue seems like an afterthought. The ending is laughable with a fictional montage of "what they did next" character biographies that try to add meat to the sketchy ensemble

This is another slew of dramas or comedies which we have had in the last few years set in the 1970s. Maybe the writers and directors have hit 40 and getting nostalgic about their youth.Set in the summer of 1976 where Britain had a hot summer leading to a drought, Vivienne May (Minnie Driver) a teacher in South Wales, a free spirit wants to put an end of year production of The Tempest with rock songs. Its all so Jesus Christ Superstar.The kids leaving school face an uncertain future, many of them are going to go into mediocre jobs. At least Viv has the support of the headmaster as some of the more conservative teachers disapprove of her plans. They only see kids as fit for factory work or going down the mines.There is nothing really original in Hunky Dory although the songs blend in well with the musical particularly the ELO numbers.Its a coming of age tale as some of the kids are dealing with their sexuality, machismo, girlfriend/boyfriend trouble and in one case hanging around with skinheads.It all leads up with the production of the musical in the opening night and all the turmoil associated with it.Its a small scale feel-good musical, nice but I felt the tone was all over the place ranging from comedy to drama and back again. Apparently the final credits indicates that this might be based on true events.In retrospect having been around at that time, in some sense these kids never had it so good, at least they had some sort of job to go to after leaving school. Just wait until 1979 when Mrs Thatcher enters Downing Street and closes a lot of the factories down.

I can't disagree with much of the criticism here. There are too many story arcs and few are given enough screen time (one, about questioning one's sexuality seemed to be over in less than 60 seconds in entirety, and without any resolution that particularly adds anything). I'm just about old enough to remember the summer of 1976 and the film didn't feel historically accurate, either. Rather than reminisce, I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't set in the modern day.However, there were good things. The acting and singing, both from Minnie Driver and her charges, is good throughout. Aneurin Barnard and Danielle Branch stand out as the erstwhile couple who are acrimoniously failing to maintain a working relationship as leads in school's production of The Tempest. Both have a brooding intensity and use their eyes to great effect. For me, the standout moment was during the final production, singing "Life On Mars?" as a duet; him, looking away, still unable to meet her eyes even once, and her, the polar opposite, never wavering in her direct and angry gaze, spitting the words at him. In the penultimate moments of the song, her expression changes entirely from anger to loss, perhaps finally realising that nothing can be salvaged between them. And then, the final scene, she is still staring intently at him, but she is looking upon him almost as a stranger now, as ex-lovers invariably become. It's very well acted, demonstrating these sudden realisations only with her eyes and having them mirrored with an acceptance or at least acknowledgement of defeat in his eyes too.I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did. If you follow the advice given to Minnie Driver's character in the film about keeping your expectations low and don't approach this film as high art, you may find yourself enjoying it. If nothing else, the music is really very good indeed.

As a huge fan of Minnie Driver, I will happily admit to an inclination to watch any film in which she appears. Hell, I even saw that Disney Tarzan movie in which she wasn't even on the screen. So, call me biased. But not even I, a card-carrying member of the MD club, could bring myself to say anything in support of her latest venture, a Wales-set nostalgia-fest entitled Hunky Dory. La Driver plays a teacher. But not just any teacher, of course. Oh, no. MD plays a wacky, slightly f**ked-up teacher whom all her kids adore and who wants to get the kids to put on a big end-of-term show. What show? The Tempest. But not just any Tempest. Oh, no. This will be a Tempest the likes of which you have never seen, and will never want to see, ever again, for as long as you live. Yes, it's The Tempest, but with the songs of David Bowie, and others, performed by the kids, all of whom are either excellent singers or excellent musicians, or both. Which is handy. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the plot. The kids have some issues which get in the way: one might be an arsonist, one is a bit mental, one is, surprise, gay, and one doesn't fancy someone, but fancies someone else instead – crazy! Not all of the teachers approve of Driver and her zany plans. Boo! Hiss! But Driver being Driver, she perseveres, or, rather, the plot just trundles on, avoiding any genuine conflict, any genuine character development, any genuine engagement, anything genuine at all. Every five minutes or so there is a musical number featuring the aforementioned eerily note-perfect singers, accompanied by other kids hitting milk bottles or blowing into recorders. Then one of the kids will have a strop, tell the headmaster to f**k off, storm out, and – oh, no – raise very real doubts that the show will go on. But, of course, the show will go on, even if someone burns down the school hall. Who burned it down? Doesn't matter (and we never find out) because the show can be put on in someone's garden instead! Hurrah! Hurrah for Miss Minnie and her wonderful pupils! Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse, the finale introduces, from nowhere (spoiler warning) some... I can hardly bring myself to say it... some... oh, dear God, make it stop... some shadow puppets. Shadow puppets. Where did they come from? No, really, where? And who made them? And when did anyone get any time to practise with them? And then, as the end is finally in sight, and you get over your paralysing envy of the two people who were brave enough to walk out an hour earlier, the makers of this narcissistic, self-indulgent, dramatically fake, vacuous, inept, embarrassing bore pull off their greatest trick. You know how at the end of some films they have little on-screen summaries of where the characters are now? Fred works in a chip shop in Chippenham, and it's ironic cos all the way through the film he was always eating chips! You get the idea. They do that here, and it's indefensible and crass, for so many reasons. 1. We hardly know these characters at all, and certainly don't care about them, at all, so this little précis of their later lives is totally irrelevant. 2. Using the Falklands war to try and add a little gravitas to such a trivial and gravitas-free film is offensive and opportunistic. 3. You're just prolonging the agony – roll the credits, make it stop, let us out of here.I have seen many, many films in my time (far too many, probably) but never before have I been so tempted to walk out. This temptation began within the first five minutes, when I realised, with grim certainty, that here was one of those films where they compiled the soundtrack first and made the film around it. Photogenic kids singing Bowie, Drake and EL-effing-O. Minnie. The 1976 drought. Hey, this thing practically writes itself. No, it doesn't. It's a nightmare. Two hours and seven quid I will never get back.