This was pretty good. A little Disney-esque in that nothing too terrible happens and its all wrapped up very nicely. Family friendly. Still an interesting and infectious story if nothing too memorable and fairly predictable. Inspired by actual events it follows four aboriginal Australian girls from a from a small prejudiced town who form a singing group in the 1960s who travel to Vietnam to preform for American troops after being trained by a good humoured talent scout. The girls were great, the vocal singing performances well done -not sure if real voices. Chris O'Dowd was entertaining/funny but I've seen this exact role from him before. (Bridesmaids)I appreciated that this touched on some crappy reality like how Aboriginal children were removed from their families by the Australian government especially the "white looking" ones from approximately 1909 to 1969. Same thing happened in Canada. As a point of interest Aboriginal persons were not classified as human beings but "flora & fauna" until 1967.

I had to check that this was directed by a man, just to confirm what seemed blatantly obvious. The women appear to make choices, but all as a direct result of what the men want them to do - manager, lover, boyfriends, soldiers. Every female action seems to be as a response to the men. The film seemed to me to lack charm or interest. It started off beautifully with a super rendering of Mockingbird, but nothing better than that later. The scenes jumped improbably, and I kept asking myself why? What happened then? How did we get here? And the music I found quite insipid, having seen most of the original artists themselves when I was but a youngster. Try this one - MLK has been shot, so go and shake your hips for those poor black boys. It might be true, but it don't make it smell nice. Sorry folks - nice try, but I didn't like it at all.

I watched this movie because of a recommendation. I was disappointed mostly because of how much the movie was built up. The Sapphires was fine. It had a feel good story and many racial situations but I didn't believe most of those situations much. Maybe I title because I am not close enough to that type of racism or because the acting beyond the main characters was poor. I just wasn't extremely attached to any of the characters. The story was great but the execution could have been better. The Sapphires was a good movie but I might not build it up quite so much for anyone that plans on watching it. It will be a good surprise for those individuals. I wish I had the same surprise with this feature.

If there was any justice, this movie would destroy tripe like "The Butler" in the Oscar races. Since they both deal with racism, but this one isn't so ham fisted and preachy. This is a fun romp with great music and genuine heartfelt performances. Great characters and wonderful. I loved it. It may surprise people come March.What I most enjoyed about this movie is that, as an American, I got to see another part of racism that parrots our own. The insidious ways in which the "upperclass" continually find ways to gentrify a culture. This message is NOT overt though (like in "The Butler") It's subtle in it's slow burn. And these girls also face real problems. One is a single mother, another racked with guilt over the past, one that dreams of bigger stardom, and one that just loves seeing the world. This is an amazing ensemble that feels so real. The people feel real. The moments are recaptured on such a low budget scale, it's impressive. I marveled at their ingenuity and really happy I saw it. One of the best of the year.