Calendar Girls

 2.5/4

Starring: Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Ciaran Hinds, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Philip Glenister, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, Geraldine James

Rated PG-13 for Nudity, Some Language and Drug-Related Material

The flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire.  Every stage of their growth has its own beauty, but the last phase is always the most glorious."

I can see what John Clarke means.  Every time I see my dad greet my mom and say "Hello beautiful," he looks at her with absolute love and affection.  Hollywood sells fantasy in romantic comedies, but every good husband knows that no one compares to his wife.

For lifelong friends Chris (Mirren) and Annie (Walter), that love they have for their husbands has gotten them to do something very daring.  Before Annie's husband John died from leukemia, he made it a point to tell his wife how beautiful she was at every turn.  So Chris and Annie, bored with the bland charity ideas of the local Women's Institute, decide to be bold for charity.  They will pose nude in a calendar and donate profits to medical research (and a new sofa for the ward).  Such an undertaking would take an immense amount of courage for any woman, especially those of retirement age.

The first half of the film is rock solid: witty, delightful and occasionally hilarious.  We sense the bond between Annie and John, and Annie and Chris.  The loss of her husband weighs heavily on Annie, and also her best friend.  They are spurned into action, but gathering support and finding people to help is easier said than done.  This material is effectively presented, if unspectacular.

Where the film runs into trouble is dealing with the aftermath.  Director Nigel Cole includes too many tangents, too much melodrama.  He loses sight of the characters and the emotional investment evaporates. The film works best when it is kept at a personal level.  The second half is haphazard, muddled and badly focused.

When you cast Helen Mirren and Julie Walters in a movie, you can safely say that you did something right.  These two screen veterans are as reliable as they come, although it's easy to see that they are better than the material they are given.  I bought them as friends, and more importantly, the strong bond they share.  What happens to one happens to both of the.  The supporting cast, which includes British character actresses Linda Bassett, Celia Imrie, Geraldine James and the deliciously tart Penelope Wilton, is in top form.

"Calendar Girls" reminded me in spirit, if not the particulars, of the underrated film "Mrs. Henderson Presents."  Both films are true stories.  Both celebrate women as they are.  Both discuss the nature of nudity and how it should not be hidden.  Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end, since "Calendar Girls" isn't nearly as insightful or entertaining.

So the film doesn't work.  But has Mirren and Walters, and it gives a big salute to women who did something extraordinary by being themselves.

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