The title “Military Wives” is plain to the point of blandness. This good-hearted comedy-drama, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, deserves a little better.
The movie is directed by Peter Cattaneo, who also oversaw the 1997 phenom “The Full Monty.” His latest undertaking aspires to capture the same unusual-and-inspiring-activities-of-certain-people-in-Britain lightning in a bottle of that earlier picture. (Other entries in this unofficial sweepstakes have included Nigel Cole’s “Calendar Girls” and Julian Jarrold’s “Kinky Boots.”)
The activity here is singing.
At a fictional military base in England, after its troops are deployed to Afghanistan, the wife of the company’s commander, Kate (Scott Thomas), attempts to organize social distractions for the female partners of enlisted men.
Once the formation of a choir is vetted, friction flares between the older, more uptight Kate and the earthier ladies, headed up by Horgan’s character (Lisa). Kate advocates a light classical repertoire, while Lisa and company return to their youth with selections from Yaz and Tears for Fears. Kate turns up her nose at such “sober karaoke,” but poptimism carries the day.
While the choir was never intended as a public-performing unit, a commander likes what he hears and beckons the group to Royal Albert Hall. (The movie was inspired by a number of such real-life groups across Britain, and the BBC reality series “The Choir” had a season devoted to the formation of such a unit.)
The director Billy Wilder, while filming a pet monkey’s funeral in “Sunset Boulevard,” apparently told the cinematographer John Seitz, “Johnny, it’s the usual dead chimpanzee setup.” This movie climaxes with the usual car-speeding-to-Albert-Hall setup, and similar staples.
Military Wives
Rated PG-13 for occasional earthiness in dialogue. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. Rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV, and other streaming platforms and pay-TV operators, or stream on Hulu.
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May 21, 2020 at 06:50PM
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‘Military Wives’ Review: Unlikely Choir, Familiar Frictions - The New York Times
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