Watch The Land Girls For Free

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Leland's 'The Land Girls' is an interesting take on WWII. It's shown from a British and female point of view. The movie isn't exactly a war movie but it is more of a romantic drama with WWII as an important background. Storywise, the movie does remind me of 'Belle Epoque' but the treatment is very different. I liked the use of the settings. The beautiful green countryside landscape is breathtaking to watch and the characters are interesting. I liked that the sets weren't overdone because the farm and town look very real. The film has a Brit charm to it but at times the pacing is a tad too slow and I wish the writer and director added more comedy to it. The performances are solid. Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel are all brilliant as the land girls. Maureen O'Brien is very likable in a supporting role. Steven Mackintosh makes himself noticeable in a film about women. I also liked the gentle soothing soundtrack which is used with fine subtlety. Overall, 'The Land Girls' makes for a decent rainy day flick and it's not bad at all for a one-time watch.

Another very good example of an understated British flick being elevated by a strong cast into something worth notice. In a refreshing take on the WWII drama, the focus is on the ones who stayed behind in the war-torn south of England, like the farmers to feed the impoverished nation; the women to keep the factories running and, as in "The Land Girls", to work the land in place of the absent men.Stephen Mackintosh, my favourite underrated Brit actor, gives the film's best performance as Joe, the farmer's son who wishes he was anywhere but home, but he's well supported by Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel as the unfeasibly but mercifully smouldering girls of the Women's Land Army. Tom Georgeson brings gruff character as Mr Lawrence, the farmer, and check out an early Paul Bettany appearance.Thousands of women found a new freedom in work during the War, but they were expected to return to their domestic, invisible lives once the men returned. "The Land Girls" is not cinema verité; and doesn't pretend to tackle the grimness my mother talks of in England in the 40s and 50s. But who cares? – when I want grim I'll watch a documentary; I'll settle back happily any day to watch fine actors in a quiet, 'little' film with gorgeous Dorset scenery (it really is that beautiful, visit if you can) and a tender story.It will be too slow, too uneventful, for some. Perhaps they'd have preferred a blowsy Hollywood version, where Antonio Banderas plays the farmer's son and Renee Zellwegger the upper crust beauty (hooray for the ghost of a UK film industry). But I found it gentle and charming just as it was; and when the ingredients are so fine to begin with, that's good enough for me. If you like this sort of thing I recommend Powell & Pressburger's magical "Canterbury Tale".

Stella (Catherine McCormack), Prue (Anna Friel) and Ag (Rachel Weisz) play three "land girls", volunteers to carry on the agricultural work of the men. On the farm they find love, conflict, friendship and cows. The film is more of a relationship drama of those left behind than an account of the second world war.That said it is an interesting piece - not only is it different to have a WW2 film from a British point-of-view but also from a woman's point of view. It is interesting to see how those left behind acted with their lives and their war efforts - how close to the truth this account is, anyone's guess, it's a bit unrealistic because so many girl's experiences are crammed into the story of these three. The story is good regardless with the tangled relationships creating the glut of the plot, however the many tangled love stories do get a bit much at times but the themes of love, loss and British spirit during wartime tend to make up for it.The performance from the lead trio are mixed, Weisz is a bit stereotyped as an upper-class woman ("rotter", "jolly good" etc) but gets better as her character develops. Friel is good as Prue who starts as the roughest of the group but is touched by the events in her life. McCormack (Stella) is meant to be the core of the story with her interactions with the farmers, especially the son Joe (Steven Mackintosh), but she plays it a little over earnest for my liking. Mackintosh has the most complex role and carries it off very well with the best performance in the film.The film's conclusion is a mix of neat, tidy endings and some more emotional moments that more realistically depict the damage that the conflict caused on the people left behind.Overall the film is not amazing but is an interesting account of WW2 from a different point of view, some of the events are a little stereotyped and lack a realistic feel but generally the film carries the emotions that many will have experienced at the time.

I like World War II dramas particularly the ones that delve into the more obscure aspects. Many interesting character dramas have evolved, notably, Schindler's List, Memphis Belle, The Americanization of Emily, Tuskeegee Airmen, and Hiroshima. Even the bio pics: Patton, Truman, Eisenhower all provided interesting perspective for me, where I had none before.The idea that England had a Woman's Land Army in WWII, whereby women went to take over farm chores as the men have gone off to war, sounds interesting. Women of all shapes and sizes, and backgrounds banding together for the common good, yep, it definitely has possibilities.Now add Catherine McCormack in the lead, a woman who has the opportunity over the next few years to surpass Michelle Pfeiffer, as the beautiful woman who CAN act, throw in stunning period locations and costumes, and Land Girls should not fail.But fail it does.The story of these three women (McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel) is limp and un-centered, where, by comparison, The Tuskeegee Airmen is driving and informative.Pass on this mess, and if you want to see more of Catherine McCormack (aside from Braveheart) choose Dangerous Beauty instead.