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So much average

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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

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.

The Sapphires (2012)Wow, can I just say, "super cute" and leave it at that? It's a total feel good story about four Aborigine Aussies who can sing! And they sing their way (via Motown and R&B) to Vietnam in front of American troops, who love it.And so you have to love it. The music soars, the tragedy of the war is held out of view but is implied in different ways, and the abilities of these young women make it all heartwarming. And impressive. Against the odds kind of material.The one additional actor who is key is Chris O'Dowd, playing a down on his luck musician. He sees, barely, the talent of these women and decides to "manage" them, which he really does pretty well, helping them apply to a contest. And so on, to the "top" of the short ladder they are climbing. There are no gold records here, just good music. O'Dowd is comic relief, but also at ease and stabilizing to the movie, adding a necessary second layer. A good fit.That's the long and the short of it. The Sapphires were real (and at the end of the movie you see a tiny bit of the real women). They were a cover band, you might say, but a really sweet and talented cover band. And they chose music that had soul, that mattered to the times, the late 1960s. Good stuff. Just enjoy it.

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.

The problem with being a movie critic (here or anywhere) is the need to find common ground. If you are writing to a crowd conditioned to believe that every new Hollywood product is better than the last, or an "action" film MUST (simply must!) be great because it has whats-his-name is it, then frankly it is time to turn in the old keyboard for a toaster oven. I say this because I notice that, on IMDb, positive reviews get a positive reader response and negative reviews generally don't. In Psych 101, they call this "cognitive dissonance" and has to do with human nature -- many review readers prefer to read the reviews AFTER seeing the film, to seek agreement, rather than BEFORE, to seek wisdom. OK, sorry for the diatribe. To make it up to you, I will say that this film is a high-9. The script, the production values, the performances, are a joy. In fact, in my view, that is the key to the film. Joy. The secret to the 1960s (for those of you who were not there) is that for a short time it seemed (not making this up) like the forces of Light and Dark in the universe were struggling, and Light was about to win. In fact it did not turn out that way -- look at where we are today, look at the last half dozen presidents, look at the Japan disaster. But -- the point -- this wonderful film is not only superb entertainment on its own, but somehow succeeds in capturing the essence of the era. Hope and Joy. Even in the one "scary" scene (bullets flying, one of the main characters gets hit) we have fast segue to a love letter being read aloud, and that takes away the sting immediately. I defy anyone to watch this film and not feel better afterwards than they felt before. BTW, Chris O'Dowd and Deborah Mailman steal all their scenes together, which is hard to do, considering how solid the ensemble cast is. Loved it. You will too.