With their partners off on the front line in Afghanistan - Britain's most serious military action in a generation - the wives back home in the barracks accommodation are left to twiddle their thumbs. Their rather disorganised activities are initially led by Lisa (Sharon Horgan), but the colonel's wife Kate (Kristin Scott Thomas) decides to bring a little order to the chaos - even if that's not entirely welcome. The choir and its gradual, sometimes bumpy progress is the result and it is the central focus of the film.
The role of Kate, grief-ridden, aloof and separated from her comrades by a huge divide of social class and upbringing, is a gift to Kristin S-T, and she plays it beautifully. Likewise, the singing - always tricky to portray - is very well done.
This is a story based on true events though, and maybe the key to the flaws in the screenplay is the writers' tendency to present these women as they would like to be seen. Yes, they have problems, and there is some conflict, but there is always a nagging doubt that we're seeing a sanitised version of real people. The focus on the now and on the members of the army family is just too blinkered. There's no outside family presented, no romantic distractions, no strained relationships with the soldiers at the front. Kate's privilege, and the resentment of it, is less obvious than it might be in the real world and and her compulsive buying of commercial tat is shown superficially, but not really explored.
So, as an undemanding and slightly formulaic view of these women and how they overcame their very real struggles, the movie can be uplifting even if it feels incomplete. 6.5/10
The role of Kate, grief-ridden, aloof and separated from her comrades by a huge divide of social class and upbringing, is a gift to Kristin S-T, and she plays it beautifully. Likewise, the singing - always tricky to portray - is very well done.
This is a story based on true events though, and maybe the key to the flaws in the screenplay is the writers' tendency to present these women as they would like to be seen. Yes, they have problems, and there is some conflict, but there is always a nagging doubt that we're seeing a sanitised version of real people. The focus on the now and on the members of the army family is just too blinkered. There's no outside family presented, no romantic distractions, no strained relationships with the soldiers at the front. Kate's privilege, and the resentment of it, is less obvious than it might be in the real world and and her compulsive buying of commercial tat is shown superficially, but not really explored.
So, as an undemanding and slightly formulaic view of these women and how they overcame their very real struggles, the movie can be uplifting even if it feels incomplete. 6.5/10