Little Voice **** (1998, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Michael Caine) – Classic Movie Review 418

Written and directed by Mark Herman, this is an uneasy transfer to film of a great night out at London’s National Film Theatre – Jim Cartwright’s musical play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. The film’s nowhere near as good as Herman’s previous one, Brassed Off in 1996.

The original show was written especially for Jane Horrocks and directed by Oscar-winning Sam Mendes. And she was sensational. But here on celluloid Horrocks hits one or two hollow notes in her performance as the Northern English drudge known as Little Voice, hemmed in by her hard-drinking, hard-driving mother Mari Hoff (a way over-the-top Brenda Blethyn).

Little Voice eventually blossoms as a stage star for one night only at the local club in a gig organised by the slimy, dirty-minded cockney agent Ray Say (a typecast, coasting Michael Caine). This gives Horrocks her chance to take solo centre stage and shine, and shine she does, dazzlingly.

The whole thing is too stagey and theatrical here, with larger-than-life, sitcom-style performances that you recoil from on screen. An out-of-place Ewan McGregor slicks down his hair to look ‘ordinary’ as Billy, the shy phone company man who befriends Little Voice.

Still, the piece’s original power burns through occasionally – never more so than when Horrocks does her brilliant show turn, uncannily impersonating all the great show divas from Marlene Dietrich to Barbra Streisand via Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Bassey (‘Hey, Big Spender’), Judy Garland and even Gracie Fields! This segment, filmed live without the usual miming, is an utter tour-de-force, and worth the whole of the rest of the film and more.

It will probably surprise many that she proves such an amazing mimic. It’s right that the closing title tells us ‘Jane Horrocks performed all her own songs’ – that’s the film’s attraction.

There are some moving moments, but when melodrama strikes, the film crumbles and caves in. The attempt to open it out on Scarborough (Yorkshire) seaside locations is only a qualified success. These scenes work and add flavour. But when we’re back in the studio, everything looks even more artificial afterwards.

Obviously, there are other views on the performances. Blethyn was Oscar nominated as Best Supporting Actress and Caine won a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical and the London Film Critics voted Caine the British Supporting Actor of the Year. These performances may be crowd-pleasing but they’re not truthful.

As research for his role as club owner Mr Boo, Jim Broadbent toured working men’s clubs and theatres in Yorkshire.

The building used for the exterior shots of Hoff’s Record Shop in Scarborough was derelict but restored for filming then demolished shortly after. The Night Club scenes were filmed at Wallis’s Cayton Bay Holiday Centre, also now demolished.

Expect strong language and brief nudity. It has a 15 certificate.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 418

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