The Sapphires (PG)

Film

Musicals

The Sapphires

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5
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Time Out says

Wed Nov 7 2012

A trio of Aboriginal gals belting out a country and western tune get a stony response at a rural Australian talent show. Dave (Chris O’Dowd), the boozy Irish MC, can see these girls have got genuine promise, but this is the outback, it’s 1968, and there’s no way white Australia is ready to give them a second glance. Where next then? Vietnam is the unlikely answer, but the brothers fighting aren’t country fans either – it’s time for these girls to get into the soul groove.

Based, incredibly, on a true story, and developed from a successful stage musical, this is a big-hearted, barnstorming put-on-a-show crowdpleaser. Beneath the spangly exterior, however, it has surprisingly trenchant things to say about Australian identity and the bitter legacy of institutionalised racism. Of course, none of this would really hit home unless we believed in The Sapphires as authentic soul sisters, achieved thanks to ‘Australian Idol’ finalist Jessica Mauboy’s sumptuous lead vocals, and astute song selections from the Motown, Stax and Atlantic songbooks.

With rising star O’Dowd in command of both the comic timing and emotional grace notes and beautifully playing off Deborah Mailman as the group’s  alpha female, the movie is gutsy and entertaining enough to have us forgiving its occasional credibility glitches and obviously CGI-ed battlefront visuals. Shoring everything up, though, is a determined linking of Aboriginal and African-American civil rights causes, leading to a spectacular finale which rejigs showbiz-chronicle formula to startling and emotive purpose. A gem.

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Release details

Rated:

PG

UK release:

Wed Nov 7 2012

Duration:

103 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Wayne Blair

Cast:

Chris O'Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 4/5 (15 ratings)
  • In my opinion the film has an interesting story. The msic was great. I'm afraid I have to disagree the relationship between Dave and one of the girls wasn't rather convincingly.

    Eline Van Gestel About 5 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • In my view The Sapphires is a well acted movie. The actors aren't famous at all but they've done their job very well. Only the special effects were not that good. My favourite character in the movie was Dave (Chris O'Dowd) and I can't even believe he's not a great actor. He was brave, well-humoured, romantic and most off all funny. He was a real entertainer. I would recommand this movie for the ones who like soul.

    Brecht Kemps About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • In my view the Sapphires is a really good movie.It makes me happy. The soul music is amazing, it's definitely a feel-good movie. I reckon that the movie shows that there was a lot of racism. If you were black, you normally got no chances. The mix of a soul movie with kind of a love story in it, is certainly right. I also loved the humour of Chris O’Dowd, but it was very strange to see him play a sensitive man. But I liked it. 8/10 for me.

    Marlies About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • In my opinion, the film was really good. Also because it was based on a true story. I agree that it is a crowd-pleaser. But to be honest I have to say that the story didn't touched me. I wasn't that excited to see the film, but afterwards I was very happy because of the happy end. It seems to me that the producer had long thoughts about it. If you ask me, everyone should see this movie. Also because we learn something about the soldiers. I enjoyed the film a lot.

    Lore Nuyts About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • If you ask me if it is a good movie, I wouldn't really know. To my mind the music is great and I like the singing group of Aboriginal women. I'm afraid I have to disagree that the chemistry between O'Dowd and one particular Sapphire is convincingly. I have seen the movie Bridesmaids where O'Dowd is a policeofficer. To be honest he is good actor, he really is. But in my opinion his role in The Sapphires isn't so good.

    Liese Willems About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • In my view The Sapphires is a real feel-good movie. It seems to me that at the end of the movie, I was good-humoured right away. I reckon that it's more a girls-movie then for all the sexes. To be honest, the love between the characters was a bit lost to me. They didn't play it out convincingly. But if you ask me, I think this movie helped a lot to launch the career of the players. They did well. I would recommend this movie !

    Leentje Michiels About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • In my view, The Sapphires is a lovely feelgood movie, you become happy when you watch it. Admittedly, there isn't a lot of action in the movie, but at the end there happens a lot. So you have to be patient. I think this is a typical girl movie. Girls would like this movie more than boys. If you ask me what I like about this movie I would answer the beautiful voices of the girls and the good songs. I would definitely watch this movie again!

    Emily Mariën About 12 days ago
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • To my mind "The Sapphires" was a beautiful movie. I think that the actors were great and they sing very good. To be honest there wasn't enough action. If you ask me if the film was good, I would say: "Yes, but I missed action".

    Candy Vromans About 12 days ago
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  • An utterly enchanting gem of a film. Very touching, funny, and deals with some interesting themes. I went with a friend and we both came out of the cinema on a real high.

    Graham Thu Nov 22 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Really liked it, but needed that extra sprinkling of (say) What's love got to do with it? "magic" to really get the emotions going but well worth seeing though. Joe - no "hype" what so ever here, Merrittpr, only one in my screening too. 7/10

    scrumpyjack Sat Nov 17 2012
    Rated as: 3/5
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