Very Annie Mary
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Movie Reviews of Very Annie Mary
Movie Review: very annie mary
Summary: 5 Stars
funny,yet a tear jerker at the end. I recommend this movie that can be enjoyed over and over again.Movie Review: The set up gets a bit quirky, but the payoff for this one is transcendent
Summary: 4 Stars
I read where John Irving said recently that he always writes the end of his story first, and I have the feeling that writer-director Sara Sugarman did something along those lines with "Very Annie Mary." That is because there is a great ending to this one, or at least a great climax (how much you will think of the denouement is debatable). I know that part of it is being on emotional edge this week watching the news from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but I really think that Sugarman provides a transcendent ending to the story of Annie Mary Pugh (Rachel Griffiths), who lives in a town in Wales. That explains why everybody speaks in a Welsh accent, not that we can imitate such the way we do an English, Irish or Scotch accent (ever notice in Shakespeare's "Henry V" that the comic relief is provided by four men: an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scott, and a Welshman; so that there are four different accents at play in their conversations).
Annie Mary's father, Jack (Jonathan Pryce), runs the local bakery and not only likes to sing like Pavarotti over the speaker system of his truck as he makes his deliveries, he dresses up like the great tenor (including a mask). Annie Mary used to sing too, and even won a contest 15 years ago that earned her a chance to study in Milan. But then her mother died and Annie Mary has not sung since. For reasons that only become clear if you think about it at the end, her father treats her abominably. For her birthday he gives her a cabbage, and when he is cold he makes her curl around his feet. Annie Mary has no luck with the boys in town, even though she offers to pay one for a kiss. Her best friend is Bethan Bevan (Joanna Page), a bedridden 16-year-old who is quite ill. It is only with Bethan that Annie Mary can watch the silent videotape of her and her mother 15 years ago when they were happy. Meanwhile, the mayor wants to raise money to send Bethan to Disneyland and Annie Mary would like to help.
Then her father suffers a stroke, and the responsibility for taking care of him and running the shop falls to Annie Mary. Eventually she realizes that she has the upper hand now, and with a new sense of freedom she paints the kitchen a ghastly color and decides to join a local female pop group for a talent contest in Cardiff where there is a prize of 1000 pounds. Is this a chance for redemption, a recipe for disaster, or both? More importantly, will this be the point when Bethan (and the audience) finally get to hear Annie Mary sing? Certainly she can do better than the weak Freddie Mercury imitation she attempts. Then there is the question of the house that Annie Mary waves at when she walks by it.
Annie Mary is an odd duck, but then most of the people in town are strange. While this is entertaining, it really does not set up the big ending as well as it might if this was less of a comic-tragedy and more of an outright tragic tale. After all, her father's actions towards her are truly despicable, and as a general rule I am not inclined to find that sort of abuse comic. The low point that Annie Mary reaches makes her not only a sad figure, but rather pathetic, and some viewers may find that their reservoir of sympathy towards her has run out. Certainly her few friends in town reach that point. But such doubts about her character do not deter from the gloriously transcendent moment that Annie Mary achieves thanks to her one true friend. Whatever problems there might be with the set up of the big moment, Sugarman and Griffith both deliver on that score.
Movie Review: A brilliant actress in a brilliant role
Summary: 4 Stars
Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) plays her most brilliant role in Very Annie Mary (2001).
Annie Mary Pugh is a woman of 33 who still lives at home with her domineering father, played by Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Carribean). Her father owns the bakery in Ogw, Wales, and is considered the "Voice of the Valley" because of his beautiful tenor singing.
As the movie progresses, we are shown Annie's shattered dreams. She presents almost as one with a developmental disability - socially awkward, clumsy, often embarassingly inappropriate - but perhaps these are mannerisms that have developed over the years of living her life knowing that the Great Opportunity passed by?
I don't want to say too much. It's better to go into this film not knowing. There are so many little surprises and big revelations. Just know that I found this movie both funny and touching. It's a story of a woman finally finding her voice.
Movie Review: Eccentric to the max, surreal and silly... a damned lot of fun.
Summary: 4 Stars
If Rachel Griff isn't playing someone with Asperger's here, I'll stand on my head. This film is eccentric to the max, surreal, silly and certainly not a 'tight ship' production at all. But if you don't take it too seriously its a damned lot of fun. The Welsh backdrop is fabulous and the characters are quirky and highly individual, fabulously gritty and Ioan Gruffydd as her gay friend is fabulous and nothing like we are used to seeing him. The film definitely goes into the realm of slapstick and could almost be compared to a home-grown Welsh attempt at Willie Wonker And The Chocolate Factory at times. The Welsh seem to do damned well at poking fun at themselves and this makes this film a stark contrast to more English productions and rather comparable to Australian films like very slapstick Strictly Ballroom. If you enjoy comparing film styles, this Welsh prithsoduction is a lovely one for your collection.Movie Review: Very Annie Mary
Summary: 4 Stars
We saw the movie "Very Annie Mary" in Cable a couple years ago. we liked it enough to buy a copy for ourselves.we like those little indenpendant movies. Rachel Griffiths was great as Annie Mary woman around 30 who has a lot of Hurt and bad breaks in her life. Her father is cruel and has now had a stroke and she is forced to take care of him.There is a sweet friendship she has with a teenage girl who is terminally ill. she used to be a talented opera singer but has since stopped singing after her mother died years ago. There are some both funny and sad scenes. Good touching ending.