Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Shinobu Yaguchi deliver's another comedic gem, which is probably his masterpiece. As much as I love Waterboys and Wood Job, I think Swing Girls just tops them both for just a joyous feel good comedy, something Hollywood should be looking at. Every character is memorable, from the great Juri Ueno as the group's de facto leader, to Shihori Kanjiya as the popular girl, Yuika Motokariya as the quiet geeky girl, Yukari Toyoshima as the drummer trying to lose weight. Also a big shout out to Yuta Hiraoka as the token male Takuo, a fantastically loveable loser. Aside from Juri Ueno, its a shame none of the other cast member's have gone on to bigger things. As everyone delivers a top notch performance. The comedy can range from the Spinal Tap to the Monty Python to Farrelly Brothers to even Richard Curtis. The film has a ton of heart, and has one of the greatest comedic scenes I've seen with the Forest scene with a boar Also the training montage and the two love sick Punk boyfriend's are other standout scenes. Plus anything involving Naoto Takenaka as a teacher hiding a secret is must see.But the film is stolen by Juri Ueno as Tomoko. She was only 18 when she did this role, and she delivers a comedic masterclass. No wonder she went on to have a success career in Japan, it's a star making performance. I still think this is her greatest performance although she's done good work since.Also the film gets a extra mark for the fact all the actresses and token guy learned how to play their instruments, go onto YouTube and you'll see footage of them playing Live on TV and at a one off gig. They aren't bad at all for the amount of time they had to train. Also the ending of the film will have you jumping for joy and leave you with a big smile. On a side note: Could any DVD or blu ray companyplease give this fantastic film a Region 2 release. Such a shame this gem of a film isn't out there to buy for a decent price.

Movies come and go but there are some stay with you for the rest of your life. This is one such movie. To me personally, this movie made realize that sometimes we don't appreciate the music of yesterday. Jazz is the foundation of a lot of today's music. Most of the youth of today don't know nothing about jazz. It's really a shame. That's why I really enjoyed this movie. From the crazy beginning to the spectacular ending and everything else in between(like the crazy warthog!!! Instant classic!), this movie is a great for the entire family. Jazz fans will dig it just for the sheer brilliance and courage of these girls(and a boy!) to become a real band. I recommend also to watch the making of documentary. Besides the actual concert, you will see the efforts the band made. Why am i calling the actresses and the actor a band? BECAUSE THEY ARE! You'll see from start to finish they learn to become a band from setting up to finding out their instruments weren't working right sometimes to perform one of the best ending i ever seen in a movie, all the while honoring the great jazz legends of the past. Watch this movie and enjoy it the same way you enjoyed "The terminal".

For love of music, that's all this movie is about, no more and certainly never less. As a result of a food poisoning accident, thirteen high school girls who know next to nothing about music are drafted to be trained to fill in for the school's brass orchestra. But when the regulars manage to recover sooner than expected, the backup girls fake a sigh of relieve but soon find that they have fallen in love with music. While most soon get side-tracked, four of them love the music so much that they form the "Swing Girls". This comprises a sax player, the main character (next to the music, that is) and not surprisingly the prettiest one, a bespectacled timid trombone player, a girl who needs the sight of a rat to hit the high note on the trumpet (the obvious clown of the lot) and the slightly overweighed drummer. Added to them are two wild-looking electric guitar players who would want to be anywhere where music is played, and a guy on the keyboard. It takes the group a while to find their rhythm with jazz, until the melody of "Coming through the rye" from a traffic light gives them the magical inspiration they need. The rest of the girls now come back to join them.There are anecdotes and other characters aplenty along the way, some funny, some banal, but the movie never wavers from the theme, which is the group's love of music. The ending is appropriately uplifting, when the band finally gets a chance to do its thing in a national high school competition. Winning is not even important, only finding of an appreciative audience. All the characters in the movie are well likable and there is ever-popular Naoto Takenaka. As the end credit rolls, we see the names of the cast the way they would appear in a programme of an orchestral concert, grouped under the sections of instruments they play. The girls (and one guy) actually performed themselves and the success of the intensive training they received before the shooting of the movie is quite evident. Altogether a sweet little film that will be loved by all who love music.

Swing Girls (2004) was directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. Born in Kanagawa in 1967, Yaguchi other works include Adrenalin Live, A Secret Flower Garden and Water Boys. The latter has been his most successful movie to date, having been developed into a weekly television series. Water Boys shares many similarities with Swing Girls. First of all, the stage for each movie is high school and the main character in each is a boy (or girl) with no particular talent, skill or interests. He (she) discovers synchronized swimming (jazz music) and undergoes a transformation. Both movies are based on the theme of succeeding.Set in present-day Japan, Swing Girls is the story of girls who meet and are deeply fascinated by jazz. The heroine is a very typical Japanese teenager. Her character is suggestive of the hidden problem of today children. She lacks any special interests or motivation and dislikes making any effort. But when she discovers jazz, she discovers something she can be absorbed in and begins to transform herself. At first, she is not able to even make a noise. But she and her friends practice and come to be able to play their instruments. They slowly come to be fond of jazz and take part in a music competition.All the music was played by the actresses and actors themselves, which is perhaps the most outstanding aspect of Swing Girls. Their accents, on the other hand, sound to me like an imitation. But, as a whole, I like this movie.