Simply Perfect

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Powerful

People are voting emotionally.

I settled down to watch this having recorded it some years ago when it was shown in the BBC sign zone, something I had forgotten till the sign language started up in the bottom corner! My sister must have recommended it to me as one of her favourites and that was all I knew of it. I found I didn't know what to make of the film throughout, was it funny or sad, comedy or tragedy? I guess it's both.Some bits shocked me, like her maltreatment of her disabled father, yet it made me adjust the stereotyped view of someone in this situation and remember that she was barely able to take care of herself properly and therefore totally clueless about caring for a disabled person, let alone him being the father who had put her down with his criticism for years.Whether it was the filmmaker's intent, I found the sensation of watching brought alive the situation of life just 'happening' to Annie Mary so that one moment her friend Bethan says she's in remission and the next she's talking about a hospice with no lead up to it either way.Annie Mary felt a very real character in the way that I found myself liking and disliking her, she wasn't all good or all bad as a human as with some of the more 'easy' to watch films from Hollywood where you know who to like and dislike within minutes of meeting them.Overall it has been a film that has made a real impact on me, too soon to say what but waking up having watched it the night before I find it is still vivid in my mind, still making me think... and feel.

One evening in search of a light-hearted comedy, the afore mentioned film was put into an unsuspecting DVD player. After a laugh???This movie is more likely to make you: cry, fall asleep, moan in agony, gorge out your eyes, or throw bottles at the TV.It had a promising start, but 10 minutes into this film you realize that you have turned down a treacherous path and if you wish to come out alive it is best to turn around and not venture further into the empty and painful experience that is this movie.The misfortunes of Annie Mary and her Father, are not a form of entertainment. It is a poor and unwitty attempt at humour, expressed with serious overtones, that make the film really only suitable for sadists.If you want a laugh, this film is a pass.

The life of Annie Mary changes completely after the death of her mother. Annie Mary, who had a beautiful voice, suddenly stopped trying to sing opera. Her life in the small Welsh town is boring, to say the least. To make matters worse, her best friend, Bethan Bevan, is struck by cancer. Annie Mary, who is a loyal friend, wants to help her sick friend go to Disneyland.Annie Mary's father, Jack, has a bakery in the town. We see him as he makes his deliveries in a Luciano Pavarotti's mask and singing in his beautiful tenor opera arias that are much admired by the people of the area. When he suffers a stroke, Annie Mary's life goes into a tail spin. As a caretaker, Annie Mary is useless. As much as she tries to make a go at being a baker, she never makes it work. In desperation she turns to Mrs. Madoc, her father's girlfriend, to buy her out.As a way to help Bethan, Annie Mary and a few of the town's women, she decides to enter a contest in Cardiff. They have prepared to do a number of the Village People, "Y.M.C.A.", but they are horrified when they arrive at the hall where the competition is going to be held, and watch a group of men doing exactly their number, much better. The women decide to change their act into a sort of "Three Tenors" aria in which Annie Mary, wearing an inflated rubber suit, floats into the audience. Needless to say, they win, but emboldened by the turn of events in her life, she gambles all the money into a horse race and loses it.Annie Mary becomes Ogw's most hated person. What's more the trip to Disneyland is too late for Bethan, who suffers a relapse. It's at this point that Annie Mary finds her voice again and she gives her friend a rendition of Puccini's aria "O mio bambino caro" in a shaky voice that gets better as the scene changes to another location.Sara Sugarman, the writer and director of this screwball comedy was lucky in casting one of the most talented actresses working in films these days: Rachel Griffiths. Ms. Sugarman gets a tremendous performance out of Ms. Griffiths, who shows her range in a role she was born to play. Jonathan Pryce is also excellent as the distant father who can't see eye to eye with his daughter.Although sometimes the accents get a bit hard to follow, the luminous presence of Ms. Griffiths and the sure direction of Ms. Sugarman make us overlook that minor problem and enjoy the comedy.

Being Welsh and having visited Bargoed many times as a child, I was able to identify with the spew of peculiar characters this film had to offer. Sara Sugarman manages to poke fun at all aspects of the Welsh culture, but without being disrespectful and offensive. This is a first-rate comedy, which is easily on par with The Full Monty and East is East. The film is well-crafted and the performances are nuanced and executed with much conviction. With each viewing I notice something else, for example: the way the bumbling vicar peers up at the sky after hearing Annie Mary's angelic voice echo through the valleys, as if to imply a sound so beautiful could only come from one place. Viewing criteria:* get a curry * cwtch up to partner & * transport yourself to the distant land of Ogw