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Little Voice is based on Jim Cartwright’s play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which premiered in 1992 at the National Theatre in London. Horrocks, whose delightful impersonations bring Garland and Monroe back to life, also starred in the stage version. Mark Herman, the writer/director of Brassed Off, adapted Cartwright’s play and directed the film. While Herman may have seemed a good choice because of his earlier success, an adaptation involving British working-class characters not unlike Mari and Ray Say, his screenplay misses the mark. It spends too much time on minor characters like Ray and his sidekick, club owner Mr. Boo (Jim Broadbent), in an attempt to externalize Little Voice’s interior struggle. In her quest to create a life beyond her room, Little Voice confronts something far more profound than the machinations of these unscrupulous men: her mother’s insensitivity and jealousy. Herman’s screenplay trivializes the psychological and spiritual aspects of Little Voice’s struggle to make herself heard over her mother’s screeching criticism. Perhaps the adaptation to film was a mistake altogether, but, in any case, this is a story that calls for a more experienced screenwriter and director.

What rescues the film somewhat are the performances by Horrocks and by Ewan McGregor as Billy, a pigeon fancier who works as a telephone installer. He is drawn to Little Voice’s shyness and to her separateness, qualities he shares. Together, they seem to rise above the gritty, working-class reality of this seaside town, he with his pigeons and Little Voice with her music. McGregor, who appeared in Brassed Off and in Trainspotting, shows a different side here, an ability to handle an introverted and emotionally complex character. Horrocks is nothing short of magnificent. Aside from her remarkable ability to impersonate-her renditions of ‘Daddy’ and ‘I Want to Be Loved by You’ will send chills up your spine-she manages to embody the archetypal struggle for identity in a way that transcends any attempt to trivialize it. Caine’s and Blethyn’s performances are marred by Herman’s direction-they’re too often over the top. In a small role as Sadie, Mari’s friend, Annette Badland (Hollow Reed, Angels & Insects), who has even fewer spoken lines than Little Voice, is quite memorable.

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In New York, the washed-up singer Alex Fletcher has a decadent career singing his old hits in amusement parks, school reunions or dinner parties to survive. In the 80′s, he was a successful singer of the band POP with Collin Thompson, but when his partner split, his solo-career was a complete failure. His manager and friend Chris Riley schedules a meeting with the successful teen singer Cora Corman and Alex has a chance to be promoted in a show if he delivers a new song for Cora’s concert in the end of the week. Alex has difficulties to put lyrics in his melody, but he accidentally discovers Sophie Fisher, who is temporarily watering his plants and proves to be a sensitive poet and efficient lyricist. Their song is approved by Cora, but they disagree about her interpretation, while they fall in love for each other.

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Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) is a brilliant cellist who has just finish performing a concert in New York City. Lyla goes out on the town with her girlfriend and end up at a party near New Yorks Washington Square. She meets Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) an Irish guitar player. They share the love of music and end up falling in love and bonding together that night. It was the most wonderful night in Lylas life. Lyla must rush back to the hotel where her father Thomas (William Sadler) is waiting for her. Lyla promised to meet Louis in Washington Square, but her father forces her to go to her next concert. They are like two ships that pass in the night, never to see each other again, except for the fact that Lyla is now with child. Sadly, Lyla is in a car accident and the unborn child is lost. Eleven years pass and Lylas father is on his death bed, and he must tell her the truth that he secretly gave Lylas baby boy up for adoption. August Rush (Freddie Highmore) is her child, who was born with the gift to hear music all around him. He believes that he will find his parents if they only hear his music, because they are truly bonded by their music.

Where Can I Find this Flick?