Calendar Girls

Plot synopsis:
When Annie Clarke's husband John dies from leukaemia at an early age, her close friend Chris Harper, anxious to purchase a comfortable sofa for the visitors' lounge in the hospital where he was treated, hits upon the idea of printing a calendar featuring some of the members of the Knapely branch of the Women's Institute discreetly posing nude while engaged in traditional WI activities, such as baking and knitting, in order to raise funds. Her proposal initially is met with great scepticism, but she eventually convinces ten women to participate in the project with her. They enlist one of the hospital workers, an amateur photographer named Lawrence, to help them with the concept.
The head of the local Women's Institute branch refuses to sanction the calendar, and Chris and Annie go to a national congress of the Women's Institute in London to plead their case. They are told the final decision rests with the local leader, who grudgingly agrees to the calendar's sale. The initial printing quickly sells out, and before long the tiny village is bombarded with members of the international media anxious to report the feel-good story.
The women are invited to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles. While there, tensions arise between Chris and Annie. All the publicity surrounding the calendar has taken a toll on their personal lives, and they lash out at each other in angry frustration. Annie accuses Chris of ignoring her husband and son and the demands of the family business in favour of her newfound celebrity, while Chris believes Annie welcomes the Mother Teresa-like status to which she's been elevated that allows her to cater to the ill and bereaved who have bombarded her with fan mail. All is resolved eventually, and the women return home to resume life as it was before they removed their clothing.

Tags: dramatic

Review:
Annie´s best friend Chris (Helen Mirren)comes up with the idea of a nude calendar with the women of the W.I. club to raise money for a settee at the leukemia ward at the local hospital.
At first everybody is quite suspicious but the calendar turns out as a tremendous success which brings the girls even to Hollywood.I have rarely ever seen such a heart-warming and inspiring film.
(My favourite scene was the one with the oregano-joint ;-).) As most British comedies the actors were fabulous and the jokes did not seem constructed like they do in most Hollywood productions.This film is a hymn for all middle aged women.
"The women of Yorkshire are like the flowers of Yorkshire in the last state of their lives they look best."This film is highly recommendable for everybody even if you just want to see the beautiful landscape of Yorkshire..
One of the most delightful films of recent years, `Calendar Girls,' a distaff version of `The Full Monty,' is the true story of a group of middle-aged English women who became international celebrities when they designed and posed for a nude fundraising calendar that sold millions of copies worldwide.
Julie Walters and Helen Mirren head a wonderful cast, with Walters as a woman whose husband dies of leukemia and Mirren as her best friend who comes up with the idea of the calendar as a way of both honoring his memory and raising money for the local hospital.
`Calendar Girls' is heartwarming, touching and inspiring  and what more could one ask from a `feel-good' film than that?.
Based on a true story, eleven members of a women's institute group decide to pose nude for a rather untraditional annual calendar to raise money for charity.With an all star cast lead by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, we go on a journey through the ridicule and resistance that the ladies had to endure to achieve this amazing feat, which ultimately raised millions.Calendar Girls is brilliantly performed and directed, and it has many heart wrenching tales that lie beneath the main story, each pertaining to the girls own reasons and drives to fight for what eventually became a mammoth success.Heart Warming, Funny, Charming and Entertaining, undoubtedly a winner on every level.8/10.
Based on the true story of a few society women in England who decide to do a quasi-nude calendar to raise money for a cancer center.
Inspired in his speech to the local Women's Institute, where he said that "the flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire", and "the last phase of the women of Yorkshire is always the most glorious", her best friend Chris Harper (Helen Mirren) decides to make a calendar with twelve local middle-age women nude to raise funds for the wing of leukemia treatment in the local hospital.
The calendar becomes well succeeded, making them famous and affecting their lives."Calendar Girls" is a good dramatic comedy, with an interesting screenplay and great performances of Julie Walters and Helen Mirren.
It is unfortunate that Calendar Girls isn't the sort of movie that gets nominated for Oscars because, in my opinion (for what that's worth) this movie would have won hands down!It is good, clean fun without needing any of the profanity or gratuitous sex or violence that seems to define nominated films these days.
Yet is ISN'T "sanitized" or ridiculously "cleaned up" for family viewing - and, what's more, it's based on a true story!I laughed myself to tears at everyday little incidents that were just SO believable and, to be honest, anyone who didn't thoroughly enjoy Calendar Girls has a severe mental disability where they they live in a fantasy world full-time!This is one of those very few movies that you can watch again and again and still laugh your head off.
They had a good laugh doing it, and the calendar had its 15 minutes of fame, helping to boost the contribution to charity beyond a million quid.A soundbite of a story, but hardly a film.
It is based on a true story, and that makes a difference - in fact, the most fun I had was watching the DVD extras when the real Women's Institute ladies talk about their experiences.Calendar Girls is a genre film, ticking off all the boxes.
The concept is pretty basic, an untimely death spurs a group of middle aged women to try and help the widow purchase a sofa for the family room at the hospital where her husband died, but it's how the story unfolds that makes this such a lovely movie.
Much like one would expect out of a crisply produced, professionally acted British film, Calendar Girls delivers feel good without the big whoops and roaring laughter that accompanies its American counterparts.
"Calendar Girls" is a mildly amusing film based upon actual events about a group of mature women in England who, in order to raise money, spice up the annual fund-raising calendar by appearing nude.
Patrick Doyle's score is soothing and whimsical and Nigel Cole's direction is in perfect keeping with the gentle tone of the film without losing the pace.A huge part of 'Calendar Girls' appeal is the cast, everybody does well but particularly excellent are Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
This film is about a group of brave middle aged women who tries to raise money by posing nude in a charity calendar."Calendar Girls" chronicles their internal struggles, family pressures and the hardships they have to endure, all simply because they are charitable and want to raise money for a good cause.
Starring some of the 'whos who' of British film and TV this is a touching film based on the true story of the Yorkshire WI that decided to produce their annual calandar featuring the ladies in the nude performing the usual things that WI women do - like flower arranging or cooking cakes.Note that there is no nudity in this film as everything is tastefully covered up - added to the fact that all the ladies are middle aged.
Great performances from Helen Mirren - looking great for her years, Julie Walters and Celia Imrie who I will never look at in the same way again.There is some lovely comedy mixed with the tragedy of losing a loved one to cancer that makes you literally laugh while crying.There are the usual picture postcard British locations and a little bit of slush - with some strange Yorkshire accents - these were forgivable given the overall quality.I am loathed to compare this to any other movie - but will say that if you enjoyed Local Hero and the Full Monty you will find something in this for you.All in all, an inspirational story that shows just what can be achived with one simple idea..
Initially a blithe, lightly charming true story of two fifty-something girlfriends who spearhead their stuffy women's group in an English village into backing a nude calendar made up of the elderly club members (with proceeds going to charity, of course).
Julie Walters and Helen Mirren were both good in their respective roles, and the film could be both funny and moving at times, but was never anything more than fairly average light entertainment.
"The Full Monty" has a lot to answer for!"Calendar Girls" is set in a branch of the Women's Institute in northern England where best friends Anne (Julie Walters) and Chris (Helen Mirren) tire of the relentless tirade of boring speeches and endlessly singing "Jerusalem".
It's a perfect blend of tragedy and comedy and ultimately, that's the sort of thing that the film's audience is looking for.On the flip side, I did feel it went on for too long and there were still aspects of the story that weren't fully explored such as the impact on Helen Mirren's son (John-Paul Macleod) or what happens to the women after the publicity died down.
If you're drawn to it because you think it's a goofy comedy, as the advertisements for it would have you believe, be warned---it's got a good deal of humour, but it's also a very serious film, much more so than "Monty." Helen Mirren and Julie Walters do fine work in the film's lead roles.
While I know it was based on a true story, there was something about the characters and the way that it was filmed that had me rooting for these women from the beginning.
Helen Mirren leads a group of English women in posing semi-nude for a calendar to raise money for a hospital where one of the women's husbands died of cancer a short time before.
Now it is true that this did happen in real life but as a movie I would have liked to have seen the film tie itself up in a little more lengthy manner.
A group of middle-aged ladies belonging to a feminine institute or association in a small Yorkshire town, that among other activities promoted charity sales to help humanitarian causes followed and accepted an odd but funny decision of one of their fellow members of posing naked (but conveniently disguised) for photos of a calendar each of them being a month.
'Calender Girls' is a charming little British comedy about a group of middle-aged women who go against convention when they decide to create and pose for a calender in order to buy a sofa for the hospital and raise money for the fight against leukemia.
They, and fellow members of the Knapely Womens Institute, will pose in some strategically nude pictures and sell them as a calendar!.Based on a true story, and following on from the roaring success of 1997s The Full Monty, it was a story just begging to be adapted for the big screen.
The cast are uniformly excellent, Julie Walters, Helen Mirren {gorgeous}, Linda Basset, Annette Crosbie and Geraldine James are particularly memorable in telling this tale of a close-knit village quite unsure on how to deal with a touchy subject-and then the following press sensationalism that shifts the girls {and sadly the film} to another plane.The picture manages to be that rare old thing of a comedy drama actually impacting heavy on both fronts, the comedy moments are joyous and flow frequently for the first two thirds of the picture, whilst the touching drama, of what is a serious subject at its core after all, really touches a nerve.
They're going use local members in the photographs - and they're going to do it naked.Needless to say this idea not only causes quite a stir in their small Yorkshire village, but also in the W.I. itself, but these are feisty women and not ones to be put off by the disdain of others.Annie (Julie Walters  HARRY POTTER, BILLY ELLIOTT, EDUCATING RITA) has recently lost her beloved husband John to Leukaemia and wants to use the calendar to raise money to buy a sofa, in his memory, for the waiting room in the local hospital.
The 'Naked Truth' documentary on the DVD introduces you to the real life calendar girls upon whom the story is based and the other doc shows the actresses creating a second calendar for 2004 which was sold for the same good cause as the original.
(Well, they're nude, but neither we nor the calendar actually shows any nudity; the view of each women is blocked by strategically placed props.)This is a pretty thin story line, and I think the director and writers struggled to add enough sub-plots to fill out the movie.
This one is based on a true story about a chapter of the Women's Institute (kind of the English version of the Junior league but much lower key) who did a tasteful nude calendar to raise money.The ladies of this particular WI chapter have their quirks from the headstrong Annie (Helen Mirren) to the eager to please Chris (Julie Waters).
The film tries to show the good consequences and bad consequences of making a nude calendar for charity purposes, but instead ends up trying to turn every consequence into a humorous situation, sending the message that there could not possibly be any negative consequences all.
True, "mature" ladies represent only a small proportion of the population, so probably only a small number of people will really like this movie, but I give it an 8, for taking a real life instance and making its story line funny and sentimental in a tasteful manner..
"Calendar Girls" was one of my most eagerly anticipated films of 2003, on the strength of the trailer (or preview) and the casting of Helen Mirren and Julie Walters in the leading roles.
But, to use the calendar metaphor, it was not a red-letter day for me when I finally saw the film.The women in the cast are uniformly excellent, each beautiful in her own way, "like the flowers of Yorkshire", as the dying John Clark says in writing his own eulogy.
This is basically a light-hearted romp - with some serious side themes - through a small English town with a fun group of middle-aged and older ladies who decide that it might be a hoot if their annual organization's calendar fundraiser (usually a flop) included nude (not naked!) shots of the ladies doing the domestic things that they do.While much of the film is predictable (it was based on an actual event), you will laugh and cryand then laugh and cry some more.
Helen Mirren displays good comic timing which she has had little option to use previously and while the other women were also excellent in their performances it was Julie Walters quietly grieving wife which really gave this film it's edge.
It was absolutely right to keep the movie - part from the money - a totally British affair with a British director Nigel Cole and a wonderful cast list of British actresses of a certain age, led by the splendid Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, supported by Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, Annette Crosbie and Linda Bassett (all very familiar to British viewers).
There are some lovely lines in the script, with the best one possibly being "We're going to need much bigger buns" (see the film and you'll see why I laughed so much), but there is also pathos, some drama and a little reflection, before the whole thing loses its way somewhat towards the end.
This is not in the same league as "The Full Monty" - with which it is (inevitably) compared - but it is a a delightful, feel-good movie that provides a rare opportunity for middle-aged women to carry a film plus splendid views of the Yorkshire Dales that will help the local tourist business.
Julie Waters, Helen Mirren, Geraldine James, John Alderton, all household names to us Brits, plus the other lesser known actors all give sterling performances.The story is emotional and is handled very sensitively using humour and appropriate dialogue.I never thought I would find the W.I. so entertaining, thinking it was all "jam and Jerusalem" I expected a boring fuddy duddy production.One downside to seeing the movie in theatres is you will miss so much of the dialogue due to an hysterical audience.
Based on a true story, eleven middle-aged Englishwomen pose nude for their annual Women's Institute calendar as a fund-raiser for the local hospital.
Chris (Helen Mirren) gets the idea to raise money for the hospital after Annie's (Julie Walters) husband dies of leukemia.
I hmmmed and haaaed over the cover for several months before actually taking the time last night to watch it, and as I said before, was pleasantly surprised.All of the actresses in this film really make it terrific and for their age they are all very classy, beautiful, attractive women.I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys; British humor, true stories and real life situations...:)The fact that the previews make it look stupid, make me angry, because the previews were the main reason why I didn't want to see it...but after viewing it, it's definitely a movie I would like to see again..
Summing up the movie in a paragraph is probably just as well quoted from the Famous Players website:This film tells the true (but slightly fictionalized) story of 11 middle-aged women, ages 45 to 60, from the small village of Rylstone in Yorkshire, England who posed naked for the annual calendar of local branch of the Women's Institute, to raise money for medical research, after one of the husband, John Baker, of one of the members, Angela Baker (Walters), becomes terminally ill from leukemia.It stars Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Middle-aged women creating a calendar which depicts them as semi-nude to raise money for a sofa for the local hospital lounge may not sound like enough to make an entire movie, but it is.
Overall, 'Calendar Girls' is a good movie to watch..
As someone who was fortunate enough to be at the world premiere of Calendar Girls in September last year, and to have met Angela Baker (the inspiration for Julie Walters' character) on several occasions, I would like to say that this is an amazing true story beautifully realised on film.In real life the "Girls" are just as inspiring, funny and brave as you expect them to be.
`Calendar Girls' is a fresh comedy about a group of twelve women who want to raise money for a local hospital to help fight leukemia.
Based on a true story, `Calendar Girls' tells the tale of Annie (Julie Walters), whose husband John (John Alderton) has recently died due to cancer.
Feeling that his death was in vain and seeing how her Women's Institute is planning on raising money for a charitable cause, Annie and her friend Chris (Helen Mirren) decide to pose nude for a calendar.
It is not a laugh a minute comedy there are some funny moments but the film really is about ordinary women in their fifties trying to do some charity work by doing the extraordinary i.e. posing nude to sell calendars.