Must See Movie Monday - Little Voice

I couldn't find the trailer on YouTube, so movie clip it is then.


Film: Little Voice
Released: 1998
Rated: R
Director: Mark Herman
Starring: Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor
 Short Summary: Extremely soft spoken and shy, Little Voice (a.k.a LV), lives as a virtual recluse with her verbally abusive mother. However, at night when the ghost of  LV's father visits, she sings the songs of her dad's favorite singers. Imitating the voices of such divas as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Shirley Bassey. Of course her mother and the mother's boyfriend of the moment want to find a way to cash in on LV's unusual talent.

Why It's A Must See Movie

You would not believe how excited I was to find out that Little Voice is now on Netflix streaming. I literally flipped out because I love this movie, but I don't own it. I really should though because it is awesome, and I definitely think it is a movie that should be seen at least once in one's life time. It worked out perfectly that I could review Little Voice today because I was torn between reviewing a independent film or a Must See Movie and Little Voice allows me to do both at once. Yay!

I would like to say that I notice a ton of wonderful technical genius when I watch Little Voice. However, the truth is I don't actually think about that much when I am watching the film. Though all of those technical elements must be there or I probably wouldn't enjoy the film as much as I do. What I am really thinking about when watching Little Voice is the brilliance of the writing and characters.  It's one of those fabulous little stories that is very out of the box. It rides the line of being really unusual and being a story about average everyday people at the same time. I like that balance in the story.

The characters in this movie are so well acted and well developed. I love how endearing and adorably awkward LV (Jane Horrocks) and her friend Billy (Ewan McGregor) are. My favorite characters in books and movies are always the adorably awkward ones. You can't get anymore adorably awkward than Billy and LV.  Both actors completely make the quiet and quirky natures of these characters believable. I love seeing how LV develops through the story it just makes my heart sing. Speaking of singing, Jane Horrocks does all the singing in this movie. She seriously can do every one of the vocal impressions that are featured in this film, and every one of them is spot on. Which is probably why the play this movie is based on was written specifically for her. On the other hand I want to slap Brenda Blethyn and Michael Caine's characters up side the head. Which just simply means that they are very excellent actors playing very messed up characters excellently. Sometimes the true brilliance of a film lies in the hands of the actors playing the most unlikable characters. They are definitely good at playing unlikable people.

I highly suggest that everyone give Little Voice a viewing. If for no other reason than to see Jane Horrocks work her vocal magic. It's pretty darn cool.