Calendar Girls

An uplifting film about women exposing themselves for a cause, and then feeling all bummed out about being exploited. A flock of older women, played by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, among others, band together to make a nudie calendar in memory of one of their dead husbands. The world can’t believe they got naked, so it buys the calendar in droves and then ships the women from England to America so that they can be properly made fun of. A strange, strange movie that struggles to make something big out of something silly, providing little in the way of laughter and insight into why these women would choose to pose naked for worldwide viewing. Mirren acquits herself nicely with her usual good performance, but Walters seems lost with the material. A better movie would’ve been a simple documentary on the real women, because this is actually based on a true story!