Golden Oldie of the 90's - Little Voice

I know I know, dubbing a 90's film a Golden Oldie is probably axiomatic. I mean even I was alive when this one was released in 1998. Nevertheless I truly believe and mean to impress that Little Voice is a truly shimmering example of a wonderful film, and this is me recommending it highly.
Set in and filmed in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Little Voice tells the charming tale of a cripplingly shy girl, played by Jane Horrocks, who has a wonderful talent for mimicking famous voices, and particularly famous singers. Through the pressure of her selfish, domineering mother and a sly 3rd rate manager (played to a tee by Brenda Blethyn and Michael Caine respectively) she is given a relative shot at the big time.

Unlike other musicals, British or otherwise, I don't feel Little Voice sacrifices a great story for the sake of squeezing show-stopping music into the narrative, nor vice versa. The balance is perfect in my view, music lovers are treated to beautiful renditions of timeless classics, flowing through a story crafted and performed to perfection.
As some of you might know by now, when reviewing a film or a TV programme, I place emphasis on the characters within it, and the performance of the actors behind them. Little Voice is no exception, for like anything, musical or not, the quality of performance is key, and I really do feel the core group of characters/performances are what makes this film.

I am a big fan of Jane Horrocks generally, but she is truly sublime as LV; the star of the show, perhaps unsurprisingly, when it comes to Little Voice. To have sung all of the songs to such high standard, which she did, would be stupendous enough, but there is much more to her than that I feel. Every second we see her on screen, I feel Jane Horrocks provides us with a character that is a uniquely perfect blend of fragile, adorable, beautiful, mesmerizing, show-stopping, confident, layered, emotive, talented, and at the end of the day incredibly watchable and lovable.

As I say, she is supported by a marvelous group of wonderful actors providing perfect performances in their own right. Michael Caine and Brenda Blethyn have every right to be praised for their portrayals of Ray Say and Mari; they are a joy to watch. We also get a wonderfully charming, funny and oddly vulnerable Mr. Boo, supplied by the perfectly cast Jim Broadbent. We even get to see an early but greatly received early film performance from Ewan McGregor.

Little Voice truly is a great film, whether you're into musical films or not, judge it upon its own merits, and I think you'll find it remarkable. Great characters, wonderful actors, beautiful music and narrative, just the right amounts of comedy and drama, and oodles of heart; Little Voice has it all. This story has lost none of its popularity in all the time it has been with us, and is probably already a classic film in its own right. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to. I do not believe you will regret it.