Calendar Girls

Review by Jason Donner

Hey, it was a chick flick night. What can I say? After sitting through the experience that was Honey, I sat through another movie that appeals to women folk and, much to my shock, I really enjoyed this one.

Inspired by a true story, Calendar Girls tells the tale of a group of older 50 to 60-ish English women who set out to raise money in the memory of one of their husbands for leukemia research by posing nude on a calendar.

I know, the very idea of that may send some of you guy's hackles bristling, but trust me... this is a cute movie.

The calendar sells like crazy and soon, all of them are in the center of a media circus that sweeps England and crosses the Atlantic to America.

Even though you can tell that the "true" story behind this movie has been stretched, the movie still gets ludicrously overly dramatic, and - as in all women empowerment movies - all the men are unsympathetic jackasses --  this is a very cute and light-hearted little movie.

Personally, even though it was trying to teach a lesson about beauty and friendship, I didn't take a lot out of it. Granted, the motivations behind this film are admirable, but I thought they for a while they came off as too preachy and the movie really shifts into what feels like a different movie near the end when the ladies go to Hollywood.

Despite this, Calendar Girls is a cute funny movie that isn't nearly as agonizing as most chick flicks are. It's a sweet good-humored comedy that never turns cynical or nasty and, for that, I give it a very cheerful recommendation.