LITTLE VOICE A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
Painfully shy but with an amazing ability to mimic the songs and voices of classic entertainers, including Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holliday, LV appears at first to be a mute. Her mother says that LV, short for Little Voice, is called that "on account of being soft-spoken like." LV eventually speaks in her own, whispery voice in the film LITTLE VOICE, but her preferred means of expression is to belt out some old song like "Over the Rainbow."
As LV, Jane Horrocks, in a stunning performance, is so completely unlike the anorexic she played in LIFE IS SWEET that most viewers will have trouble believing it is the same actress.
The movie begins with Michael Caine playing a promoter who is known as the "king of cabaret" and the "manager of miracles." He dresses in gaudy shirts and tons of gold jewelry in a failed attempt to recapture his long-lost youth. The agent is currently managing a topless dancer without much talent, but he's dating LV's obnoxious mother, played by Brenda Blethyn from SECRETS & LIES.
The mother is as crude and unlikable as LV is delicate and winsome. The mother hates and resents LV, calling her "dumb and selfish" and claiming that all she does is "whimper and whine."
LV developed her considerable talent through endless sessions listening to the old phonograph records once owned by her revered, deceased father. His picture hangs on the wall over her bed in the spot reserved frequently for crucifixes.
When Cain's character hears LV sing, he sees her as his gold mine in the making. He books her into the local club, where, after a disastrous first appearance, she eventually becomes a big hit. The long, energetic scene of her bravado performance is the movie at its best. Great period songs are belted out by Horrocks herself -- no lip syncing in this movie.
The story contains many needless extra characters and subplots. One involves a telephone installer who has a wayward homing pigeon, and another concerns a standup comic who isn't funny.
The movie, written and directed by Mark Herman, is based on the play "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice" by Jim Cartwright, in which Horrocks also starred. Although Horrocks's characterization is phenomenal, the rest of the story is not as strong or as fresh. The film's ending is a manipulative tearjerker that it is an unbelievable plot device better suited for some other movie.
LITTLE VOICE has many magical sequences, but it never quite lives up to the promise of its premise. Stripped away of the uninteresting supporting characters and refocused on LV, the film would be infinitely better. And rather than one big singing number, give her two or three. Horrocks deserves them.
LITTLE VOICE runs 1:39. It is rated R for mature themes, brief nudity and profanity and would be fine for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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