The Sapphires Reviews

Enjoyed this. The romance at the end felt forced to me, and I didn't buy it, but overall it was a nice little movie which dragged just a little in the middle. The girl's voices were beautiful and it is quite feel good despite the underlying sad message.

Chris O' Dowd is awesome.

Love that this is based on a true story. And it's fascinating to see the Aboriginal people taking on the acts of 1960's US black performers even though their origins and spirits are far from the same. The music is great, the performances super and in the end you feel good and want to dance!

'The Sapphires'. Its few clunky moments fall by the wayside when that fantastic soundtrack kicks in, and the film ends on a real high. Mauboy and O'Dowd are very good!

Based on a true story, "The Sapphires" is the tale of four aboriginal girls who formed a soul group to entertain American troops in Vietnam.
It's unfairly been labelled "The Australian Commitments" but this is a technically far superior movie. Australia has been producing a lot of quality film-makers and director Blair gives us the sort of good-natured fun movie Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to make. With it's vivid colors, "The Sapphires" recalls the golden age of Hollywood musicals and the first number is a homage to "West Side Story".
O'Dowd is a likeable presence as the loveable rogue who manages the group and introduces them to the joy of soul music. If you're not a fan of soul music you'll struggle to enjoy the movie but, let's face it, if you don't appreciate soul music you'll probably struggle to enjoy life itself.
This year, Australians have given us quality arthouse fare with "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Hunter" and here they successfully take on Hollywood at their own game. "The Sapphires" proves you can be light and breezy without being trite and cheesy. It's cinema you can tap your foot to, how can you not enjoy that?

It seems that what the Australian Public really wants is a feel good home grown feature film, and by the looks of it "The Sapphires" fits that criteria. Its about a group of Aboriginal girls; Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) from central Australia who dream of musical success and through Dave (Chris O'Dowed) they find themselves travelling to Vietnam to entertain the troops there. This film work as a heartwarming musical drama with enough wit and humour that hit their mark. All the major cast members give supurb performances and the four leads have great voices. So if your looking for something unique and entertaining then get your asses down to "The Sapphires", its sure to be a lot of fun!

Despite the back drop of the Vietnam War and the racism directed at the Aborigines in Australia circa 1967, "The Sapphires" shines as the first feel-good movie of 2013. Great songs along with some nice acting especially by O'Dowd made this a very satisfying experience. (3-19-13)

This is a movie you can't help enjoy and a movie which understands and realistically shows how the power of good music can be a universal phenomena. Based on a true story, you get laughs, drama and a feel good conclusion. It can be predictable and even sugary sweet but I left the theater feeling good. The acting is very good and the music soundtrack is dynamite. Chris O'Dowd gives a strong and likable performance and also great are Mauboy, Mailman, Sebbens and Tapsell as the Sapphires. A movie definitely worth a trip to the cinema for.

03-19-2013

Call it Dreamgirls down under. It's also a blast pf pure musical joy. There's also social ills and harsh truths at the center of this music-based drama, notably the fact that an Aboriginal female soul group had to transcend racial barriers to entertain troops in Vietnam in 1968. Writer Tony Briggs transformed the true story of his mother and her girl group into a stage play in 2004, and now, with assist from screenwriter Keith Thompson and director Wayne Blair, making his feature debut, it's now an outstanding film that is too good to resist. It has some bumps along the way, but overall its a powerful movie that'll worm its way into your heart.

The Aboriginal girl group consisting of Gail (Deborah Mailman), Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) and vocal powerhouse Julie (Jessica Mauboy) are getting nowhere singing country & western covers, but then comes Dave Lovelace (Chris O'Dowd), an Irish boozehound playing piano in dingy pubs. He sees something special in the girls, especially when they tear into a soul number. Adding their snob cousin Kay (Shari Sebbens) and ignoring family wishes to try and pass for white in Melbourne, the girls take their talent on a tour of Vietnam, now calling themselves the Sapphires.

Dave becomes their manager and musical director. As much as he believes in the girls he still has clashes with sharp-tongued Gail (Mailman is a keeper), whose hostility to him conceals her real feelings. As for O'Dowd, he gives a performance like nothing you've ever seen him in. Best known for his role on the Brit comedy The IT Crowd, as well as turns in Bridesmaids and Friends With Kids, O'Dowd is a born scene-stealer, but his performance in The Sapphires is deeper than anything he's ever done, worthy of all kinds of awards. He's funny and nuanced all at once. Sometimes the film tries your patience with clunsy sentiment but it never distracts from The Sapphires themselves rocking out Motown classics. It's an absolute treat.

I totally enjoyed the journey of these four aborignal (black) girls. It was a history lesson with great singing and humor. Jessica Mauboy and Director Wayne Blair came to the screening. Jessica sang a beautiful song after the screening. In theatres 4/5 (in limited release now in some cities).

Really enjoyed this charming Aussie film about an Aboriginal girl band and their manager who leave their small hometown to travel to Vietnam during the war to entertain the troops with their soul music. It's a nice feel-good movie with fine performances from its charismatic cast and the music is terrific too.

On its surface 'The Sapphires' is about a quartet's dream of stardom set against '60s racism - but 'The Sapphires' works because it also weaves a complex web of character dynamic into its story.

In short: Set in the late '60s, four Aboriginal sisters dream of becoming pop superstars in Australia, but they must face rampant and destructive racism against Aboriginals. A washed-up, drunken piano player takes the four girls under his wing as they become singers in a USO tour of Vietnam, all in their pursuit of music super stardom.

'The Sapphires' is a sweet, fun, heartwarming but sometimes vulgar drama where the girls are the heart & soul, but rising star Chris O'Dowd ('Bridesmaids, 'The IT Crowd') keeps the story entertaining.

Simply put, this drama explores how far these girls are willing to go to become superstars like 'The Supremes.' The film's first half excellently navigates the Australian racism of the era. While the girls themselves are subjected to racial slurs and second-class citizenship, there is also discrimination within the group itself. Although all four girls in the group are Aboriginal, one of the girls - who had a Caucasian mother - passes for Caucasian herself ... this is perfectly played for dramatic conflict and an illustration of the complexity of Aussie racism.

The movie's second half follows the group as they join a USO tour across the incredibly dangerous terrain of Vietnam. These girls must become more and more professional in their performances as they face the horrors of the Vietnam conflict.

While the girls handle most of the dramatic elements, O'Dowd excellently injects humor in all the right places. In lesser hands, his slovenly and snarky manager could have been a drastic, out-of-place contrast to the earnest efforts of the girls group - but O'Dowd perfectly allows dramatic moments to breathe and knows just how to deliver a comedic jab without seeming inappropriate. He is charming and commands his scenes.

'The Sapphires' looks racism and war directly in the eyes and doesn't shy away from the ugliness of bigotry or violence. These young woman had lived insulated lives in their small Australian communities, however, this story thrusts them into the big city and Vietnam war zones. The film lets the girls experiences speak volumes and change each of the four girls as their journeys move forward.

But it is only the combined effort of the four girls and O'Dowd that results in such a joyous and entertaining film. The film's conflicts never descend into hopeless melodrama. 'The Sapphires' pulls the characters together in their most desperate moments - and its then the film truly shines.

From a narrative point of view, the epilogue-via-textblock was slightly dissatisfying. Biopics should be treated as self-contained narratives with a beginning, middle and end to the story - but the epilogue-via-textblock is a workaround used too often and usually in a matter-of-fact or manipulative manner. Without spoiling how 'Sapphires' ends, the film concludes on an upbeat note, while the epilogue text reveals what became of the girls later on in life. The problem with 'Sapphires' ending, however, is the epilogue carries far more emotional weight than the film's final scene.

Final verdict: This is a true hidden gem of a film - totally worth seeing.

This is an excellent, up-beat, feel good, and entertaining flic. Based upon a book about a real girl-group from Australia. The girls learn USA soul music
and take a job entertaining troops during the Vietnam War. The screen play was partially written by the son of one of these singers. So, there is some sentimentality involved. But, this is a well made film. And, the singing sequences are very good.

All four of the women have romantic adventures. There is some war time peril. But, mostly, alls well in the end.

If you are looking for an emotional lift; this is the movie for you.

Yay! I'm so glad I finally got to see this film. It lives up to it's feel good description,

The best movie I've seen so far this year. It's a true story that will bring a tear to your eye....unless you have a heart of stone!

It seemed very old -fashioned to me - but musically very sweet!

This movie is so much fun. The acting is not terrible, there is genuine chemistry between Chris Dowd and Deborah Mailman and the songs will make you want to sing along. I always cringe a little when I see an Australian movie because usually the script is clunky and contrived and the acting is a bit off. Not so with the sapphires. This movies delivers on all the right notes and is an aboslutely cringe-free experience. Jessica Mauboy shows that she is a genuine talent with a great future ahead of her in acting and singing role. The other newcombers to the cast also give great performances, especially the dad! I really had a lot of fun watching this movie and hope that others will see it to support great Australian cinema.

Music performance parts are good and convincing, most of the time. I was shocked how early it ended, leaving certain characters I cared for far underdeveloped, and a lot of potential for intensity and development it had left over, robbed.

Quite an awesome film. Grabs you from the first seconds, and then delights you non-stop until even after the ending, when they show you what these girls are doing today. Going to see it again. A real treat.