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No consensus yet.
All Critics (18) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (8) | DVD (1)
An irresistible Japanese import, Hula Girls is a crowd-pleaser so comfortable with its own clichà (C)s that it goes down smoother than a mai tai on Maui. Sep 21, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
An irresistible Japanese import, Hula Girls is a crowd-pleaser so comfortable with its own clichà (C)s that it goes down smoother than a mai tai on Maui.
Jeff Shannon
Director Lee Sang-il employs every possible cliché as he shamelessly tries to manipulate viewers' emotions. Jul 13, 2007 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…
Director Lee Sang-il employs every possible cliché as he shamelessly tries to manipulate viewers' emotions.
V.A. Musetto
The dance floor is soon covered with syrupy melodrama. Jul 13, 2007 | Full Review…
The dance floor is soon covered with syrupy melodrama.
J. R. Jones
Slick cinematography makes this bland social comedy always watchable, but the movie has its insipid moments. Jul 13, 2007 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Slick cinematography makes this bland social comedy always watchable, but the movie has its insipid moments.
Bill Stamets
Hula Girls is the latest entry in a durable subgenre about marginalized eccentrics who learn a new skill and become better, stronger people. Jul 13, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Hula Girls is the latest entry in a durable subgenre about marginalized eccentrics who learn a new skill and become better, stronger people.
Matt Zoller Seitz
It's all warm, well-shot, instantly forgettable, and familiar to a fault. Jul 10, 2007 | Full Review…
It's all warm, well-shot, instantly forgettable, and familiar to a fault.
Aaron Hillis
Lee has created a film that is endearing, heartfelt and at times very funny. Apr 4, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Lee has created a film that is endearing, heartfelt and at times very funny.
Francesca Rudkin
This bitter sweet dramedy sits alongside films such as The Full Monty as it follows a group of coalminers' daughters turning into hula girls. Apr 11, 2008 | Full Review…
This bitter sweet dramedy sits alongside films such as The Full Monty as it follows a group of coalminers' daughters turning into hula girls.
Urban Cinefile Critics
There's nothing new in this very formulaic let's-put-on-a-show drama. Nov 18, 2007 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…
There's nothing new in this very formulaic let's-put-on-a-show drama.
Don Willmott
An eminently likeable, well-made film. Sep 8, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
An eminently likeable, well-made film.
Janos Gereben
While he's coasting through on his story, [Lee] concentrates on giving his movie a great big heart. Either that, or this tired old tale simply sounds better in Japanese. Aug 30, 2007 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
While he's coasting through on his story, [Lee] concentrates on giving his movie a great big heart. Either that, or this tired old tale simply sounds better in Japanese.
Jeffrey M. Anderson
While the outline of the film's plot is fairly standard and predictable, director Lee Sang-il and his co-screenwriter Daisuke Habara have concocted enough obstacles ... to keep the audience's interest. When the film reaches its climax ... it arrives there Jul 14, 2007 | Rating: B | Full Review…
While the outline of the film's plot is fairly standard and predictable, director Lee Sang-il and his co-screenwriter Daisuke Habara have concocted enough obstacles ... to keep the audience's interest. When the film reaches its climax ... it arrives there
Ted Murphy
I'm amazed that this film is already in the database. While I was watching it, I thought: "Gotta tell flixster to include this one." And here it is. Even if this weren't based on actual events, this movie would be worth watching if you enjoy dance, and especially if you like hula.
The hula revolution is in full swing these days. The last time I checked, there were more than 8,000 hula halau (dance troupes) located throughout Japan. That Japan loves Hawai`i and vice versa is abundantly apparent these days, but this movie is set in 1965-66, when launching your own halau was a bit of a mysterious and perhaps perilous adventure. Surely this group was a pioneering one, and that is a story worth telling.
An added bonus is that the film is scored by Hawai`i ukulele legend Jake Shimabukuro http://jakeshimabukuro.com/ . His soundtrack won the 2007 Japanese Academy Award for Best Sound Recording.
Super Reviewer
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