Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
stu-626-323623
This film gathers together just about every contemporary Welsh actor, with the exception of Antony Hopkins and Michael Sheen (who probably have better agents?) and just about every cliché of 'life in the valleys'. The only thing that missing is the sheep sh******! Welsh tenors, chapels, bread (of heaven), the only gays in the village, 33 yr old virgins, fish and chips and cross dressing performers. Cerys Matthews had the good sense to be missing after her first scene. Even Mary Hopkin was thrown in for good measure. One reviewer mentioned Dylan Thomas in the same breath -turn in his grave he would! Rachel Griffiths is probably acting her socks off but she shouldn't have wasted her time. If you want a good Welsh feel-good comedy 'Hunky Dory' is a better bet.
ianlouisiana
Annie Mary has a decidedly fraught relationship with her widowed father who puts her down at every opportunity and never ceases to remind her how inferior she is to her mother who died when Annie Mary was 15 and on the brink of a career in opera.At that time the poor girl put aside her chance of fame and fortune to concentrate on helping her father run his bakery business in a small Welsh village.Bullied,downtrodden,with little sense of self - worth,she seems destined for a life of perpetual misery until her father is struck down by a stroke.................... "Very Annie Mary" sounds like a movie that could have sunk in its own morass of self - pity but in fact it celebrates all the small (and not so small) victories that make human life so memorably uncertain,unpredictable and gloriously serendipitous for most of us. The people are not the mealy -mouthed BBC Mafia Welsh but the wonderfully verbose vibrant types celebrated by Dylan Thomas,people from whose mouths the words come tumbling out unchecked,they celebrate life rather than endure it,exactly the opposite to the characters in so many British turn - of - the - century comedy/dramas that are far better known. Briliiantly played by a cast that looks and sounds exactly right,"Very Annie Mary" is a movie that will both concern and enchant you. It's about living,sweating,swearing,loving,hating,lying and truthing human beings,infuriating,depressing and funny - just like you and me. This is what life is really like - increase your appetite for it by watching this uplifting movie.
fedor8
One of those quirky British movies; fortunately, this one has a couple of great laughs: when Griffiths makes her first attempts at baking and distributing bread, and when she pumps her suit with gas and floats in the air. Other amusing moments are when she re-paints the house to the utter (helpless) dismay of her crippled, stroke-stricken father, Pryce, and when she offers money to a stuffy, nerdy Baptist to have sex with her. The first half is solid, and then things pick up when Pryce is put out of commission by a stroke; things get funny from then on, although there is also some sentimentality towards the end (not at all badly done, considering it's schmaltz).Griffiths is terrific as the semi-retarded woman; they tried to make her as less attractive as they could, e.g. with that ridiculous hair, but her good looks nevertheless manage to come through often enough.
mkorshak
Just watched this film on Sundance channel, because I saw Rachel Griffith was listed as an actor. I'm a great admirer of Rachel Griffith, starting with Hilary and Jackie, then the TV series, Six Feet Under. Rachel Griffith's work in this film, frankly, blew me away! (and of course, the exquisite "Muriel's Wedding.") She is a magnificent actor, totally into the role of Annie Mary. It took me about 20 minutes to convince myself that "Annie Mary" was indeed Rachel Griffith, she was that into the character. It's hard to believe this film is now over 5 years old. It's timeless! I did find the Welsh accent hard to understand, at points, but would be willing to see the film again to listen more carefully. Some of the plot intricacies escaped me, probably because I was watching a TV screen, not a large cinema presentation. I'm still in the dark about an important plot development in the closing part of the film, but that didn't affect the overall impact. Also, one loses a lot on a TV presentation because the credits are largely unreadable.
