Little Voice

Impressions before seeing it
I vaguely remember hearing Little Voice was good, but I actually wanted to watch it for Brenda Blethyn after her great performance in another British movie called Secrets and Lies, which was probably the only thing I remember about that one, being that it was very soap-like.

How was it?
First I want to say that I don't like this poster, because it's cheesy as hell and makes Little Voice look like a feel good inspirational musical. If anything I actually found it somewhat pitiful because this character LV (Jane Horrocks) is like one of those dogs who gets abused by their owner so they mope around quietly hoping not to get beaten again, and her mother (Blethyn) is loud, obnoxious, and selfish (although played awesomely by Blethyn. Where has she been, this woman is like the British Meryl Streep!), and her mom's boyfriend Ray (Michael Caine) is a sleazy and manipulative entertainment scout. There is a great scene where Ray creeps into LV's room and cons her into singing a live show without her even realizing it.

Now, the thing about LV that sets this apart from other "rising singer" movies is not her singing ability, but her uncanny ability to replicate the voices of the classic golden era stars who originally sang the songs. According to the closing credits, Jane Horrocks actually sang everything herself, and that is mighty impressive because her Judy Garland and Marylin Monroe are dead on. But the problem I have with her character is the strange obsession she seems to have with her dead father. I think it was the way it was filmed, because they show that she can only sing if she imagines her father is in the room, and his ghost just tends to stare at her and smile. Just one smile, no other expressions and no speaking or applauding, he just watches her sing like a peeping tom and then disappears. I was honestly a little creeped out by it and I thought they would later reveal an incestuous relationship because it just had that vibe. And one other quick thing, there are multiple instances of using birds as a metaphor for LV's sheltered life, and that may have been a tad excessive because they practically came within inches of turning to the camera and saying "we are using a metaphor!". But I guess a metaphor that's easy to understand is better than a confusing one.

Recommendation
I really enjoyed this movie. The performances were all top notch and I even felt that Michael Caine was playing against type because he's usually a little more classy and charming rather than sneaky and sleazy, so that was cool to see. See it if you like movies about rising stars. This one stands out slightly because it's a little different, and I like different.