Little Voice

Released 1998
Stars Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Ewan McGregor, Annette Badland, Philip Jackson
Directed by Mark Herman

Mari Hoff (Brenda Blethyn) is a late middle-aged widow with two passions: drinking and sex. She lives with her daughter, Laura (Jane Horrocks), above the disused record store that her late husband ran. Laura, whose nickname is "Little Voice," is a shy, quiet young woman. She rarely speaks and leaves her tiny attic room even less frequently. She spends her days and nights listening to her father's extensive collection of record albums and conversing with his ghost. She has become an expert at mimicking the vocal styles of Billie Holiday, Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Marlena Dietrich, and others. When she sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," a local nightclub owner (Jim Broadbent) who hears her from the street below her window swears that it's Garland. Mari's latest boyfriend, failed talent agent Ray Say (Michael Caine), sees $$$$ when he hears Little Voice sing. He immediately begins planning her show biz debut, even though she is petrified of performing in public. Meanwhile, Laura meets and forms a fragile relationship with an introverted telephone repairman, Bill (Ewan McGregor), who raises homing pigeons.

Summary by James Berardinelli

This movie is based on the London play "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice," where Jane Horrocks also played the role of Little Voice. I can only imagine how great the play was, because she's incredible. She perfectly (I mean perfectly) mimics artists like Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday. It never looks like she's lip synching, but she must be because it's so flawless. According to the ending credits, Horrocks sings all of the songs herself. Since she performed this role onstage, I'd expect that to be true. The one reason to see this movie is to hear her sing these songs. Other than that, there are some excellent performances, but the movie suffers from a weak script. The first two-thirds are a lot of fun, but the rest just falls apart. Would an agent really be so dumb to sell everything he has and go into debt with a loan shark to build an elaborate stage for a reticent performer's second appearance? No, such a desperate, but experienced agent would know she would have to be brought along slowly. This sets up his transformation into a mean bastard, however. It also creates the conflict of the big night, but none of this flows. I can see this in a play, but it just doesn't work as a movie. Also, you get almost no insight into Little Voice, herself. Other than the little we learn about her father, we don't learn anything about her. She seems insane, but we only see that from the outside. I would have liked to have seen her character develop. --Bill Alward, December 10, 2001