The Sapphires

A sweet, charming and warm-hearted tale of an Aboriginal girl band in '70s Australia, this isn't a movie that's going to change the world, but the performances are uniformly great - especially the wonderful Chris O'Dowd - the songs are great fun, and the path the story takes guarantees you'll leave the cinema on a high. Great fun.

Sweet, small film that stumbles a bit when it tries to confront the horrors of the Vietnam War.

The performances are what makes this movie great, and the unique Australian story makes it one to remember as well. There are some cliche narrative aspects but it's totally a well-made film that deserves its critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes

I loved that this is a true story and that a relative of the actual singers helped write this. Chris O'Dowd was as great as ever. He is incredibly funny and charming and helps almost any movie he is in. The rest of the girls were good, just not outstanding. I did have a lot of laughs and even gasped really loudly at one part. The singing is so wonderful, it has an excellent soundtrack and taught me about racism in Australia that I wasn't aware of. A very fun and easy movie to watch.

A contrived but highly enjoyable musical based on a true story. Chris O'Dowd carries the movie and the singing is very good. Falters in the dramatic scenes that are predictable and melodramatic.

Very enjoyable and extremely watchable movie. The 4 women who comprise the aboriginal girl group are all excellent and none feel like a wasted character. Chris O'Dowd brings his normal charm and humor to only accentuate the film without taking anything away from the main story.

At times charming. At times so amateurish you have to look away.

Good cast and okay story but as with most Australian films of the past 20 years or so, pathetically plays for the audiences' emotions in a most insincere way. It would be nice if the Australian film industry broke free of this obsession with films about the underdog (I should make clear that I do not mean historically positioning Indigenous Australians as underdogs, by which I mean in genocide there are no underdogs).

Easygoing. Affable. Reassuring. A little sugary, maybe--no doubt there's a harder-edged version of this tale that could have been told--but a fun, untaxing watch, filled with charm, high spirits, good music, and likable performances all around. A fine family flick.

The Sapphires has everything you could want in a movie: It's funny yet heartfelt, it's got romance and action, it has a dynamic cast of characters, and--of course--it's full of great music. What's not to love?

Entertainment: 3.5/4 I like musical movies, though this one felt like there wasn't enough character development, sometimes the plot moved along too quickly. Spirit: 1.5/3. Sustainability: 1/3.

Very much like an Australian version of Dreamgirls. The musical performances were great, but the plot itself was very predictable. Still, people should check it out if only to see a story about a minority that is almost completely ignored.