MILITARY WIVES (2019)

Genre: Drama
Director: Peter Cattaneo 
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Emma Lowndes, Teresa Mahoney, Lara Rossi, Amy James-Kelly, Greg Wise, Jason Flemyng
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 20 August 2020

Synopsis: The inspirational story of friendship, love, and support on the home front. A group of women come together as their partners serve in Afghanistan. Together they form the very first military wives choir, helping each other through some of life’s most difficult moments and also becoming a media sensation and global movement in the process. 

Movie Review:

Military Wives is a Brit movie tailored for the mature crowd. Although it does feature some good music, it’s not entirely pitch perfect nor Mama Mia! Come on, what do you expect from the director who brought you The Full Monty more than two decades ago.

Based on the real-life story of British women who form a choir while their spouses are off fighting the war in Afghanistan, Military Wives revolves around Kate (Kristin Scott Thomas from The English Patient), the uptight, prim and proper wife of the Colonel who has to join hands with working-class, Lisa (Sharon Hogan) to form a choir to help the spouses kill their time.

Of course, things are definitely not smooth-sailing right from the start. Kate is controlling and more classical inclined while Lisa is more freewheeling and into pop music. Not forgetting the rest of the colourful impromptu choir members at the British military base. Sparks flew, words are traded but in the end you know how everything is going to end happily at the annual military concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

It’s a formulaic tale that succeed mainly because of the presence of Kristin Scott Thomas who perfectly captured the essence of Kate. A character so lonely on the inside, still troubled by the death of her only son and the unwanted heavy responsibilities that comes as the wife of the Colonel. Sharon Hogan (Man Up, Game Night) is another fine actress who brought much nuance to a character who struggles being a “single” parent to her rebellious teenage daughter while worrying about the safety of her spouse.

And because of the wondrous performances from the two of them, we get to see some heated conflicts and occasional laughs.

Director Peter Cattaneo directing from a script by Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn never forget to include some tear-jerking moment in this military based drama as we experienced the pure agony and pain in the form of a newly-wed, Sarah (Amy James-Kelly) who is constantly torment by the thought of someone knocking on her door to deliver bad news. There are of course other cute supporting characters but they are mostly one-dimensional in the end. And depending on how you see it, there’s genuinely not much of a subplot to distract the main core of the story which smells of friendship, love and what else, music.

Military Wives doesn’t take a lot of risks in plotting though it does tackle a bit of grief and drama. As the credits rolled, we are told that there are 74 choirs based across the UK and other military bases around the world as other military spouses have followed suit to spread some needed joy. Mission accomplished. 

Movie Rating:

(Heart-warming but utterly predictable, Military Wives is an upbeat British comedy perfect for this trying times)

Review by Linus Tee