Girls' Night Details

This feel-good weepie from director Nick Hurran gave Brenda Blethyn another opportunity to demonstrate the kind of everywoman bravura she brought to her critically acclaimed role in Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies. Blethyn plays the northern factory worker with terminal cancer who embarks on the holiday of a lifetime in Las Vegas with childhood friend Julie Walters when she wins a fortune at bingo. In the gambling capital they meet cowboy Kris Kristofferson and have several adventures before facing up to the inevitable. What could have become a run-of-the-mill, soapy movie ends up being much more, thanks to the impressive and moving performances from Blethyn and Walters, the latter's partly inspired by memories of her baby daughter's battle with leukaemia. Considering the strong female leads, it's something of a surprise that Kristofferson shines through so strongly, his role fitting him like a pair of battered and scuffed cowboy boots. The three make an unlikely ensemble, but, ultimately, it's the unexpected elements in both casting and plot that add to the poignancy and humour in this richly satisfying drama.

Jackie (Walters) and sister-in-law Dawn (Blethyn) are chalk 'n' cheese: Jackie, loud and flirty; Dawn, devoted to her... read more on Time Out