Very Annie Mary Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Sweet but saccharine

This film, which boasts an extraordinary cast -- Jonathan Pryce, the fantastically versatile Rachel Griffiths, one of the real actresses around today [Six Feet Under, Hilary and Jackie, My Son the Fanatic], and the very lovely Ioan Gruffudd -- is let down by a corny and cringeworthily sentimental script: local colour with a sugar-pink tinge.

If you're in the mood for a wholly undemanding feelgood meringue or cream cake, this film may satisfy you; but really it's not worthy of its distinguished cast, or even -- to be fair -- of the ideas and sentiments it tries (heavy-handedly) to convey.

[Highly rated reviewer]

No welcome for this valley

It is difficult to work up any enthusiasm for this film.

The cast is let down by a script that is willing to exploit every cliché about life in the valleys. They may be poor, but they stand together; chapel is at the centre of village life; gangs of men roam the streets subjecting the population to close harmony singing at the drop of a hat and so on and so forth.

The film wanders from event to event lacking a true narrative backbone. There are smatterings of amusing moments that are crushed by the overall paucity of imagination or style.

Having gay corner shop owners called ‘Hob’ and ‘Nob’ might have looked like a good idea on paper, but that's where it should have stayed.

Susan Sugarman, the writer and director, has a stab at magic realism, a stab at social commentary and a lunge at producing a musical comedy of gender politics. She consistently misses.

Sugarman’s previous project was the dreadful ‘Mad Cows’ which also squandered a ton of other people’s money, this is just another step along that depressing road. Made with more attention to wheedling cash out of gullible institutions (the film got funding from both The Arts Council of Wales and of England) than presenting an appealing piece of cinema, the only thing ‘Very Annie-Mary’ does is remind the audience that if Hollywood produces crap, the only money it flushes away is its own.

[Highly rated reviewer]

An aberfan of a movie...

At one point reference is made to 'The Silence of the Lambs' so writer /director Sara Sugarman has probably seen at least one other movie in her life, though apart from that reference you'd never know it.

This appears to have been made by aliens from another planet where nobody understands the need for plotting out a story, houses cost the same as a trip for one to Disneyland and gases can change their physical properties in an attempt to find humour where none exists.

I can honestly say that I have never seen a more incompetently plotted, written or directed film.

To call this 'bad' would be an insult to the hundred of bad films that get made every year.

What could actors of the calibre of Jonathan Pryce and Rachel Griffiths have been thinking?

Aweful, simply aweful

I really just couldn't let myself go and enjoy this movie. Right from the start I was waiting for the end. I hated Annie, she really went through me for some reason, i think this was because of her weird personality. I can't remember what the plot was at all, and i can't say that for many films i've watched.... I appreciate that others must have enjoyed this film based on previous reviews on the site, but for me it is a definate No No!

Terrible!

Cliched - stereotyped - insulting!

Sad waste of an excellent cast.

Watch only if you honestly think this is what small Welsh villages are like!

Fantastic, Wonderful, Brilliant!

It's brilliant when a film exceeds your expectations. This is a mini-masterpiece.It is a very affectionate portrayal of the Welsh and is full of 'hoyl'- don't know how to spell it but anyone Welsh will understand. It is very, very original, very funny, has more than a touch of pathos and never,ever lost my interest.Can't recommend it highly enough.Just wish there were many more quirky films around of this standard.

A Little Hidden Gem

I wasn't sure about this when I noticed it was Film Four Movie. It should be watched as a tongue in cheek movie, much as it was made. My wife and myself laughed and cried throughout.

Funnier if you're Welsh! Follow Annie-Mary on a voyage of discovery that takes her as far as Cardiff (I've never followed that route - driver must've got lost!) and then home again. Ioan Gruffydd is the campest queen ever, blink and you'll miss Cerys Matthews' cameo (in the workingmen's club). Heart warming comedy with a happy ending.

Laughed and Cried

A little gem of a movie...so good I watched it twice. The second time with a Welsh friend who said it was just like home! Have chuckled most of the day thinking about the Pavarotti scene.

A very pleasant film

Typically Welsh setting that added to the story line. Very funny in parts although I sometimes found the accents difficult to follow.