Girls' Night

An intense and touching movie about two strong women! If you like that, a must-see!

I love this film and have been searching for a copy for years. it shows a real gritty interpretation of Northan British working class life. I viewed this film with no idea what it was about and have to say it will one day be part of my permanent film collection. If you are British or want a good depiction of Britain's ordinary Northerners this is a great movie. I will admit that a critic or someone who is going to pull it apart, there will be short comings. However as a wonderfully atmospheric and moving all round piece it is just truly splendid, Julie Walters performance was as always just brilliant and together with Brenda, the chemistry for me worked fantastically. Also the ending was unexpected and really rounded it off nicely. I just love it thank you to everyone involved for bringing this quaint and humble story into my life.

40-year best friends, co-workers and sisters-in-law, make it out of their British working class neighborhood for a fantasy trip to Las Vegas, tempered by the fact that one of them is dying. Director Nick Hurran and writer Kay Mellor combine quite a number of different ingredients here (including illness, men-vs.-women, factory life, family problems, financial windfalls, travelogue and lovestruck cowboys); and yet, despite some missteps, this weeper from the UK is a worthwhile journey anchored by terrific performances. Playing the firebrand and ill-tempered man-chaser, Julie Walters tones down her sometimes-brash personality and has several beautifully realized moments. As her "mate", Brenda Blethyn juggles the more standardized clichés of a character with a limited amount of time left (she's brave, she glows, she's suddenly strong and charts her own course); however, Blethyn is very engaging and works so naturally and easily with Walters that their friendship strikes nary a false note. Hurran's dreamy framing of this story, with a puzzling introduction, may put some viewers off, but those who stick with it will find a rewarding drama about friendship and love. These themes have been touched on before in films--and true, there isn't much originality or surprises in Mellor's script--yet the bumps in the road are actually rather endearing, and by the end of "Girls' Night" I was moved by the thoughtfully worked-out transition of the plotting. It's a minor gem. *** from ****

Northern accents and wide-eyed astonishment at Las Vegas aside, you could be forgiven that this was a Hollywood weepie rather than the working-class British drama it pretends to be. Brenda Blethyn's and (particularly) Julie Walters' performances are detailed and superb, but the cloying sentimentality (including some sick-making talk of angels) is heaped on to the extent that the film becomes tedious rather than sympathetic.

The first half of Girls' Night is enjoyable for its sheer joie de vivre in the face of serious illness, but after around 45 minutes this is lost in a sea of half-baked ideas, repetitive emotional 'scenes' and irritating semi-fairytale romances which upset the previously realistic atmosphere of the piece.

Other than the performances, something of a shapeless disappointment.

I I would recommend this movie to anyone I was going through something and they have a best friend that's there for them after she gets told off all she realize she hasn't been a good friend or sister-in-law very selfish until she finds out that she's about to oh one true love and that's a sister-in-law.