HotToastyRag Have you ever been to karaoke and there's that one person who isn't drunk but still thinks she has the most fantastic voice in town—except she's pretty lousy but no one else seems to notice? If you belong to the rabble who have been sufficiently brainwashed into thinking that lady actually has a good voice, go ahead and rent Little Voice. I'm sure you'll love it, and think that Jane Horrocks is incredibly talented.For the rest of you, you'll probably do what I did when trying to get through this movie. It's a story about a young, very strange woman who listens to records of old singers incessantly to cope with her father's death and her mother's meanness. Then, she decides to sing along, and she sounds exactly like the original singers! So, when Michael Caine, a talent scout who's recently started dating her mother, Brenda Blethyn, hears Jane singing, he decides to start promoting her in nightclubs. The only problem is, Jane is that woman at the karaoke bar who thinks she's much better than she is! She doesn't sound like Judy Garland or Marilyn Monroe—but the audience is supposed to think she does. Not only is the entire point of the film completely lost to any audience member with ears, but Jane's character is obnoxious and impossible to root for. I couldn't stand it—I turned this film off.

magnuslhad A chronically shy young women lives like a recluse, avoiding her deranged, abusive mother and escaping into song with her deceased father's record collection. A local agent discovers her talent and tries to set her, and himself, on the road to the big time. The script reduces character and motivations to their essence, giving the narrative a fairytale simplicity. A wicked, self-centered matriarch lives with a Cinderella daughter, till the local 'king' discovers her and attempts to usurp her for his own nefarious ends. Meanwhile, a prince on a white horse - well, with a white pigeon - waits in the wings to rescue the heroine. The performances play to the archetypes: Caine captures the Lothario gone to seed perfectly, and his on-stage solo at the climax is comically powerful. Blethyn holds nothing back in a display of hedonistic ugliness. While admiring the talent of the actor, the depiction becomes a little one note and grating. Jim Broadbent simply steals every scene, character acting at its finest. The film functions as a showcase for the voice talents of Jane Horrocks, but she brings much more to the role of the daughter grieving for the loss of her father and stuck with a toxic mother. It has that morality play, feel-good factor that a lot of British cinema dealing with working-class lives excels in: think The Full Monty, Brass!, Billy Elliot, with the streak of sentimentality slightly turned down. A good example of British cinema punching above its weight.

mcguin71 Having seen Little Voice when it was comparatively new I decided it was about time it was revisited with one of its rare TV showings - I honestly didn't realise it had been so long!Undoubtedly many viewers, especially those from outside these shores, will find the acting and accents somewhat irksome, but don't let the decidedly downbeat, and grim vision of British Northerness put you off as you will be missing a a charming, perfectly acted movie.The headline is of course Jane Horricks as the titular Little Voice. She brings the character to life with not only the perfect mimicry of the singing greats, but also her portrayal of the clinically shy woman-child living in the shadow of her dead fathers music collection.The rest of the cast harness their talent to give equally great performances. Obviously most praise goes to Michael Caine's funny, manipulative and eventually quite slimy talent agent, or Brenda Blethyns foul mouthed mother, together with Jim Broadbent giving a solid portrayal as the nightclub owner where Caine trys to 'sell' LV.Across the many reviews often very little is said of the equally excellent supporting cast. The pre-Star Wars Ewen McGregor, ever solid Philip Jackson, and even a Pre-'Stenders Annette Badland, provide quiet depth or stoicness to their characters - literally in Badlands case who speaks very few lines.It's not a perfect movie with its less than flattering view of Scarborough, despite the rather nicer shots of the town at night. Also the background to the strained Mari/Laura (mother/LV) remains very much closed up until the very end, whereas I felt there was enough to warrant it being hinted at earlier.Overall though it's so very deserving of a mere 97 minutes of your life and most definitely shows that a handful of talent can trounce megabucks of CGI any day of the week. .... So just a few niggles and a well deserved and underplayed 8/10

zetes One of those little Miramax trifles from Britain that dominated the art-house back in the mid-to-late '90s. It stars Jane Horrocks as the title character, a painfully shy young woman who barely speaks at all, but has an outrageously good singing voice. Michael Caine plays a man from the music business who accidentally discovers her while he's visiting her abusive, skanky mother (Brenda Blethyn). Caine's attentions turn wholly to Horrocks, and Blethyn becomes even more wicked to her. Ewan MacGregor co-stars as Horrocks' pigeon-raising love interest and Jim Broadbent appears as Caine's friend, a night club owner. Brenda Blethyn received an Oscar nomination for her work, but she probably didn't deserve it. It's like she reprises her Secrets & Lies character and cranks up her obnoxiousness to 11. Horrocks is the entire show here, really (though I did like Caine's work). She's quite adorable in her shy mode, and when she does sing, man, does she nail it. The original play (directed by Sam Mendes) was written specifically for her to showcase her talents. I'd probably give the film a passing grade, but, really, there's only one sequence where Horrocks gets to show off in full force. It's exquisite, but I really wanted more. A lot more.