Movie Review: Calendar Girls

To raise funds for a local cancer hospital, a few enterprising ladies within a Woman’s Institute in an English town decide to pose nude for a calendar. Since all the ladies are over 50, it takes some convincing for some of them. The club, their husbands, the town, all have their own doubts, and the young local man they choose to be the photographer has a particular challenge in front of them: Photograph 12 village ladies naked, make them look good, and make the calendar a work of art. But in the end, all is good, and the calendar is a worldwide hit.

This 2003 movie is based on a true story that took place in a tiny town in Yorkshire, England. Along with the challenges the making of the calendar poses, the story also tells some subplots of the lives of some of the women and the conflicts they endure.

Calendar Girls is a comedy, without any great lessons, and I didn’t actually plan on watching it. I just couldn’t make myself walk away as the story unfolded. Uncomplicated, lighthearted and cheery, I just kept watching and enjoying it until the credits rolled.

This was an English movie. Hollywood would not make one like this, and that alone is a reason why you’d want to watch it.