writtenbymkm-583-902097 This movie baffles me. First, it seems to be several different movies. It begins with some laugh-out-loud humor from LV's bizarre mum. I was all set for a very weird comedy. Then LV is introduced. I did not react to her the way other reviewers seem to react. To me, she bordered on mental illness -- refusing to speak, refusing to react, hiding herself away in her room like a recluse with only her records and the memory of her dead father as company, afraid of the world. If I hadn't already read the plot, I probably would've stopped watching, but of course I knew that Jane Horrocks ("LV") would eventually sing, so I kept watching and waiting. (And waiting, and waiting, and waiting...) The movie quickly became a rather morbid drama. Michael Caine was way over the top as the guy who decides that LV's voice is his ticket to wealth, and suddenly the plot becomes his desperate effort to force LV out of her isolation and into the glare of a stage. It was totally unbelievable to me that a girl who panicked at the mere thought of leaving her little cave would suddenly agree to step in front of an audience and sing. Then the movie becomes yet another movie, a story about an almost autistic but hugely talented girl who abruptly breaks free of her fears and performs like a pro, belting out this song and that (yes, Jane Horrocks did sing all those songs herself), in a "bring down the house" performance that was, I'll admit, thrilling and wonderful. But what does she do then? Does she use this sudden great talent to escape from her miserable life? Does she at last become happy and successful, or even try? No. She mumbles and mutters something about "they told me once, they said one time," and throws her career away at the snap of a finger, preferring (according to the movie) to help a strange young man exercise his pigeons, so that the movie ends as a third kind of movie, some sort of deep literary exercise that's neither entertaining nor satisfying, just baffling.

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

romcombuff I've been on an indie film binge and have been discovering little gems through netflix. I love Netflix for that reason. I found Little Voice and after reading the description thought this would be a Pygmalion-like movie. Sure, it has elements of Pygmalion but it's much darker, quirkier with an ending that's as far from My Fair Lady as you can get. Jane Horrocks is magnificent in the title role, LV. Rather than merely being painfully shy, LV seems slightly abnormal actually - perhaps even slightly challenged. If the movie is released today, a psychologist might provide a more accurate assessment of LV's mental condition. I'm mentioning this point because the only critique I have for this film is the unrealistic relationship between Billy (Ewan McGregro) and LV. While McGregor is always wonderful, I wasn't sure why Billy would have such interest in this oddly immature, challenged LV - I think that part/relationship of the film could have been better developed. But this is still a minor critique of the film. It's a bizarrely sad story that's elegantly told. And...of course, I love British casting of movies. The interesting, worn faces of Michael Caine, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent add so much to each character. I highly recommend.

DesbUK 'Little Voice' began as a play at London's National Theatre in the summer of 1992, directed by Sam Mendes and featuring Jane Horrocks and Alison Steadman.At 95 minutes in length, there isn't a wasted scene in Mark Herman's 1998 film version. It's rare to find a film which doesn't outstay its welcome and is uniformly well-acted by an impossible to better cast.The 'Little Voice' (LV) of the title is Jane Horrocks, a shy girl in a Yorkshire coastal town. She's often mute and introverted to the point of rarely leaving her room. Since the death of her father, she's had no real conversation with anyone - her only company being the show tunes from her father's LP collection of(Judy Garland, mostly). Horrocks sounds astonishingly like the real things - she belts out 'Big Spender' as if Shirley Bassey was there on the soundtrack. Her blank look is touching. If she rarely speaks it's because she can't get a word in edge ways because of her loud and monstrous mother played by Brenda Blethyn - who is best described as a pantomime dame crossed with a tart.Then there's Michael Caine as Ray Say, the has-been agent who puts LV on the stage of Boo's Nightclub for one-night only. He begins as a boozy and lovable rouge - manipulative and not without charm. But he's ultimately self-serving and unpleasant. At the end of the movie he's on stage giving a drunken, foul-mouthed and aggressive rendering of the Roy Orbison song 'It's Over' (a song about his showbiz career) whilst his creditors wait in the wings.In the end, LV speaks, is saved from a house fire by a BT engineer (a charming Ewan McGregor) and finds a life outside of vinyl and her mother. We even get to know her real name - it's Laura.Everyone in this film is terrific (especially Jom Broadbent as nightclub owner Boo whose acts include the sumo-like tribute band Take Fat). But the film belongs to Caine, in a Golden-Globe winning performance that I think is a career-best. Just watch the scene where he gently coaxes LV into performing live on stage -he even takes us in.