SunnyHello
Nice effects though.
Mandeep Tyson
The acting in this movie is really good.
Justina
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
mkorshak
Just watched this film on Sundance channel, because I saw Rachel Griffith was listed as an actor. I'm a great admirer of Rachel Griffith, starting with Hilary and Jackie, then the TV series, Six Feet Under. Rachel Griffith's work in this film, frankly, blew me away! (and of course, the exquisite "Muriel's Wedding.") She is a magnificent actor, totally into the role of Annie Mary. It took me about 20 minutes to convince myself that "Annie Mary" was indeed Rachel Griffith, she was that into the character. It's hard to believe this film is now over 5 years old. It's timeless! I did find the Welsh accent hard to understand, at points, but would be willing to see the film again to listen more carefully. Some of the plot intricacies escaped me, probably because I was watching a TV screen, not a large cinema presentation. I'm still in the dark about an important plot development in the closing part of the film, but that didn't affect the overall impact. Also, one loses a lot on a TV presentation because the credits are largely unreadable.
Tetch
Very Annie Mary was not quite the film that I had expected from reading the synopsis on the DVD jacket. While it is along the same vein as Billy Elliot and Little Voice it is not quite the same quality as either of those films. However saying that it does have some high points as well. The characters are believable (for the most part), and often manage to make you smile, laugh or become totally frustrated. Unfortunately, the attitudes and behaviours of a few characters go on for overly long, and it made me feel like saying, "Yes, thank you, I get the point. He's a jerk, now what happens?" That was a bit trying at times.As a whole the movie moves extremely slowly, and in my opinion, the events that happened towards the end were held off for entirely too long trying to draw the story out. There were several parts in the film that were of the "Right, keep going, get on with it!" type because it was actually dragging along and trying to build too much and give too much in-depth on events that didn't need it, but there were other parts in the film that were absolutely delightful. I adore the singing that is typically found in all Welsh related films, this was an absolute highlight and managed to make me smile. I also thought that Rachel Griffiths did a very good job as Annie Mary. She even managed to make me laugh out loud a few times. The characters who owned the little shop, I believe their names were Hob and Nob, cracked me up, and really helped this film in a few of the slower parts.The saving grace of Very Annie Mary is the ending which is actually quite touching and well done. As I mention, it simply took over-long to reach that stage.It is definitely not "the worst" movie you could watch, and was not a total waste of time. But it wasn't superb, or as well written as I'd expected. I'd honestly have to say it's quite an average feel good sort of movie when you take the good aspects with the bad.6 out of 10 for me...
e_tippett
She has lived in the bakery her whole life and doesn't know how to make bread??? I understand her father probably controlled every aspect of production but to know NOTHING?? I don't bake bread and I bet I could figure it out PDQ if I had to. And really that pathetic closet where she proposed to put her father was just stupid. Anyone with half a brain would see that a dog didn't deserve that treatment. And just who would *bleep* her after meeting her once?? That fat guy at the races??
kevinulachrist
When you go see this film, please sit back and relax. This is a fable, a story where, yes, eccentric characters are overdramatized, but anyone that's been to Wales will see just that, the people are very funny. Rachel Griffiths is excellent, as is Jonathan Pryce, as her bullying Welsh father. This is not a US blockbuster, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be. The story has heart, and the one scene where Rachel's character (Annie-Mary) goes up in a balloon in a dance hall was very funny. The accents are hard for folks that don't understand any language other than American-English, but when you see a Liverpool film, a Scottish film, do you expect to understand anything other than the loveable laughable characters? View, sit back, relax..and enjoy the experience of "something different".
