Shadows on the Wall | Greatest Days

Greatest Days

dir Coky Giedroyc
scr Tim Firth
prd Danny Perkins, Kate Solomon
with Aisling Bea, Alice Lowe, Jayde Adams, Amaka Okafor, Marc Wootton, Lara McDonnell, Jessie Mae Alonzo, Eliza Dobson, Carragon Guest, Nandi Hudson, Aaron Bryan, Joshua Jung, Dalvin Cory, Mark Samaras, Mervin Noronha
release UK 16.Jun.23
23/UK Elysian 1h52

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Adapted from the stage musical The Band, written around the songs of Take That, this lively British comedy almost overflows with cheeky energy, goofy slapstick, personal drama and sentimentality. It also features imaginative musical numbers that play on the dreams boybands inspire in teen girls, giving the larger narrative a strongly nostalgic vibe. So the movie is enjoyable and diverting, even if the mix of emotions is awkward.

London nurse Rachel (Bea) is shocked when she wins tickets to a reunion concert in Athens for the boyband she and her four pals were obsessed with as teens 25 years ago. She's like them to come with her, but is embarrassed that she let their friendship dissolve over the years. And her reticence about relationships extends to the frequent proposals she gets from her big-hearted boyfriend Jeff (Wootton). In the end, sparky Heather (Lowe), enthusiastic Claire (Adams) and brainy Zoe (Okafor) join Rachel on a journey that will bring up a range of memories.

Take That's songs (mostly in snippets) and a cameo from three out of five liven things up. Character connections emerge in flashbacks that intertwine with the current story and boyband fantasies, as a younger Rachel (McDonnell) and best pal Deb (Alonzo), plus Heather, Claire and Zoe (Dobson, Guest and Hudson), attend the band's concert on a fateful night in 1993 Manchester. Past and present connect in carefully scripted ways to raise larger themes, while the plot takes jarringly serious turns that threaten to undermine Giedroyc's sparky, colourful direction.

The all-singing, all-dancing performances are strong across the board, with a terrific sense of the women these girls became. Bea, Lowe, Adams and Okafor are excellent as four friends who are considering their former connections and hopes in comparison with unexpected life events that came along later. Their caper in Athens is a nonstarter, but the lingering bond between them is beautifully played, seen in its fierce dawning glory as played by McDonnell, Alonzo, Dobson, Guest and Hudson.

Giedroyc deploys some wonderfully absurd visual gags along the way, as the boys emerge to sing and dance their way through various scenes, in one case as Greek statuary. Whenever the film is embracing its buoyant exuberance, it's a lot of fun indeed. The emotional undercurrents are very nicely played, as is the message about looking to the present rather than past. But because so much of this movie is silly and surreal, it's startling when things head in darker, less satisfying directions.

themes, language 14.Jun.23

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