This is a sweet little movie, very much in the vein of Dreamgirls but without a lot of the drama. It's up to you to see if that removes some of the emotion as well.Sisters Gail (Deborah Mailman) and Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) are trying to get recognized for their singing. Younger sister Julie (Jessica Mauboy) is also desperate to be a star, as long as it means getting out of the remote Australian mission where they live. However, no one wants to hear Aborigines singing old country and western songs. When the three meet washed-up pianist Dave Lovelace (Chris O'Dowd) at a local tavern, Julie produces a clipping from the paper requesting acts to perform for the troops in Vietnam. They badger Dave into getting them an audition in Melbourne but their mother forbids Julie to go, telling Gail and Cynthia to find their cousin Kay (Shari Sebbens), who was taken and raised by white people as part of the Stolen Generation. Naturally, Julie sneaks out and joins them for their audition. The four girls must face an on-going war, relationships, each other and themselves before finding out what it truly means to be stars.
I've not been a big fan of Chris O'Dowd previously but he is hilarious here. So funny, in fact, that I found it impossible to take his character seriously at all. Even during emotional scenes, he was too ready with a quip or funny face for me to believe he was invested. There's no fault to be found with the soundtrack, the sets, or the real people this is based on. I enjoyed watching it but I'll probably never own it.
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