Calendar Girls
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: December 19, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
While each Yorkshire playmate-of-the-month warmly assesses her own undewy flesh, the movie gives off a happy vibe of appreciation -- for the dignity of the real Rylstone lot, the actresses who play them so lovingly, and the simple, flower-bed borders of the story. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
It creates a strong sense of a living, breathing community, and you root for its affectionately drawn characters as they experience the giddiness of triumph without forgetting the project's bittersweet inspiration. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The story hooks us because stars Helen Mirren and Julie Walters look as fetching in woolens and Wellingtons as they do in the altogether. But it reels us in because it is about people who for so long have paid lip service to making a difference that they are profoundly altered when they actually do. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Charming movie, Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's the kind of sweet, good-humored comedy that used to star Margaret Rutherford, although Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, its daring top-liners, would have curled Dame Margaret's eyebrows. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
This is good clean fun, with or without the soap, and one of the most spirited entries of the season. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
May be boomer-baiting formula, but this ingratiating, big-hearted holiday treat is as British as plum pudding - and the closest thing on the market to the famous Ealing comedies. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The film's appeal is universal, not just female, and, best of all, it's based on a true story. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
It's a real-life story adapted into a grown-up comedy that is warm, winning and sexy. Call it "The Full Auntie." Read full review
70
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Remains a genial lesson in how to both honor and subvert womanly expectations. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Inspired by a true story, this slight but charming and nicely balanced comedy tells the tale of a group of middle-aged women in a Yorkshire village who decide to pose nude for the dozen photographs in a fund-raising calendar. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The result is a movie that washes down without much thinking or introspection, provides some laughs and a tear or two, and dishes up a little something to mull over with its messages about friendship and loyalty in the face of naked ambition. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Unfortunately, the material doesn't justify the talent. These women deserve more than Calendar Girls ultimately gives them. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
What the movie can't quite get over, no matter how hard the filmmakers try, is the story's built-in limitations. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
More like that crowd-pleasing UK fluff that requires great actresses to do wacky things. Mirren is such an easy, breezy presence that you might think she's playing the screenwriting equivalent of air. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Both Mirren and Walters are successfully cast against type. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A gently pleasing if mostly undramatic picture. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A film as clever and embracingly ribald as this shouldn't have to resort to cliche in the end; director Nigel Cole should have kept his girls in Britain and kept the mood light. Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
Though the film is never dull, and playing by the cast is spirited, it's actually a surprisingly gentle movie, with no big "Full Monty"-like finale to send auds buzzing into the street. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Closer in texture and consistency to individually wrapped American cheese than good, tangy English cheddar. But even humble plastic-wrapped cheese has its virtues and so does this film. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's too good a story not to have been made into a movie. Yet Calendar Girls, directed by Nigel Cole ("Saving Grace"), is filled with lots of extras it doesn't need, when the bare-naked bones of the story would have been plenty. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The caliber of the cast, led by Mirren and Walters, elevates the material above movie-of-the-week level, and viewers can relish seeing these fine actresses play against type. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
There are many winning moments here, but director Nigel Cole (Saving Grace) sometimes imparts to the thing a terrible case of the cutes and an overeagerness to please. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The result is an overly long, overly cute film that is far too tickled with its own naughtiness. It truly is an instance of if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The real-life calendar girls were actual human beings, and here they're merely comic patsies, lacking the distinctive personalities that made the men of "The Full Monty" so endearing, their final act of revelation so peculiarly dignified. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Don't race to see it unless a female "Full Monty" is just what you've been waiting for. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
When the biggest compliment you can pay a picture is that it is professional and not smug, there's a little something missing, like invention. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Very funny and surprisingly likable until it goes Hollywood.
50
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Everyone involved figured that sentiment trumps sloppiness. Original Soundtrack Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The actresses are terrific together, and it’s nice to see Helen Mirren smiling onscreen for a change. And although Calendar Girls is resolutely pleasant, the movie never really goes much beyond that. Read full review
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