Hunky Dory

Name: Hunky Dory
Genre: Drama, Music
Released: March 22, 2013
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 46
Cast: Adam Byard, Aled Pugh, Aneurin Barnard, Danielle Branch, Darren Evans

2013

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Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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Hunky Dory

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Movie Details & Credits

Gravitas Ventures | Release Date: March 22, 2013 | Not Rated

Starring: Adam Byard, Aled Pugh, Aneurin Barnard, Danielle Branch, Darren Evans, George MacKay, Jodie Davis, Kayleigh Bennett, Kimberley Nixon, Kristian Gwilliam, Minnie Driver, Tom Rhys Harries

Summary: Relive the summer of 1976 in this heartwarming British musical from the producer of Billy Elliot. Minnie Driver plays Viv, a high school drama teacher determined to fire up her hormonal, apathetic students by putting on the best end-of-the-year show the school has ever seen... a glam rock-infused musical version of Shakespeare's TheRelive the summer of 1976 in this heartwarming British musical from the producer of Billy Elliot. Minnie Driver plays Viv, a high school drama teacher determined to fire up her hormonal, apathetic students by putting on the best end-of-the-year show the school has ever seen... a glam rock-infused musical version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. But as the Welsh summer begins to heat up, can she compete with the typical teenage distractions of sex and drugs with some great rock and roll? [Variance Films]… Expand

Director: Marc Evans

Genre(s): Drama, Music

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

John DeFore

Mar 8, 2013

When rehearsals finally give way to full, unconventional production numbers, it's hard to imagine any way Hunky Dory could get much better. Read full review

Joel Arnold

Mar 21, 2013

Don't expect more than a passing summer breeze. Read full review

Mar 21, 2013

Pop memories are short. If the world conjured by Hunky Dory is sweetly appealing, it has all the pertinence of a dream half-remembered from long ago. Read full review

The Playlist William Goss

Mar 8, 2013

As emblematic of the film’s general indifference as anything is Driver’s central, perfectly fine performance. Read full review

Chris Cabin

Mar 21, 2013

Director Marc Evans's monotonous style keeps the film earthbound. Read full review

Rex Reed

Mar 19, 2013

The result is not without a few moments of exhilaration, although the overall effect is more like the Bard of Avon meets "Glee." Read full review

Amy Nicholson

Mar 21, 2013

Laurence Coriat's shapeless script...pads its overlong running time with standard teen trauma — band squabbles, girl betrayals, skinhead brothers — that saps the audience's energy before the grand finale. Read full review

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 26, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This film is from the producer of Billy Elliot and there is perhaps a slight similarity with Billy Elliot, in as much as there's one character whose parents make fun of him for wanting to appear on stage, not taking it seriously. I would have said this is a family film, only with some strong language present, it isn't suitable for younger viewers. Its a film about a musical, with (obviously) some musical numbers in it but yet not enough to say its a musical in and of itself. Themes include adolescence, self expression and identity and possibly resilience.

The plot moves relatively slowly but I found it to be an easy watch. I felt it had a slight naive edge to it, in that it portrays the lives of some of the Welsh school pupils, as well as that of the music/drama teacher, played by Minnie Driver, in a quite dreamy sort of a way. Their shown flirting, swimming, gossipping and so on. The film contains a very yellowy tinge, colour wise, throughout - I suppose its intended to help remind us that a) its summer and b) its set during the big heatwave of summer 1976.

I liked the way that the then modern pop music (70s chart hits) were performed and incoporated into the school musical - their mostly quite slow tunes but they have a haunting sound to them. Some of the songs that are performed in the film include 'Strange Magic' by ELO, The Man Who Sold The World by David Bowie, I'm Not In Love by 10CC and Sea Breezes by Bryan Ferry.

I felt the film was quite atmospheric due mostly to the lighting and the instrumental music. Some scenes were more serious than others, with some scenes depicting school pupils lashing out at others, reminding us about the inevitable in-fighting thats present among many people at secondary school, during a key time in such peoples lives, as they head towards leaving school. There is a feel of uncertainty and fragility present as well, not just regarding the pupils but also their families, with a parent worrying about their teenagers whereabouts. I imagine a lot of people can relate to such things. I noticed there was a skinhead presence, (braces, bald heads and all) which surprised me a little in that I presumed that was more of an 80s phenomena but apparently not.

Ok, so I can't really argue that this film has an original, or even semi-original, plot but I enjoyed watching it regardless. It felt like an easy watch - it isn't exactly hard to keep track of and I found myself quite keen on the drama teacher, Vivienne. She is quite rebellious and clearly passionate about what she teaches, which is fairly admirable. I felt that Minnie Driver did well portraying her, being quite sassy and determined, while also seeming to have a genuine interest in the lives of her pupils, which made me think of Julie Walters character in Billy Elliot (Mrs Wilkinson). Other cast members include Kimberley Nixon, Robert Pugh (as the schools headmaster), Tom Rhys Harries and Kristian Gwilliam. Most of the cast are young Welsh people, so some are fairly unknown, although I did think the performances were pretty decent, so hopefully that won't be the case for too long. Also present is Steve Speirs, who plays Mr Cafferty, the gym teacher - a rather sceptical person. He also played a teacher, Mr. Barber, in the BBC One comedy show 'Big School' alongside David Walliams.

There is some choreography present but I liked that the pupils all seemed to be genuinely having fun rehearsing and they weren't barked at (i.e. shouted) and made to do things to complete perfection, as I might imagine to be the case in an American production, for example. Content wise, as already mentioned this film contains some strong language. There are some sex references but nothing extreme or overly explicit - one character is accused of being lesbian and another is shouted at as being gay (via a derrogatory term I won't repeat), that sort of thing but otherwise there's not really much (that I noticed) likely to offend people. It does carry a 15 rating due to the language present though but then I imagine it'd appeal mostly to adults anyway, especially those who may be keen on reliving 'that hot summer' in 1976. There is an element of cheese present but it didn't put me off - if anything, in context I quite liked it. I did also note that there was some witty dialogue every now and again, that I quite liked.

I enjoyed the ending, with the main character in the show having a sort of a cross between David Bowie and Adam Ant type persona. The instruments playing the songs as the characters perform on stage had quite a haunting feel. Yes, I'd recommend this film, as I found it a good, uplifting film. I liked the soundtrack and thought the cast did a good job portraying their roles, especially Minnie Driver as the drama teacher.… Expand

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