The road to seeing Alan Warner’s 1998 novel The Sopranos arrive on the big screen has been a long one for director and co-writer Michael Caton-Jones. First optioning the material over 20 years ago, the film arrives a few years after being beaten to the punch by a hit stage play adaptation by Lee Hall and Vicky Featherstone in 2015. In all of this time with shifting moods within society, there is a small wish that Caton-Jones would have given up the material to a filmmaker better suited to tackle the intricacies of this story. It is not that he fumbles this story about a group of Scottish Catholic school girls with sex on the brain who take a raucous day trip to a choir competition. It is that the effort feels like a lesser version of something with a potential to be a modern classic. This high-concept 1990s-set comedy explores the lives of these mostly working-class girls through the lens of the limitations their personal circumstances have placed on them. While well-intentioned, the finished product does not feel genuine enough to connect completely in the end.
Over the course of 24 hours we get to know five close-knit friends nearing the end of their time in Catholic School in Fort William, a small town in the western Scottish Highlands. Each young woman gets a basic introduction before getting more fleshed-out in tiny flashback vignettes interspersed along the journey. There’s our emotional anchor Orla (Tallulah Greive), a leukemia recoveree; Kylah (Marli Siu), the manipulative frontwoman of an aspiring garage band of brainless boys; Chell (Rona Morison), an impoverished girl whose father’s death has led her down a rough path; Fionnula (Abigail Lawrie), the seemingly most put-together of the group wrestling with her sexuality; and Manda (Sally Messham), a particularly rambunctious spirit whose lifelong friendship with Fionnula has become strained. Each one of them is unabashed in expressing their desire to “get off” with a boy (and themselves if that’s the only option). They drink and smoke and just generally go full-tilt into their youthful indiscretions. It’s an often joyous and hilarious time that gets sobered up by some of the harsh realities of life.
There are not enough films in the coming-of-age genre that focus on the female experience, let alone ones that are as sex positive as this one. It is the presence of Caton-Jones behind the camera, though, that makes the tone one that is slightly uneasy. He is obviously passionate about this material and knows better than to slip into a mode that feels exploitative or sleazy, but you can feel the hesitation in his direction not to allow that which ends up making the exploits feel restrained. There is a scene where a character discusses wanting to lose her virginity by being tied up to a tree with elements of light BDSM which raises an eyebrow upon initial mention and full-blown discomfort upon execution. The scene is not funny enough to elicit laughs nor sexy enough to quicken your pulse. The comedic subversiveness needed for this to work is not present in the script. There is an avenue to make dark comedy out of their desire in contrast to their bleak potential future, but mostly things just default to sad.
Where this story really thrives is in the performances of the ensemble. The five girls in the main group all get moments to shine on both a comedic and emotional level, but this also applies to other characters such as Kay (Eve Austin), a wealthier classmate who initially gets mocked by the main group but proves herself to contain multitudes as the crew splits up and gets to different side adventures. Even the sole adult, Sister Condron (Kate Dickie, Game Of Thrones) is shown to be more than a two-dimensional authoritarian looking to stifle these girls. The exploits shown from the trip to the big city and back to their small, unremarkable town are filled with amusing moments that never push completely into something joyous. On an aesthetic level, director of photography Denis Crossan captures the visual majesty of Scotland quite softly in a way that makes you want to book a trip as soon as possible. We want more stories about women growing up and learning more about themselves, it would just be preferable to have a voice behind the camera that understands the nuances that make these stories believable.
Video Quality
Our Ladies comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is quite fetching. This is a beautifully shot film with many expansive shots of Edinburgh where you can see an incredible amount of detail. There are numerous sequences featuring vegetation and trees in the background that provide a nice reference to showcase the depth at play in the image. The film plays very well with the bright colors on display from the greens of the foliage to the striking hues from the costumes. This is a film with a natural color palette that is reproduced perfectly here with a pleasing radiance. The white levels are handled beautifully, along with deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts. There are no obvious signs of any noise or other such digital nuisances. The skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. This presentation is definitely top-tier work.
Audio Quality
The film comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has quite a bit of depth and is well balanced, which is appreciated in a film that utilizes music so powerfully. Environmental effects play a substantial role in the film, and this track brings these elements to life quite capably. The use of the rear channels to create a fully enveloping world works quite well. The directionality is quite precise so sounds always present as natural when coming from their respective points. Dialogue comes through crisp and clear without being overwhelmed by any of the other sounds. Many of the accents can be tricky to understand so you might want to turn on the included English subtitles just to catch everything. The track is most active when the music is permeating the room in a really wonderful way. Activity in the low end is not the most substantial but what is there adds texture to the proceedings. Sony has delivered a great track for the film.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on the disc.
Final Thoughts
Our Ladies is a very enjoyable movie that balances comedy and drama pretty well, but it is one that could have benefitted from a female perspective behind the scenes. These young actors deliver some truly excellent performances that light up the screen. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a strong A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If you are in the market for a coming-of-age tale that also delivers something more worldly, you should check this one out. Recommended
Our Ladies is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
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