Review | Military Wives movie review: The Full Monty director comes up with another British working-class feel-good drama

Peter Cattaneo’s drama tells the heart-warming story of how a group of women form a choir to keep their spirits up when their husbands head out to Afghanistan

The power of music and friendship are central themes and, despite the clichés, the mix of realism, song, humour and warmth still make this a touching experience

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Kristin Scott Thomas (front) leads the choir in Military Wives (category IIA), directed by Peter Cattaneo. Sharon Horgan and Emma Lowndes co-star.

Published: 4:15pm, 11 Nov 2020Updated: 4:16pm, 11 Nov 2020

3/5 stars

A true story that’s already been the subject of BBC documentary The Choir, Military Wives is exactly what you might expect. Falling into the category of British working-class feel-good drama, it nestles comfortably alongside the likes of Brassed Off, Billy Elliot and, of course, The Full Monty, whose director, Peter Cattaneo, returns here.

Military Wives is probably the closest thing Cattaneo has made to The Full Monty since; while that film dealt with unemployed Sheffield steel workers who take to male stripping, this focuses on spouses on a British army base whose husbands are about to ship out to Afghanistan. Keeping the spirits up, they form a choir, singing both traditional and crowd-pleasing pop tunes.

Bonding over close harmony singing and a glass of chardonnay or two, the girls’ camaraderie soon forms as they rehearse for a nerve-racking performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, one of the most famous music and concert venues in the world. Adding to the tension in the group are two rival choirmasters – Kate (Kristin Scott Thomas), wife to the base’s colonel, and the more down-to-earth Lisa (Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan).

For all the clichés that Cattaneo skates close to – not least casting Scott Thomas as the icy upper-crust type – Military Wives manages to keep you on side. The script by Rachel Tunnard doesn’t soft-soap the emotional complexity of being the one left behind as your partner goes off on active duty, possibly never to return. Cattaneo deserves credit for the way he handles with care.