You won't be disappointed!

People are voting emotionally.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It is rare that one finds a film that is a comedy, drama and musical all in one and great in all genres. The humor is seriously funny, the drama very dramatic and sad at times, and the musical element vibrant, flamboyant and daring. The film simply would not have been the same without Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins in the lead. They are FANTASTIC together! I thought Will Young was also very good, and he even gave us a peek-a-boo at his bum! (Well, erm, Bob Hoskins did more than that...). All elements of the film work in perfect harmony to bring a thoroughly enjoyable masterpiece. This is one of my all-time favorite films.

The opening credits have the appearance of a 1960's comedy. While this movie is clever and witty, I would place it into a drama category that uses humor to prevent dry boring material. The movie has nudity, but it is not erotic. In a compromise solution, nudity is allowed only if the girls never move while on stage, i.e. act as statues.

The recently widowed Mrs. Henderson has no idea what to do with her life and her vast amount of cash. Her friend suggests she gets herself a hobby, and after pricking her finger doing some embroidery she instead decides to buy a rundown theatre. She hires theatre manager Bob Hoskins to take over and run a musical review which all goes fine and dandy until everyone copies them. They decide to do something more daring and so have nudes on the stage. The film has the classical polite British putdowns and absurd but brilliant satirical moments. The nudes are not allowed to move, because then it's art. The musical numbers are quite fun and inventive and the verbal fisticuffs between Dench and Hoskins is brilliant. They each give us a warm but strict character and there is a lot of chemistry, which makes it even more interesting when the film shrugs off the romance angle between the pair. In the latter half after the war kicks off the film inevitably loses some of its warm colourful charm, but reflects the time period accordingly. A great supporting cast, especially Guest in a hilarious role, bring alive those little moments. A joyful feel good movie that gives a lot of heart.

I had such high expectations when sitting down to watch this film being a self-confessed 'Denchphile' and fan of genuine, honest British film. However, sadly I found myself underwhelmed by a lacklustre display despite the casting of some British acting heavyweights.First of all, the positive. Naturally, being an admirer of the Dame, Judy was the stand-out of this film insofar as without her casting, I feel this film would have barely poked its head above the water. Although not the 'brilliant' performance the reviewers promised on the DVD cover, especially when compared to recent Dench performances in the likes of 'Notes on a Scandal' and 'Ladies in Lavender', she nevertheless delivered a heart-warming show which allowed for smiles and titters. Be prepared for witty lines and examples of the classic British humour we expect in down-to-earth British cinema but don't expect any real 'laugh out loud' moments. What is charming is the music, costume, and feel of the film alluding to its musical theme. In this respect, the film succeeds in entertaining on stage, however it is the 'back-stage' story which really lets it down.Despite a positive start, setting the scene after Mr. Henderson's death and humorously showing how Mrs. Henderson acquired the Windmill theatre and Van Damm, the story soon gets all messed up, the pace and humour disappear and we're left waiting for it to end. Even the onset of the war and uncertainty about the future of the theatre fail to stir any real emotion. When main characters face atrocities, I fail to be moved towards sympathy because each of the characters is too shallow to really feel anything for, even Mrs. Henderson herself (the deepest of the lot). When the film reaches its climax (with Mrs. Henderson revealing her motives for pursuing her dream), the reason fails to convince, even though it should. Its difficult to pin-point what the missing ingredients are although the lack of character development and depth is the most obvious one. Aside from that the subplots fail to add any real value to the film and fail to prop up the weak narrative. Oh and Will Young gets a bit irritating by the end, mainly because we actually never really know who he is despite his high billing.All in all, this film gets 6/10 from me mainly for Dench's performance, its musical and aesthetic quality portrayed through the costume, song and dance. In other words the stage scenes, brief moments of Dench humour and charm. However, it fails to hit the spot because it doesn't make us care about the theatre, her motives, the characters or anything really. In the end we are just a bored audience sitting through a smiley but flawed musical stripper show which even Judy Dench could not save.