Why you can trust GamesRadar+
Inspired by cellmate Jack (Clemens, former lead saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band), Martin (Speer) gets out of prison with the ambition of forming a swing band. Thus he recruits his ex, Joan (singer Stansfield) and a crew of Liverpool's flotsam (including Alexi Sayle) to play support.
The result is a rom-com that suffers from following too closely in the steps of The Commitments, which did the whole getting-a-band-together thing much better. Lisa Stansfield acquits herself well in the lead, but the jokes are weak, the attempts at social commentary hashed and the band improbably good from the minute they pick up their instruments.
That, combined with a contrived side plot involving the police and Nerys Hughes - - out of character as an Italian mamma - - leaves this Britflick with little audience appeal outside hardcore Stansfield fans.
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
I've seen enough: Assassin's Creed Shadows will beat Black Flag as my favorite AC game as Ubisoft says it lets you "Naruto run" as the "fastest Assassin" it's ever made
Marvel reveals its full slate of March 2025 comics and covers featuring the Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man, and more
After 6 years, Frostpunk 2 dev's unannounced game is canceled because it was conceived "under very different market conditions" when story-driven games "held stronger appeal"