Calendar Girls

Inspired by a group of middle-aged women in Yorkshire, England, who rocked the boat in their local knitting-and-baking club (and made worldwide headlines) by posing nude for a charity calendar, this quaintly cheeky comedy is very much in the vein of The Full Monty. Blessed with sparkling performances from the fabulous Helen Mirren and Julie Walters (Billy Elliott) as the feisty ringleaders dissatisfied with the pittance the group makes each year from putting out boring 12-monthers with pictures of churches or flower arrangements, director Nigel Cole's Calendar Girls is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser with a harmlessly fun sense of humor. But it's beguiling only throughout the planning, the posing, and all the public discombobulation and personal-inhibition-busting that results, all because the women wanted to raise money for the hospital where one of their husbands was treated for cancer. Once the calendar is released, however, the movie runs out of steam and tries to keep afloat for a long third act by inventing false drama. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include the documentary featurette “The Naked Truth” about the real story of the Knapely Women's Institute calendar girls (15 min.), the six-minute featurette “Creating the Calendar,” four deleted scenes (5 min.), trailers, and a weblink. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a mostly winning film.] (R. Blackwelder)