kathye-8 I settled down to watch this having recorded it some years ago when it was shown in the BBC sign zone, something I had forgotten till the sign language started up in the bottom corner! My sister must have recommended it to me as one of her favourites and that was all I knew of it. I found I didn't know what to make of the film throughout, was it funny or sad, comedy or tragedy? I guess it's both.Some bits shocked me, like her maltreatment of her disabled father, yet it made me adjust the stereotyped view of someone in this situation and remember that she was barely able to take care of herself properly and therefore totally clueless about caring for a disabled person, let alone him being the father who had put her down with his criticism for years.Whether it was the filmmaker's intent, I found the sensation of watching brought alive the situation of life just 'happening' to Annie Mary so that one moment her friend Bethan says she's in remission and the next she's talking about a hospice with no lead up to it either way.Annie Mary felt a very real character in the way that I found myself liking and disliking her, she wasn't all good or all bad as a human as with some of the more 'easy' to watch films from Hollywood where you know who to like and dislike within minutes of meeting them.Overall it has been a film that has made a real impact on me, too soon to say what but waking up having watched it the night before I find it is still vivid in my mind, still making me think... and feel.

Sophie One evening in search of a light-hearted comedy, the afore mentioned film was put into an unsuspecting DVD player. After a laugh???This movie is more likely to make you: cry, fall asleep, moan in agony, gorge out your eyes, or throw bottles at the TV.It had a promising start, but 10 minutes into this film you realize that you have turned down a treacherous path and if you wish to come out alive it is best to turn around and not venture further into the empty and painful experience that is this movie.The misfortunes of Annie Mary and her Father, are not a form of entertainment. It is a poor and unwitty attempt at humour, expressed with serious overtones, that make the film really only suitable for sadists.If you want a laugh, this film is a pass.

e_tippett She has lived in the bakery her whole life and doesn't know how to make bread??? I understand her father probably controlled every aspect of production but to know NOTHING?? I don't bake bread and I bet I could figure it out PDQ if I had to. And really that pathetic closet where she proposed to put her father was just stupid. Anyone with half a brain would see that a dog didn't deserve that treatment. And just who would *bleep* her after meeting her once?? That fat guy at the races??

Chris_Gardner Very Annie-Mary (M), now showing at The Regent Theatre in Te Awamutu, is not only packed with laughs but takes the audience on a roller coaster ride of human emotions. Inspiring feelings of amusement, hope and joy the film also has moments of utter clarity, deepest despair and complete regret - it's guaranteed to break your heart before restoring your faith in humanity. Thirty-year-old Annie-Mary, played by Six Foot Under star Rachel Griffiths, has never left her Ogw home in the Welsh valleys and is under the thumb of her father. The dizzy girl, who won a prestigious Welsh singing competition in her teens, still dresses as though she were 16, secretly smokes and cannot cook – quite an irony as she works for her father. She secretly dreams of leaving home and setting up with her best friend, the terminally ill Bethan Bevan (Joanna Page), who is half her age, as well as marrying Colin Thomas (Rhys Miles Thomas), a candidate for the Baptist ministry and the only man in the valley under 60. When her music-loving father Jack Pugh (Jonathan Pryce) suffers a stroke during a charity recital Annie-Mary is forced to grow up and take on some responsibility – the only problem is she has no idea about life in the real world, keeping her money in a piggy bank. She's so clumsy that she walks into doors. The film delivers a believable portrayal of life in a Welsh village, something a frequent visitor to Wales like me is qualified to say. Hornblower star Ioan Gruffudd goes back to his Welsh roots to make an appearance as gay confectioner Hob while former Hi-de-hi star Ruth Maddoc plays Pugh's love interest, Mrs Ifans. While the film contains some sex scenes, which are far from graphic, there is also a smattering of offensive language. This aside, Very Annie-Mary is one of those films that sees you leaving the cinema riding on a cloud. The music is just great too.