Hunky Dory (2011)

In the heat of the summer of 1976, drama teacher Vivienne fights sweltering heat and general teenage apathy to put on an end-of-term version of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Director:

Marc Evans

Writer:

Laurence Coriat

Stars:

Minnie Driver, Aled Pugh, Kristian Gwilliam

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Minnie Driver	...	Vivienne
Aneurin Barnard	...	Davey
Danielle Branch	...	Stella
Robert Pugh	...	Headmaster
Haydn Gwynne	...	Mrs. Valentine
Steve Speirs	...	Mr. Cafferty
Kimberley Nixon	...	Vicki Munro
Aled Pugh	...	Tim
Julia Perez	...	Sylvie
George MacKay	...	Jake Zeppi
Kristian Gwilliam	...	Hoople - Andy Dixon
Adam Byard	...	Lewis Munro
Sam Pulsford	...	Angus
Darren Evans	...	Kenny Loder
Kayleigh Bennett	...	Dena Davies

Storyline

In the heat of the summer of 1976, keen drama teacher Vivienne fights sweltering heat and general teenage apathy to put on an end of year music version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. To engage her students, she uses hits of the time, which will be performed by a fresh young cast led by rising star Aneurin Barnard.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 March 2013 (USA)

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,695 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Gross:

$19,041 (USA) (3 May 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aegis Film Fund, Mulligan and Nesbitt Productions, Prescience

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"The Man Who Sold The World"
Written by David Bowie
Performed by Tom Rhys Harries and The Hunky Dory Orchestra

User Reviews

Poor Combination of Glee and Across the Universe with too many characters.

Hunky Dory tries to emulate what has already come before it in terms of musicals; Glee and Across the Universe, neither of which I have to say I'm a fan of but I'm willing to give anything a chance so I decided to see Hunky Dory.

The generic coming-of-age plots are held together by the show the kids are performing in with Minnie Driver at the helm but that's the problem; there are simply too many characters. In fact, there are a dozen and it's just too much to try and take in. No criticism towards the actors but 12 different characters to follow just gets confusing and bogged down. Now, 3 or 4 main story lines I think would have worked perfectly but we aren't given the chance to engage with any of the characters as their stories are jotted all over the film and it's hard to remember who's doing what, who's going where and frankly, it's just hard to care.

The musical numbers, as enjoyable and respectfully done as they are, sometimes seem just to be thrown in for the sheer hell of it. It suffers from 'Across the Universe syndrome' in that, the songs they perform happen to tie in with exactly what the characters are feeling and going through. Now that might work for some people but I'm not a big fan. It's just too corny. I did find myself getting quite into some of the songs however, the covers are good, as is the soundtrack. I just love Bowie in honesty!

I'm not a fan of the film, obviously, but I will say it's good for it's music and soundtrack. That isn't enough reason to go and see it however and I would say it could definitely be given a miss.