Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2014

A quartet of aboriginal amateurs (Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens & Miranda Tapsell) singing Merle Haggard in the Australian outback in the 60s is discovered by a tippling, itinerant Irish keyboardist (Chris O’Dowd) and repurposed into a bootie-shakin’, soul-sister sensation—and they’re off to Vietnam to entertain the troops. A strange thing happens with this film. See, it’s full of flaws. Structurally, it’s all over the place. The film’s momentum and story arc are repeatedly sabotaged by its adhering too closely to the true story that inspired it. I would’ve preferred a less literal flight of fancy like The Commitments, a film this one frequently suggests. The plot holes are many and large, the script corny and clichéd, and several subplots are ignored. But this is all forgiven when the girls rip into “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Land of One Thousand Dances” or “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” and the redemptive powers of soul music go to work. These singers got heart, and it fairly spills off the screen. This sincere yet unpolished little feelgooder makes you smile, and it makes me recommend it. (99 min)