The music is great and yes, this 'based on a true story' film is well worth watching just to see and hear the insanely talented Jessica Mauboy (as "Julie") sing, but it's the performance of Chris O'Dowd which really holds this film together from start to finish, albeit in a sometimes rather stereotypical manner. There are, annoyingly, a remarkable number of goofs that bring you "out" of the immersive experience that film watching should be (the impact of which I guess will depend on your age and knowledge of Australian history). I'd recommend watching this film when it plays on free-to-air TV (record it on your PVR and FF through the ad breaks). It's certainly low on language, violence and sexualised content so suitable for watching with young teens. Older viewers will enjoy the music and IT Crowd fans will enjoy seeing O'Dowd in this major film role; without him as the cohesive male lead, the film would be relegated to just another fair-to-middling Australian film, quickly forgotten. Except for Mauboy's standout voice.
Review of The Sapphires
