Goddess

2013 / Director. Mark Lamprell

To put it politely...  oh deary me. I was oddly pumped to see GODDESS. I'm a sucker for good musicals and given that it's an Aussie one I was just that bit keener to see it. A good musical, it is not. The musical numbers are lame. It tells the story of a British family living in rural Tasmania. The husband is always away for work and the wife is left with two rambunctious toddler sons. To relieve her stress she sets up a webcam and broadcasts her "sink songs" to the world. The world embraces her and she is whisked away to Sydney to become the face of a new product. Her newfound fame fractures her home-life and relationship and she's faced with the dilemma of pursuing her dreams and being a good wife and mother. Almost everything about the film is nice. It looks great, it's colourful and the choreography is fun. All of the players are good with Laura Michelle Kelly standing out as an obvious stage-goddess. She's a cross between Sarah McLachlan and Nigella Lawson. Ronan Keating and Magda Szubanski lend solid support performances too.... unfortunately none of those positives really matter when the songs (which are the film's crux) strike a chord. They feel slapped together and half-arsed. None of the numbers lift the roof and its embarrassing to watch. The film does rise up (as best it can) in the final act and saves it from complete disaster but overall Goddess is a very average musical experience. Wasted talent all round. 

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