Movie Review - Goddess

Goddess is an Australian Film which sees Eslpeth Dickens (Laura Michelle Kelly), a former bar singer, looking after twin boys in rural Tasmania while hubby James (Ronan Keating) is off for weeks at a time performing whale research, which seems mainly to involve recording them (we don't see much of that).  Feeling isolated and abandoned Elspeth takes the web cam given to her to allow communication with James, which he never responds to, and sets up her own video webcast singing songs inspired by her life of domesticity.  Her quirky ways soon get the attention of advertising bigwig Cassandra Wolfe (Magda Szubanski) who wants Elspeth to be the face of "Goddess", a small personal computer for women.  Can Elspeth become the star she wants to be without sacrificing those she loves?

Goddess is an interesting creation, a musical that can't quite make up it's mind about exactly where it's aiming at.  Initially the musical sequences are based in the main setting, but soon become fanciful and full style cabaret.  This works well as Elspeth's fame rises and things speed up, but then there are moments that take you right out of this, like the busker who seems to be there to purely serenade her.  The relationship between Elspeth and James also seems a bit on the awkward side, even before the major drama starts.

That's not to say the movie isn't fun.  Most of it is pitched at a nice silly, if slightly surreal, level that definitely brings a smile to the face.  Towards the finale though, it comes crashing down and suddenly has a shot at real drama as well as showing extended shots of James on the ship where there has only been mention of his job previously.  The transition is pretty roughly handled and is speedily resolved and soon it is back to quirky singy fun times.

Overall, it's hard to mark Goddess down all that much.  It is in firm quirky Aussie movie territory which is full of uneven offerings.  At the end of the day it will put a smile on your face and give you a good number of laughs along the way.

In a word - quirky.