The hundred-year-old extracurricular brass band of Grimley Colliery marches proudly toward "Albert Bloody Hall" on the competitive circuit, even as the mine itself faces closure. The filmmakers are too disheartened by Thatcherism to do an out-and-out comedy in the old Ealing Studios style, but their indomitable-human-spirit sentiments prevent a complete submersion in kitchen-sink realism either. The tone, in short, is a bit "wobbly," to borrow the bandleader's pet criticism of his troops. Pete Postlethwaite is very touching in the leader's role, and the music is stirring. With Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald, Stephen Tompkinson, Jim Carter; directed by Mark Herman. (1997) — Duncan Shepherd
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