Last Of The Blonde Bombshells (2000)

A recent widow (Judi Dench) starts to reflect on her teen years during WWII when she was part of an all girl band called The Blonde Bombshells. When she meets up with the band's one male member (Ian Holm) who performed in drag, she gets it into her head to reunite the band at least once. Directed by Gillies MacKinnon, this is a slight piffle of a movie. Its enjoyment comes from the seeing the talented cast going through their paces. Dench and Holm have the bulk of screen time and their rapport is lovely. But the remaining actresses playing the band members each have their moment even if some of those moments are minimal. Poor Leslie Caron is barely in it! It's pleasant enough but a little more originality (it's pretty predictable) and substance would have gone a long way in making it something more than okay. Still, those actors do shine! With Olympia Dukakis, Cleo Laine (in great voice), Billie Whitelaw, Joan Sims, June Whitfield (ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) and Romola Garai.