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Girls' night out

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Life's a gamble.

Jackie (Julie Walters) and Dawn (Brenda Blethyn) have known each other for years. They've lived all their lives in the small northern England town of Rawtenstall. Forty-four-year-old Dawn is married to Jackie's younger brother Steve (George Costigan). Dawn and Jackie make an unlikely pair. Dawn has devoted herself to her husband and family whilst Jackie's marriage to her husband Dave (Philip Jackson) has been a sham for years. Both women work together in a local factory assembling mobile phones for a Taiwanese company. The only excitement they have in their lives, apart from Jackie's "adventures", is the regular Friday night bingo sessions. It's during one of these girls' nights that things suddenly change for the two women.

Persons of interest

Brenda Blethyn .... Dawn Wilkinson
Julie Walters .... Jackie Simpson
Kris Kristofferson .... Cody
James Gaddas .... Paul
George Costigan .... Steve Wilkinson
Philip Jackson .... Dave Simpson
Judith Barker .... Helen
Maxine Burth .... Liz
Sue Cleaver .... Rita
Fine Time Fontayne .... Ken
Stuart Fox .... Dr MacDonald
Kay Mellor .... Screenwriter
Nick Hurran .... Director

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

A grown-up drama for grown-up people.

There are no car chases, no drugs and no blood. Girl's night out is about people who are having problems with other people and with themselves. It's about finding the best way to solve those problems while hurting the least number of people, because these problems have no easy answers. No mater which choice the character makes, someone will get hurt.

Brenda Blethyn and Julie Walters put in their usual quality performances, coping easily with the euphoric highs and despairing lows. If you are a fan of either you won't be disappointed. Everyone else is fine in their role, but you can't go past these two queens of the screen. They are simply two of the best actors in modern film.

*Sighs*

The story is a tight, gritty, festering kitchen sink drama. It's real people in real situations, the kind of thing that Hollywood is renown for not making. Girls' night out can only be British. There is little more that I need to say other than... watch and enjoy. Oh, and maybe a box of tissues wouldn't go astray.

Security censorship classification

M (Medium level sex scene, low level coarse language)

Surveillance time

102 minutes (1:42 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 1 September 1999