God Help the Girl (2014)

It’s always nice to see a film set amidst surroundings from your childhood, and this rather poppy musical drama delivers quite amiably, too. It’s all about “Eve” (Emily Browning) who is in and out of hospital but determined to indulge her passion for music. Serendipity clearly thinks she’s worth a risk and so introduces her to the shy musician “James” (Olly Alexander) and to fellow songstress “Cassie” (Hannah Murray) and now, thanks to a fair chunk of Glaswegian band “Belle and Sebastian” as well as some songs from auteur Stuart Murdoch we follow the three friends as they try to navigate their occasionally quite messy lives in search of their dream. Glasgow has always has a vibrant and eclectic music scene and right from the start at the “Barrowlands” venue, these guys are able to tap into that lively creative bloodstream to explore their potential. None of them are without their baggage, but the story doesn’t dwell so much on those issues as much as illustrate the values of friendship, a bit of romance and simply having the confidence to believe in yourself and try something new. That’s the challenge for the timid “James” and some of the comments that emanate from his character seem strangely prophetic for an actor who went on to do exactly what his goal was here. They deliver their own vocals engagingly with a few tracks that reminded me a little of Kirsty MacColl and for a piece of low-budget indie cinema, it punches quite a bit above it’s weight. It does take it’s time to get going, and perhaps it takes a little too a simplistic view of the “remedies” for mental illness, but it’s still a film that does raise a smile and it’s worth a couple of hours just to make you feel a bit better.