LAND GIRLS commits the greatest crime that any romance can commit — it makes us root against the intended lovers. The title is a reference to the British Land Army, which was comprised of women who went to work jobs that were vacated by the men when they went off to fight in WWII.
The story begins with Stella (Catherine McCormack, DANGEROUS BEAUTY), Ag (Rachel Weisz, THE CONSTANT GARDENER) and Prue (Anna Friel, GOAL!) arriving on a farm in Dorset, where the farmer John Lawrence (Tom Georgeson, NOTES ON A SCANDAL) believes it’s a lark to send women out to do men's work. Turns out the young women have been trained quite well and take to their work very quickly, leaving ample time for them to set eyes on the farmer's son Joe (Steven Mackintosh, UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION), who dreams of being a pilot. Prue is the first to set out and shag Joe, followed by Ag, who doesn't want to be a virgin when she gets married. Stella, who is engaged to the rich sailor Philip (Paul Bettany, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), watches Joe from a distance, trying to hold back her feelings for him. I mean, he wants to fly and she wants to fly… so they must be destined to be together.
I must say that all the sexual shenanigans between the girls and Joe are at times funny and it's nice to see sexually liberated women not portrayed as sluts, but it creates a frivolous tone that doesn't match the misty visuals and wartime setting. The sexual romps make the women seem petty and preoccupied rather than dedicated to helping out their country. A sex comedy set during WWII can be done, however director David Leland films this story as if it’s a serious piece on the Land Army women. To look at the film you'd think drama, but strip away the setting and time period and the material is no different than AMERICAN PIE.
Nonetheless, the material is relatively charming until it tries to force Joe and Stella together. Joe hoping from woman to woman while he's engaged to another woman named Janet (Lucy Akhurst) doesn’t make him all that sympathetic. Moreover, we are given no reason to dislike Philip, which makes Stella really look bad as she pines over a promiscuous farm boy while her blue blood fiancée is off at war.
What we realize when we get to this part is just how underdeveloped the characters are. We know nothing about where they come from or who they really are. It's almost as if the film completely skipped the first act. The girls are just types — Stella is the strong, but quiet leader; Ag is the naïve bookish one; and Prue is the brash seductress. Once we're past the sexual romp portion, the story goes on autopilot and we know exactly where and how it will go. In the end, farmer John becomes the most interesting character as he fights against plowing his beautiful fields even though he is being ordered to do so by the government.
When it's all said and done, we learn as much about the Land Army as we learn about the three main characters — only cursory details. The look and feel are beautiful yet they seem in conflict with the lighthearted plot. Then when the "meatier" romance comes along, we start to see all the holes and the whole frothy affair flattens. The dramatic punches at the end provide no emotional weight because nothing in the beginning made us care. Finally, the whole picture becomes a syrupy confection that we loose a taste for once we discover the grinds at the bottom.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
