Sapphires hit the high notes in US

The cast of The Sapphires. Source: Supplied

THE Sapphires has spent its second weekend in the Top 20 at the US box office.

The Australian movie success story of last year – grossing $14.4 million locally – opened a month ago on just four screens in New York and Los Angeles. It has now expanded to more cities across the country to fill 93 screens, up from 60 the previous weekend.

It is sitting at No.20 in the US after a $241,272 weekend, for a total gross of $760,149.

Its average of $2594, while not huge, places it among the best 10 per-screen performers in the Top 20.

The movie musical – about four Aboriginal soul singers who connect with an Irish manager (Chris O’Dowd) and fly to Vietnam to entertain the troops – has been well reviewed by US publications including Rolling Stone, who rated it three stars.

“You could call it an Aussie Dreamgirls. I’d call it a blast of joy and music that struts right into your heart,” reviewer Peter Travers declared. He added that Aussie star Deborah Mailman “is to die for” and praised O’Dowd’s emotional performance: “Prepare to be wowed by O’Dowd.”

Entertainment Weekly gave The Sapphires a B+, likening it to The Commitments and calling the movie “irresistible if unpolished”.

The New York Times called it “bouncy, spirited entertainment” and said viewers’ hearts would have to be “a lump of gristle to resist it.” The reviewer put the appeal down to the personalities of The Sapphires themselves – as played by Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell.The Sapphires has been released in the US by The Weinstein Company, the masters of marketing niche movies in North America.
 

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