Goddess

Overview

Goddess, gracious.

Though Les Miserables swept the Oscars, and musicals are certainly making more of a foray into mainstream cinema, there are some musicals that still don't quite belong on the big screen.

Inspired by a one-woman stage show, Goddess tells the story of English woman, Elspeth (Laura Michelle Kelly), who, after moving with her husband, James (Ronan Keating) to Tasmania, finds herself lonely while looking after their twin toddlers. In an effort to keep up her musical prowess, Elspeth uses her webcam to share her 'sink songs' with the world and soon becomes a YouTube sensation.

Goddess will certainly find its audience among those that enjoy the naff story lines usually found in telemovies, but really it's the box where this story belongs. The unbelievable side stories of James's profession and the group of prim mothers who refuse to adopt Elspeth in their group are far too contrived, and while there are the odd laughs (usually from a scene-chewing Magda Szubanski as the high-flying marketing executive), most of the songs are cringe-inducing.

Musicals are allowed to have shots of sweeping vistas, they're allowed to have characters that are larger than life and storylines that are a bit hard to believe. But they're also supposed to inspire an outpouring of emotion, and the only emotion that Goddess inspired, if you can call it that, was awkward.