In the fictional version Dave Lovelace (marvelously played by Chris O'Dowd) is a music promoter who is running 'talent shows' where the entrants largely lack any talent at all and he bored out of his mind. Until a group of sisters with a cousin come on stage and do a heartbreakingly beautiful version of a Wountry-Western song. He sees right away that they have the potential to be great. He answers an advertisement in the paper for singing groups to travel under U.S. military escort in Vietnam entertaining troops. They are successful at getting a chance, and over the course of the movie they morph from rural Australian girls of Aboriginal background into sultry soul singers in bright spangled dresses that grab the attention of the whole room. The soundtrack of the movie is stellar and that thread of the story is great. The group as a whole are grappling with a family issue and then with their own individual struggles. Gail (Deborah McMillan) is the eldest and she has a sharp edge and a bad attitude that would wear you down if it wasn't for the fact that Dave falls madly in love with her and saves her from he natural bitterness. The family situation is that the cousin, Kay (Shari Sebins) had a white mother, and as a child she was taken by the government from her family to be raised by a white family--something the Australian government did up until the 1970's. The issues of race are intermingled with the terrifying backdrop of the war (bombings, being under fire, wounded soldiers, and constant anxiety are all well represented). Really enjoyable movie that I would highly recommend.
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