User reviews

For opera buffs this is a pleasure to watch and listen to. If you don't like opera then you will be disappointed as there is a lot of singing (and, after the first few lessons, pretty good singing too). The storyline is solid if mostly predictable though there is a good twist at the end.

Greetings again from the darkness. There aren't many Opera singer-Romantic Comedies, so that alone made this one worth checking out. Writer-director Ben Lewin (THE SESSIONS, 2012) co-wrote the script with Allen Palmer (his first feature film) and cast the film perfectly, while also gifting us an inordinate amount of beautiful singing voices, as well as a uniquely picturesque setting in the Scottish Highlands.

Danielle Macdonald (PATTI CAKE$, 2017) stars as Millie, an American who has been living in London, and establishing herself as a highly successful fund manager. After an evening at the opera with her boyfriend (and co-worker) Charlie (Shazad Latif, "Penny Dreadful"), Millie makes a life-altering decision. Rather than accept a big promotion at work, she's going to sacrifice her career and follow her dream of becoming an opera singer. Of course, as with most rom-coms, none of this really makes much sense. Rather than compare this to reality, it's best to enjoy the fun parts (and there are plenty) and disregard the rest.

Those fun parts begin once Millie leaves London and lands in the Scottish Highlands. Her first comical interaction is with the proprietor of The Filthy Pig played by Gary Lewis (GANGS OF NEW YORK, 2002). This only pub in the village also serves as its only restaurant and motel. More zaniness ensues as Millie auditions for Megan Geoffrey-Bishop (a terrific Joanna Lumley, "Absolutely Fabulous"), a "retired" singing teacher who once made her own mark on the stage. Her only current pupil is Max (Hugh Skinner, LES MISERABLES, 2002), a local who has been training for years. Max and Millie have the same goal - qualify for the 'Singer of Renowned' competition. So we immediately know where this is headed ... and sure enough, it does.

While much of the story focuses on the 'will they or won't they' connection between Millie and Max, it's Ms. Lumley who steals every scene she's in. Her theory that opera singers must suffer is part of her curriculum for both of her students. At first we aren't sure whether she's just taking Millie's money because she needs it, but that answer comes soon enough. The actual competition is packed with amazing singing voices, and the three-way love story follows many of the rom-com clichés - though we don't seem to care because Millie and Max are so torn between their dream and each other, and Ms. Lumley just keeps cracking wise.

Of course we know that opera singers train most of their lives for competitions and stage roles, so it's absurd to think that a fund manager can take a year off work and reach this level. But again, this isn't about reality. No, this is about Millie singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" like you've never heard it before. It's about "fish and chips without the vinegar". It's about not wanting to rent a room because the floor would need to be mopped. It's about opening your heart and chasing a passion - following a dream. And we can all use a little of that right now.

In select theaters and on VOD beginning October 1, 2021.

First off, Scotland is beautiful. The long shots of the crags and forests deserve a billing.

Second, if Scotland is part of the cast why only one costume? I understood the plot to suggest the preperation for the contest would take a year. Not sure if I saw early spring or late fall but don't feel I saw the whole year.

There were a number of humorous scenes in the movie but they lacked much connection and didn't do much to explain how the characters were growing through these situations.

Is it a spoiler to ask for more of Max's background? Or the nature of the relationship between Ramsey and Meghan? Or to see how Millie's growing talent and dedication transformed Meghan's cynicism into genuine belief in her students' potential?

I was happily entertained, and found I was even able to enjoy a few arias (spoiler alert - I generally tell people I appreciate all music except opera). Just disappointed that there were so many untended loose ends.

As an opera buff, I was already halfway towards enjoying it anyway and it certainly is the ultimate "feelgood movie" and the ending was relatively predictable. However there is a delightful movie made more than 10 or 12 years ago called "the music teacher" it's French and the storyline is much the same! Indeed I began wondering to myself whether or not the writer and producers of this movie had in fact seen the music teacher which influence them to rewrite it and make a modern version . If you do a search on this database you will come up with a French version made in 1998 and it has the retired singer teaching 2 aspiring singers who are training for a singing competition. At the end there is a singing duel! I think overall the earlier French version is much more polished.

A wealthy city fund manager leaves her job to train as an opera singer under the tutelage of a retired foul mouthed Diva. This comedy is to opera singing what Brassed off (1996) was to Brass bands and Blow Dry (2001) was to hairdressing. Lighthearted but very entertaining, the three main leads are all great and the story works, no matter how far-fetched. This should definitely put a smile on your face.

My Review- Falling for Figaro In Cinemas now My Rating 6/10

A film written by Polish born Australian Ben Lewin Falling for Figaro is a bit of a tired old plot line that's been done before and much better featuring a young unknown singer dancer actor who yearns for stardom and finds it eventually with the help of the right teacher.

The trouble for me unfortunately I have to say in this light weight but pleasant film is Joanna Lumley . I really admire Dame Joanna , her travel documentaries are sublime and a few of her movies like Finding Your Feet and of course her portrayal of Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous is one of the great comedy roles of last century.

In this film though her performance really irritated me . I have to blame Director Ben Lewin for letting Joanna overact in the first half of the movie appearing more like a nasty aged Patsy than a retired reclusive ex Opera singer.

She drinks too much she is foul mouthed and worse totally insults and degrades her two students Millie Cantwell and Max Thistlewaite . I wondered if this reincarnation of old Patsy was done for humour or drama ?

It didn't work for me as any young singer would be out the door in a flash.

Later in the film she calms down to a more reasonable tone and becomes almost proud but her early appearance in the film builds up a real dislike for her character Meghan Geoffrey - Bishop .

The plot is simple and very predictable Millie Cantwell who is delightfully portrayed by Australian actress and Sydney born Danielle MacDonald decides to become an Opera singer leaving her highly paid investment banker job in London and her long term boyfriend to re locate to The Highlands of Scotland. Her reluctant and nasty singing teacher Meghan Geoffrey -Bishop (Joanna Lumley ) a retired Opera singer takes her on as a pupil after insults and ego deflation at depth . No one including Millie is sure if it's for the high fees she's demanding or if she sees Millie as a challenge.

Meghan's other pupil is Max Thistlewaite a young villager who she treats with even more disdain it's a wonder either pupil gets any confidence from her constant put downs and that's the problem of this story for me .

Max played by Hugh Skinner is Millie's competition in The prestigious Singer of Renown contest in Edinburgh and it soon is obvious that both young singers have formed more of an attraction than just as singing students.

Both Hugh Skinner and Danielle Mac Donald effectively lip synch their arias to the voices of Australian Opera singers Stacey Alleaume and Nathan Lay both of these fine singers have won several prestigious awards .

This is a pleasant enough film with attractive locations in the Scottish Highlands that that include Glencoe, Loch Lomond and theatres in Glasgow . It was financed by Screen Australia, Screen Scotland .

Worth a look pleasant viewing but could have been much better in my opinion.

I've never been a big fan of opera as it's really long and never in english. This movie delivers the best of opera in sound bits we can handle...the pieces they perform are not only surprising but moving.

It also helps that it's just a good movie overall with good acting and a compelling storyline. Not only that it is the quintessential definition of a romantic comedy where the romance is uniquely played out in performance and the comedy comes naturally.

If you're looking for something relaxing and for sure entertaining, don't hesitate. Watched it again...too much fun!

I am not a romcom fan at all and I watched this as I was bored one day and wanted something on in the background whilst I did something else.

That said, I actually enjoyed the film quite a lot. The script is good and so are the characters and the singing, at least to this untrained ear, was beautiful.

I'm not an opera fan and have never been to the opera, but I do rather like it, and I did enjoy the singing which was on the whole stunning, so provided that you don't hate opera, you should enjoy this film.

Locations wise, I adore Scotland and always feel joy from seeing the beautiful landscapes, so the setting of the film in a sleepy Scottish Highlands town was perfect for me and a fitting backdrop for the beauty of the singing.

Danielle Macdonald is great in the lead role as is Hugh Skinner, but for me it's the performance given by Joanna Lumley that really shines. She's wonderful and the character she plays, reclusive, jaded voice coach is really rather marvellous.

I enjoyed the film more than I expected and you don't need to be an opera fan or even a romcom fan to enjoy it too.

Wonderful Scottish scenery, straightforward plot, slightly stereotypical locals. Joanna Lumley is memorable if only for her dragged through a hedge look. I'm enjoying heroines who are not stereotypical in appearance and personality. A couple of twists along the way, not too predictable, beautiful music. Comfort food.

I liked it. Loved the singing (but then I do love opera). Loved the Scottish scenery. Loved Danielle McDonald in The Tourist and Dumplin' and it's so nice to have a romantic lead who is not so skinny (even though she is also very pretty). Even Joanna Lumley was bearable. The two male leads were good too; Shazad Latif is always good to look at and the other one was ok too(!). And I've always liked Gary Lewis in anything I've seen him in.

I was just in the mood for something light hearted and sweet and this really hit the spot for me. I would not have bothered going to a cinema to watch it but on TV it was just right.

I wanted to love "Falling for Figaro", but it just was way to predictable for my taste.

Don't get me wrong, the cast was stellar, the locations beautiful and the music mesmerizingly beautiful. But it just fell really flat for me.

The highlight of the movie for me was definitely Joanna Lumley, she played the part of the stern, eccentric opera teacher very well, and was amusing.

Danielle Macdonald was also good in the film.

Again though, it felt like it was missing something for me personally.

I will recommend it though, as I am sure there are plenty of people who will definitely enjoy the film.

We've seen this movie before, but you could say that about most movies ever made. Pleasant leads, beautiful scenery, and quirky minor characters fill out the bill. Still drew me in though.

Made the movie entertaining. I rated this movie a solid seven out of ten stars instead of an enjoyable eight because for me, the lead actress was placid too often during scenes that demanded an emotion. Am unsure of the casting details but I would hazard to guess that all the singing roles had an operatic background as they were convincing with their performance. I would have liked this movie even better also if the screenplay writers (or director) didn't subtly hint on how the movie ends. Most rom coms are predictable enough as lead roles do end up together; I wished they left the viewers guessing who wins the contest as it is the only thing that has not been decided.

I absolutely adored this film! My husband likes horror, my son likes action, so I found this very refreshing! I think the story is unique and I truly hope to see the actors in future productions!

I have a minimum of eight years of vocal training and performance and I was not bothered one single bit by lip-syncing, nor do I remember any evidence of lip-syncing.

Seriously, do people lack such imagination that their favored movies need to have one hundred percent realism? I must confess I am a bit of a sensitive sap, and charming movies like this win me over pretty easily. That being said, this is no award winning show, but I can tell the people who worked on it did their best to make it really special for people like me who need a change of pace sometimes.

Where to start? Top notch actors, beautiful settings and an absolutely heartwarming story. I loved every single minute of this film, and would recommend everyone to watch it.

Not going to lie, I skipped this movie several times. I am not into Opera and I didn't find it that interesting. But after a while I thought I would give it a shot. Basically this is about a very successful woman who gives up her successful life to try to be an Opera singer. It is kind of a sports type allegory with her training and then entering one of those star maker contests. She has competition / love interest in her "coach's" only other student, Max, who has been trying for years and is irritated his coach is taking on a new student to compete with him. This movie doesn't suffer from the current trend of tell don't show. The screenplay takes you through the necessary scenes to believe people falling in love.

The only problems I had were that the main character Milly seems to be a Mary Sue for most of the movie. There is nothing she can't be great at and no man who isn't in to her. Perhaps that is so glaring because the main character actress is so overweight and it is disingenuous to act like that doesn't matter in the real world. So no I don't buy her as this high powered fund manager at some big firm in London with a loving boyfriend who is also a high powered fund manager.

I actually didn't have a problem with the relationship because Opera seems like a field where a woman could be larger and everyone would be used to it and the main love story takes place where there is not a single other woman the male character's age... never mind someone who is into Opera like he is. So I can see the love story. The male character is also not fleshed out enough. For a lot of the movie he is odd and you don't really understand how he came to Opera...I thought was going to turn out to be the son of the coach. However the final scene seems to do a lot of fixing of the character.

The premise that an untrained singer can attain such a high level within a year is laughable, and I wasn't at all convinced by 'Max', but if you like opera, then you'll enjoy hearing some of your favourite arias trotted out. But also, if you like opera, you'll also notice that the closing duet from Don Giovanni was misinterpreted for the purposes of the film. Here it looked like Zerlina was seducing Don Giovanni; not the other way around. But whatever. Roll on Monday.

The goal of every movie should be to entertain. I was thoroughly entertained. Yes, some things were predictable but then there was a twist that made it seem more believable.

I loved Millie. I loved Max. I loved the banter with the bar keeper. Frankly, the only thing I found implausible is that she only had 2 suitcases to last her a year in the highlands.

This was perfectly cast. Who knew I loved opera? Apparently Ben Lewin knew.

And their voices were amazing. Who did that? The actors? I don't think so. It was a trick but a good one.

Falling For Figaro

It was great.

One of those little movie gems the Brits/Australians turn out so well. A simple linear story of a young woman choosing to follow her dream of opera stardom over a boring office job! Her journey involved a vicious dragon lady (Joanna Lumley) of a singing teacher in rural Scotland.

Millie, played by Danielle Macdonald, acted her heart of, it was a truly great performance full of emotion and confliction. Equally good was Hugh Skinner as Max Thistlewaite, her rude fellow singing pupil and around factotum.

Overall they looked mostly like they were singing, so it was convincing. Scotland was shown at its best even though it generally rains.

Yes the plot was obvious, as were the jokes but the universal story of underdog coming good was inspirationally told here. The music was a delight throughout even if you didn't have a clue about opera.

For me this is a strong 7 outta 10, meaning a great film not to be missed.

Falling for Figaro is a small, interesting film about a young woman who leaves her high-paying job and goes to Scotland to become an opera singer under the tutelage of a former diva turned teacher (Joanne Lumley).

For anyone who has studied voice, Lumley as the money-grubbing teacher is a scream. The initial conversation with the aspiring singer goes like this:

"I'm not accepting any new students."

"I understand you charge a lot for lessons."

"What do other teachers charge?"

"About a hundred an hour."

"And I charge more?"

"Yes."

"I can see you tomorrow at 9 a.m."

The big goal of Lumley's two students is a contest that takes place each year.

Frankly, I wasn't crazy about the voices in this film with the exception of the dubber for Christine Bennington, an Australian soprano, Stacey Alleaume. I wanted to hear more.

Someone in a review asked if a person could become that good a singer in a year. Ready for a contest, hard to say. However, a singer with a natural voice who applies her or himself can absolutely develop their voice.

I would say that the big problem would be repertoire. Competitions normally ask for a list of six arias or so, and getting them into the voice in order to compete would be difficult.

A final note - the Barber of Seville aria, sung here by Shazad Latif (dubbed by Nathan Lay) is a major crowd-pleaser. Someone I knew brought down the house during a regional Met preliminary audition that was open to the public. He was one of the finalists and the next day at the formal concert he sang a Russian dirge. Why? The audience would have wanted him to win and wouldn't understand why he didn't had he sung Figaro.

This film isn't for everyone, but it's pleasant enough. By the way, Macdonald is overweight. I am noticing a trend of this in other films and tv, and I'm all for it. Yes, heavy women have boyfriends and talent. Nice to see.