No message. No symbolism. No dark undercurrents.Just a wonderful melange of music, nostalgia and good fun put to-gether by people who obviously had a great time doing it. It's a refreshing antidote to some of the pretentious garbage being ground out by the studios. Of course ANYTHING with the incomparable Judi Dench is worth watching. And Cleo Laine's brilliant jazz singing is a bonus. This lady is in the same league as the late Ella. This goes on my movie shelf to be pulled out again anytime I feel the need for a warm experience and a hearty good natured chuckle. Just a wonderful film!

Charming in every way, this film is perfect if you're in the mood to feel good. If you love jazz music, it is a must see. If you enjoy seeing loveable characters that make you smile, can bring a tear to your eye and swing like there's no tomorrow this film is for you. If you are looking for an intense, deep, heavy piece of art to be dissected and analyzed perhaps you best stick with something by Darren Aronofsky (in other words - reviewer djjohn lighten up, don't you know a good time when you see one!) My only complaint is that the movie was just too darn short. I guess I'll just have to watch it several more times to get my fill.

A pleasant little TV movie with a really top-drawer cast (of old-timers, at any rate),The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells is one of those easy-going films which is extremely undemanding to watch and enjoy. It's all very minor and disposable, and once it's finished there's not much to remember a few days later, but while it's on the film is effortless fun and gives these lovable old rogues 'n' rascals a real chance to shine.

Following the death of her husband, elderly widow Elizabeth (Judi Dench) starts to become remarkably reflective about her life, and spends a lot of time thinking about her youth as a saxophonist with a wartime swing- band. Against the wishes of her grown-up children Patricia (Felicity Dean) and Edward (Nicholas Palliser),Elizabeth decides to go back to her musical roots and starts busking at a London ice rink. Here she is spotted by the sweet-talking old charmer Patrick (Ian Holm) who, back in the war years, was a male drummer-in-drag with the Blonde Bombshells (attempting to dodge being drafted into the army by disguising his gender). Soon – and with a little help from her grand-daughter Joanne (Millie Findlay) – Elizabeth gets the bug to re-form the Blonde Bombshells and put on one last show for her grand-daughter's school show. Helped (and occasionally hindered) by Patrick, Elizabeth sets about tracking down the surviving band members and bringing them together for a latter-day gig. But this proves no easy task, as in the intervening decades they have gone their various ways – one is dead, one is senile, one is in prison, one has dedicated herself to the Salvation Army, one is a wealthy alcoholic, and a few others have retained some semblance of their musical background.

Dench and Holm can make anything watchable, and they're in particularly good form in this nicely-written, nostalgic offering. It helps when you have a supporting cast of real calibre too – and with the likes of Olympia Dukakis, June Whitfield, Joan Sims, Billie Whitelaw and Leslie Caron filling the roles of the other band-members, one could hardly hope for greater calibre than that. Towards the end, the story becomes a little schmaltzy and predictable (these films about mismatched, everyday people getting together for a hare-brained event always seem to stick to a well-worn formula). However, for the first two-thirds of its duration, The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells is very touchingly handled indeed, with many beautifully acted moments and some lovely wistful dialogue. The manner in which the narrative hops back and forth in time from the present to the war years is expertly judged, and never really becomes jarring or episodic as can so often be the case in films of this kind. Overall, The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells might be lightweight and inconsequential… but it's enjoyable stuff while it lasts.