British actress Brenda Blethyn follows up her Oscar-nominated performance in Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies (1996) with the U comedy drama Girls' Night, starring alongside Julie Walters (Educating Rita) and Kris Kristofferson (Lone Star) in a compassionate tale of friendship, risktaking and bereavement.
The third film from 38-year-old former Royal National Theatre and TV director Nick Hurran, and his second for Granada Films (The Perfect Match was a winner at the 1995 Cologne Film Festival), Girls' Night follows best friends and fellow factory workers Dawn (Blethyn) and Jackie (Walters), whose regular Friday 'girls' night' down at the local bingo breaks up the mundanity of their lives. When Dawn unexpectedly wins the jackpot, she gives half to Jackie, honouring their arrangement to split any winnings, but while Dawn is deciding how to spend her share of the money, she is diagnosed with advanced cancer. Aware that her illness is terminal, Dawn refuses treatment, and the distraught Jackie responds by whisking her friend away to Las Vegas for one last blast of fun, where they play the odds on love and life with the help of charismatic rodeo cowboy Cody (Kristofferson).
Girls' Night was scripted by writer Kay Mellor, whose award-winning TV dramas Band of Gold and Some Kind of Life were so successful in the UK. The film is based on Mellor's own experiences. "I wrote Girls' Night in memory of my dear friend Denise who died at a young age," says the writer. "It helped me understand how she could accept death so gracefully when everything in me was raging at the injustice of it all." Originally destined for the small screen, the $4.5 million production from Granada, whose successes have included My Left Foot, The Field and Jack & Sarah, quickly found backing from US producer Showtime Network, which recognised both the film's pathos and warmth, as well as its transatlantic appeal. Hero Brown

Synopsis

Girls' Night from British director Nick Hurran tells a story of loss and trust. Friends Dawn (Brenda Blethyn) and Jackie (Julie Walters) from the hick town of Rawtenstall in the north of England share everything: their working lives in the factory, their family frustrations - and their bingo winnings. When Dawn wins £100,000 their lives change drastically. Jackie leaves her husband but is let down by her new lover. Dawn, on the other hand, has different worries: she has known for quite a while that she has cancer. When Jackie finds out, she convinces Dawn to fulfil her lifelong dream and together they fly to Las Vegas. Kris Kristofferson as charming rodeo horseman Cody transforms Dawn's last journey into a declaration of love for life. In Julie Walters and Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies), Hurran has found two exceptional actresses who truly touch the audience's heart. A film with deep feelings where small gestures count a lot more than big words.

 (Dir): Nick Hurran (Scr): Kay Mellor (Cast): Julie Walters, Brenda Blethyn, Kris Kristofferson (Running time): 112 Minutes