Stet (Garrett Wareing) is an 11-year-old kid from the wrong side of the tracks, who, with no formal training, possesses the voice of an angel. When his mother is killed in a conveniently timed car crash, the boy’s well-meaning teacher (Debra Winger) pleads with his wealthy but uninterested father (Josh Lucas) to send Stet to the American Boychoir School.
Once there, the stone-throwing youngster has difficulty fitting in with his preppy peers and dealing with the challenges set by maestro Carvelle (Dustin Hoffman). Will he settle down and make the touring choir? Will he become the school’s lead soloist?
The answers are thoroughly predictable but The Choir – released as Boychoir in the US – is jollied along by a rousing performance of Handel's Messiah, soaring harmonies and marquee-name thespian clout.
Happily, newcomer Wareing proves a decent sparring partner for both Bates and Hoffman.
This is not perhaps the film we were expecting from François Girard, who previously gave us The Red Violin and the sublime Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.
It's generic and then some. The screenplay by Ben Ripley (Source Code) creates potentially interesting supporting roles, including a junior tutor played by Glee's Kevin McHale and a weasly choirmaster played by Eddie Izzard, and then seems to forget about them altogether.
For all its predictability, it’s a lovely, moving film as long as the viewer accepts that – never mind any potential Oscar winners – the music is the real star.
The Choir is also available on demand on volta.ie
