'I Am Woman' is an Australian produced bio-pic on the late singer Helen Reddy, whose 1972 hit 'I Am Woman' become the unofficial anthem of the feminist movement, and the ultimately unsuccessful battle for passage of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What set's this movie off from the usual arc of infidelity, drug abuse, and finical mismanagement one associates with musical bio pics, is here that arc is enacted not by Reddy, but by her manager and second husband Jeff Wald, played finely by Evan Petters. Reddy herself is played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey, an Australian actress who is reminiscent of Rooney Mara, and ironically has been dating Rooney Mara's 'Lion' co-star Dev Patel since 2017. Cobham-Hervey brings an appropriate combination of determination and pleasant pluckiness to the part.
Spanning the years 1966-1989 this is a fairly straight forward telling of the singers rise to prominence, and subsequent fading into the back ground. There is also a nice sub plot here about Lillian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald), Helen's good friend and fellow Australian, who authored the first encyclopedia of rock and roll before dying from an asthma attack in 1973 at the age of 41.
A pleasant film, that wisely gives us near to complete renderings of many of Reddy's best remembered songs, dubbed by Chelsea Cullen, who sounds appropriately like her. An undemanding film that is not trying to break new ground, but is an appropriate tribute for fans of the late artist to enjoy. **1/2
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