In 1966. Helen Reddy arrives in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase, and $230 in her pocket. She had been told she'd won a recording contract, but the record company promptly dashes her hopes by telling her it has enough female stars and suggests that she have fun in New York before returning home to Australia. Helen, without a visa, decides to stay in New York anyway and pursue a singing career, struggling to make ends meet and provide for her daughter. She... (Full plot summary below)
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In 1966. Helen Reddy arrives in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase, and $230 in her pocket. She had been told she'd won a recording contract, but the record company promptly dashes her hopes by telling her it has enough female stars and suggests that she have fun in New York before returning home to Australia. Helen, without a visa, decides to stay in New York anyway and pursue a singing career, struggling to make ends meet and provide for her daughter. She befriends legendary rock journalist Lillian Roxon, who becomes her closest confidante. Lillian inspires her to write and sing the iconic song "I Am Woman" which becomes the anthem for the second-wave feminist movement and galvanizes a generation of women to fight for change. She also meets Jeff Wald, a young aspiring talent manager who becomes her agent and husband. Jeff helps her get to the top, but he also suffers from a drug addiction that gradually turns their relationship toxic. Caught in the treadmill of fame and dependent on Jeff to manage her professional life, Helen finds the strength to take control of her own career and keep pursuing her dreams.
Leave your thoughts about I Am Woman.
| San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonStill, I Am Woman, while it doesn’t roar, effectively tells Reddy’s story and speaks strongly about the women’s movement and the struggle that continues. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperReddy’s story is given the standard, time-honored biopic treatment in I Am Woman, which checks off just about every cliché imaginable — and yet wins us over, in large part due to the star-power performance of Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Reddy. |
| Film ThreatAlan NgWhat makes I Am Woman worth watching (and recommending) is the importance of Helen Reddy’s story, predictable as it is. |
| Arizona RepublicEd MasleyCobham-Hervey's breathtaking performance elevates the whole endeavor, capturing the heart of what made Reddy so deserving of the winning tribute Moon has given her with I Am Woman. It's in Cobham-Hervey's understatement that we truly hear this woman roar. |
| Original-CinLiam LaceyWhile the performances are heart-warming, the characterization of Reddy feels reductive, overlooking the real-life contradictions, flinty humour, and eccentricities that might have made the performance less generic. |
| The GuardianLuke BuckmasterIt is a lean and likeable, if slight and a little trite, celebration of the legendary Australian-American singer, feminist and anthem-creator Helen Reddy, shot with a rich neo-noirish texture by Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe. |
| The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyEven when it veers into familiar territory, I Am Woman remains entertaining and sharply packaged. |
| CNNBrian LowryHelen Reddy might seem so 1970s, but her song "I Am Woman" became a feminist anthem of its time, and serves as the title and centerpiece of a reasonably good movie biography, if one that -- perhaps due to the nature of her life -- feels a little like the Hallmark Channel version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." |
| Movie NationRoger MooreIt’s not a great film, with a story that has too much “Lifetime Original Movie” slack and soap operatic touches for its own good. But as Jerry Wald says, “It’s all about timing.” |
| New York PostSara StewartI’d have been curious to see more about Reddy’s interactions with the women’s movement, but the film mostly has room for this one woman. Thanks to Cobham-Hervey’s performance, it’s an engaging, if fairly familiar, story. |
