Tina (Mother) by Miki Magasive [3/10]

Tina (Mother), a heartfelt New Zealand drama clearly intended to tug at the heartstrings, hits its high spots in majestic singing scenes. The tale of a choral teacher rendered inactive by her daughter’s death in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and then impelled, somehow, to kick off a choir in an elite school … that is a story worth telling. As the choir aspire to winning The Big Sing, an annual inter-school competition, the plotline rapidly veers into Mighty Duck territory, and the film’s understated ambitions prove to be its flaws. Nearly all the characters are clumsy pastiches, the lead actor, Anapela Polataivao, is badly miscast. The final third of the film, intended to crescendo, is instead a subsiding mess. Tina proves to be most disappointing.