Richard Curtis has a great track record of writing amusing, often hilarious films which all have some sort of hidden message. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was ultimately about the value of tolerance. "Notting Hill" about how deep down, however famous we might be, we are ultimately human and vulnerable. "Love Actually" was about the power and risks and torments and delights of love. Curtis's lightness of touch has always belied an inner seriousness.

"Mary and Martha" is a much more serious film (albeit with some lighter moments) about two women brought together by tragedy - the losses of their sons to Malaria. They are utterly different. They differ by age, nationality, background, lifestyle - everything. And yet they find a common cause in their campaign to get more funding from the West, specifically the US, to fight the scourge of malaria in Africa.

There is an element of documentary about the film - it certainly aims to inform us about the disease the assumption being (rightly in my case) that we are unaware (A) How much of a problem it is and (B)That something CAN be done about it.

But notwithstanding the educational element of the movie the story line is strong and believable. We see the waste of two young western lives contrasted with the waste on a massive scale as thousands of children fall to Malaria every day. And all for the want of a net to put over their beds and drugs to treat them.

Mary and Martha prick the consciences of American legislators by delivering a powerful and emotional message to a Congressional committee. The story is empowering because it says if we have the determination to succeed then minds really can be changed if the cause is just.

It's propaganda in a good cause, I suppose, but propaganda nonetheless. I was surprised to see, as the ending credits rolled by, no mention of the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation as sponsors. The story is propelled by some poorly-handled plot devices, e.g., bullying, which goes nowhere but seems to be the motive for mother and son decamping for exotic Africa, and by some unforgivable lapses like the couple not getting their "shots" before landing in a country where Malaria is a clear and present danger. For travel anywhere outside the developed world, I think immunizations are still highly recommended. Malaria as a political issue, and the wall-to-wall corruption that enables it to flourish, goes entirely unmentioned in the film. The first thing I saw in it that convinced me that it isn't an entirely straightforward story was the presentation of the older white malaria victim, the son of Brenda Blethyn's character. This young man is simply too wonderful to serve as anything but a straw man for the film's message. He's funny, athletic, gorgeous, generous and unselfish, all qualities dramatized in the first 8 minutes of the film, so obviously he has to die but quick. The story obliges by having him volunteer to teach in Mozambique, where in another 4 minutes he adopts an entire orphanage, gives away all his drugs and dies horribly of malaria, thus supplying us with Martha, his mother, who becomes an assistant to Hillary Swank's Mary in her campaign against the disease. If you can stand being bludgeoned by objects as blunt as these, the acting is good, the male characters (husbands and sons) are dealt with sympathetically, the scenery is fascinating and the film is at least watchable. BTW-for the unenlightened, Didier Drogba is a striker on the Ivory Coast national soccer team.

If people say and tell you this is inspiring, they are not wrong. Based on real events, this is really gripping and without knowing where this was heading (hadn't read anything about it, before I watched it), I really was surprised after about 30 minutes into the film. After that it was kind of obvious where it would go, but the acting and the telling of the story is really good.

Not to mention the central performances. Even if towards the end you get a bit of a "cliche" speech, you'd have to have a heart of stone, not to be touched by it at all. You could also argue about the husband and what he decides to do and how things get "solved", but after all that happened, it seems to be a suiting ending to it all