This movie is based on a
British play called "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice." I rented it because
Ewan McGregor is in it, and I liked it on its own
merit.
It's about "L.V." (short for Little Voice), a shy young woman with an amazing singing voice, played by Jane Horrocks, who clearly got the role for her voice (the closing credits say that she did all the songs herself). She is discovered by Michael Caine, who plays an agent in search of new talent who happens to be shagging her mother (played by Brenda Blethyn). Unfortunately, she does not want to be famous. He convinces her to do one concert as a tribute to her late father, whose record collection she still holds dear, hoping she will agree to continue.
Ewan McGregor plays Billy, a shy telephone repairman who loves birds. He plays it well, but one can tell that the character is very much unlike the actor (who has called himself an arrogant ham, or something to that effect). Billy falls instantly in love with L.V. and spends most of the movie trying to find a good way to tell her.
Overall I would have to classify Little Voice as a "chick flick" because it is a female coming-of-age story. This is not to say men won't like it, especially if they are fans of Judy Garland and Marylin Monroe, two of L.V.'s heroes, or if they like character pieces.