This film may not surprise, but it’s a sincere and uplifting tale that is in tune with the spirit of underdog crowd-pleasers Brassed Off and The Full Monty. French film-maker Emmanuel Courcol serves up a good-natured heartwarmer with some syrup, but also two watchable and robust lead performances in Pierre Lottin and Benjamin Lavernhe.

Although a brass band plays a not unimportant role here, The Marching Band is at heart the story of two brothers, Thibaut and Jimmy, who, having been separately adopted as children, had been unaware of each other's existence. One of them lives a humble life in a small town in the north of France being now divorced and working in the cafeteria of a colliery which has a band of its own in which he plays trombone. The other brother has in contrast become a celebrity and, now in his thirties, is well established internationally as a conductor of classical music. Consequently, The Marching Band is able to feature not only band music (the colliery band is set to take part in a competitive event for which they are learning the Grand March from Aïda), but we witness too scenes that include extracts from popular classics by such composers as Mozart and Debussy. For that matter we also hear some jazz records briefly since both brothers love that music too.

However, while music plays a prominent and appealing role, the relationship between the newly acquainted brothers is at the centre of the film. The bond quickly becomes a strong one because Thibaut has only tracked down Jimmy through DNA due to an urgent need for a bone marrow transplant and, as a sibling offers the best chance of success. As the brothers get to know each other, it also becomes apparent that Jimmy is coming to realise how much he has been disadvantaged by not having the same adoptive parents as Thibaut.