THE POPCORN REEL FILM REVIEW/"Miss
Pettigrew Lives For A Day"
A Day In The Life of one "Michelle Clayton"
in 1930's London: This Cleaner Fixes Emotional Messes
By
Omar P.L. Moore/March
7, 2008
Grime 'N' Glamour: Frances MacDormand (left)
as the film's title character, and Amy Adams as Delysia Lafosse in Bharat
Nalluri's "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day", which opened today in the U.S. and
Canada. (Photo: Kerry Brown/Focus Features)
Bharat Nalluri directs the film adaptation of Winifred Watson's novel in "Miss
Pettigrew Lives For A Day", a sweet comedy-romance drama that stays light and
fluffy thanks to a vivacious Amy Adams, whose body language and choreography of
performance for her character Delysia Lafosse is perfect for the pace and tone
of Mr. Nalluri's film, which opened in the U.S. and Canada today and is
distributed by Focus Features. Frances MacDormand's Miss Pettigrew
provides the droll, awkwardly contained and weathered opposite, and the
Oscar-winning actresses' performance is wonderfully fragile, yet essential to
the film in order to give her character the twinkle of starlight that the film's
title suggests that she will enjoy.
Both Ms. Adams ("Enchanted", "Charlie Wilson's War", "Junebug") and Ms.
MacDormand are the best aspects of "Miss Pettigrew" and when onscreen together
possess a chemistry and uniformity as an odd couple that is revelatory. In
a strange way, Miss Pettigrew, a hardened and underappreciated governess in
1930's London, is a Pretty Woman in reverse, while the pretty woman that Ms.
Adams' Delysia represents -- a starlet who aims to become a big bright shining
star on the London stage -- is full of pretty ugly inside -- perhaps an all-too
common reference in film to the underbelly of fame and the price it sometimes
brings to a superstar in the making. The juxtaposition of such opposite
characters on the big screen isn't new, but in Mr. Nalluri's film the contrast
is fresh, funny and invigorating. Miss Pettigrew's great strength is to
repair the emotional wreckage and minutiae of the lives of the upper-crust
figures that she chaperones. Pettigrew is an ornamental figure for much of
the film but as -- at least for the most part -- an honest heart and soul, she
knows how to improvise with the best of the lonely and self-delusional wannabees
in this swanky, posh London of the roaring '20's and '30's.
(A side observation: there are glimpses in "Miss Pettigrew" where Ms. Adams, a
very busy actor these days, looks like Nicole Kidman and the resemblance is
uncanny.)
Simon Beaufoy, who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for "The Full Monty",
writes sharp witty dialogue once again here, with the help of co-writer David
Magee, both of whom frame London as a cesspool of contradictions, adulterous
dalliances and class politics amidst the imminent involvement of Britain in a
looming World War Two.
Besides Delysia Lafosse, other colorful characters dot the film's busy
landscape, such as her three boyfriends, millionaire tycoon and theatre director
and playwright Phil Goldman (played with a consistent hilarity by Tom Payne),
Nick (Mark Strong), Gerry (Mark Ryan), and Edythe (an excellent Shirley
Henderson). Ciaran Hinds ("There Will Be Blood", "Miami Vice") plays a
fashion designer who initially seems to have wandered in from a slower-paced
film, but nevertheless gradually eases his way into the proceedings. Mr.
Hinds, always in top form, adds a suaveness and warmth to his character, who
stands out in a room full of duplicitous fakes. Lee Pace is also good as
Michael, the man who yearns for Delysia, a woman too busy to know what direction
her romantic life will take.
"Miss Pettigrew" has good performances, a great music score (Paul Englishby),
great production design (Sarah Greenwood), tidy art direction (Nick Gottschalk
and Niall Moroney) and fine costume design (Michael O'Connor). This film
is well worth your time, its entertainment economical at a scant 92 minutes, and
just right.
"Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association of America for some partial nudity and innuendo. The film's
duration is one hour and 32 minutes.
Copyright The Popcorn Reel. PopcornReel.com. 2008. All
Rights Reserved.