Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Delightful fluff

Chrisaljack from Haywards Heath [Highly rated reviewer] , 15/08/2008

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is not a 'must see', but is a delightful way to spend an hour and a half without an ear-splitting sound-track or dazzling special effects. The acting could have been better, the development of farce could have been better handled.

Leave your critic's hat at home and just relax and let the lighthearted tale waft over you. My wife and I thoroughally enjoyed Miss Pettigrew and judging by the smiling faces of the audience while the end credits rolled, so did nearly everyone else.

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Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 27/08/2008

This movie may not be for me, I thought as I settled into my seat at the screening of Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, and watched the cinema fill up with an audience that was, aside from me, composed entirely of people who were over 60 or female (in many cases both). It’s true that Miss Pettigrew is probably a movie more for my Mother than for me, but it isn’t without its charms.

Chief among those charms, of course, is Amy Adams. Adams should have been around in the 30’s and 30’s for the heyday of both screwball comedy and the studio system; she’d have been able to rival Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur. Adams is perfect as Delysia LaFosse, an American actress living in London, and juggling 3 boyfriends (Pace, Payne and Mark Strong) who each offer different advantages. It’s not a very sympathetic character, but Adams has such inherent charm that she could do just about anything onscreen and it would still be impossible to dislike her.

Sadly what surrounds Adams in this film, while not exactly bad, is terminally lacking in inspiration. Frances McDormand is a very fine actress, who doesn’t work as much as she should, and while she’s good as Guinevere Pettigrew who, out of desperation, pretends to be Delysia’s new governess, only to find herself engaged to sort Delysia’s life out there’s an awkwardness to her performance. The clipped British accent doesn’t help, but it isn’t just that. McDormand is never really convincing in the character’s skin, and it just never stops feeling like a piece of acting.

The script, by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy, is very broad. Characters are painted in sweeping, single colour, brush strokes, and there’s barely a scene that you won’t know the end of as it begins. This is a particular problem for the romantic quadrangle, it’s always painfully obvious who Delysia is going to end up with and the film doesn’t subvert your expectations for a second. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the mechanism to get the characters to this point were funnier, but the jokes, while sometimes funny, are as telegraphed as the rest of the film.

The cast is filled out with British character actors, and their performances range from staggeringly poor (a rabbit in the headlights turn from Payne) to I could do this in my sleep (Shirley Henderson, wasted as ever) to possibly the best performance in the film (a warm Hinds, who plays beautifully off McDormand).

As a whole it’s amiable enough. It looks nice, it’s mildly funny, love conquers all, and Amy Adams nuclear powered smile could warm the coldest winter day. Take your Mum, she’ll like this.

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Perfect for a quiet night in

A customer from Hampshire , 13/08/2008

Before watching this movie I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. A film full of nostalgia and humour, it is definitely one for a quiet night in. A definite chick flick to be watched with a glass of wine and a box of choccies.

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And what day it is....

PaulaWestwood from Ashton-Under-Lyne [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/08/2008

Despite her own values and street smart intellect, down at heel Miss Pettigrew seems resigned to a life of drugery, having lost a run of the mill job she rather inadvertently stumbles upon a job as a social secretary for a wannabe debutante socialite who has real ambitions to be a leading actress. In true My Fair lady style she is thrust into a world entrely alien to her and has to rely on her wits to guide her through a minefield of her employers illicit rendezvous and scheming, quickly becoming the one most important and trusted confidante and guide, before again being apparently left behind to return to her previous existance, or possibly not. A really well worked film bringing the roaring 20s to life Frances McDormand (Fargo etc etc) is superb as always and Amy Adams (Enchanted) is similarly excellent. Definately worth a watch.

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Perfect for a quiet night in

A customer from Hampshire , 13/08/2008

Before watching this movie I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. A film full of nostalgia and humour, it is definitely one for a quiet night in. A definite chick flick to be watched with a glass of wine and a box of choccies.

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Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 27/08/2008

This movie may not be for me, I thought as I settled into my seat at the screening of Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, and watched the cinema fill up with an audience that was, aside from me, composed entirely of people who were over 60 or female (in many cases both). It’s true that Miss Pettigrew is probably a movie more for my Mother than for me, but it isn’t without its charms.

Chief among those charms, of course, is Amy Adams. Adams should have been around in the 30’s and 30’s for the heyday of both screwball comedy and the studio system; she’d have been able to rival Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur. Adams is perfect as Delysia LaFosse, an American actress living in London, and juggling 3 boyfriends (Pace, Payne and Mark Strong) who each offer different advantages. It’s not a very sympathetic character, but Adams has such inherent charm that she could do just about anything onscreen and it would still be impossible to dislike her.

Sadly what surrounds Adams in this film, while not exactly bad, is terminally lacking in inspiration. Frances McDormand is a very fine actress, who doesn’t work as much as she should, and while she’s good as Guinevere Pettigrew who, out of desperation, pretends to be Delysia’s new governess, only to find herself engaged to sort Delysia’s life out there’s an awkwardness to her performance. The clipped British accent doesn’t help, but it isn’t just that. McDormand is never really convincing in the character’s skin, and it just never stops feeling like a piece of acting.

The script, by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy, is very broad. Characters are painted in sweeping, single colour, brush strokes, and there’s barely a scene that you won’t know the end of as it begins. This is a particular problem for the romantic quadrangle, it’s always painfully obvious who Delysia is going to end up with and the film doesn’t subvert your expectations for a second. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the mechanism to get the characters to this point were funnier, but the jokes, while sometimes funny, are as telegraphed as the rest of the film.

The cast is filled out with British character actors, and their performances range from staggeringly poor (a rabbit in the headlights turn from Payne) to I could do this in my sleep (Shirley Henderson, wasted as ever) to possibly the best performance in the film (a warm Hinds, who plays beautifully off McDormand).

As a whole it’s amiable enough. It looks nice, it’s mildly funny, love conquers all, and Amy Adams nuclear powered smile could warm the coldest winter day. Take your Mum, she’ll like this.

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