Sunday, March 23, 2008

Movie: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Miss Pettigrew is for all of us who have been forced to take part in circumstances despite feelings we don't belong. In this comedy, Frances McDormand gives an understated and excellent performance as a misfit and much-fired nanny tossed onto the streets with nary a pence nor stitch. Pre WWII and desperate for both food and job, Miss Pettigrew makes a fateful decision to show up at the door of Delysia Lafosse to assume a role as a social secretary. This story of the mousy "vicar's daughter" and the kept-starlet who can't say no, is a delightful romp through a twenty four hour period where love and honesty are explored and discovered. Amy Adams is both hilarious and heart tugging as an aging ingenue. Shirley Henderson --in a departure from "Moaning Myrtle" gives a good show as a plotting and unscrupulous salon owner, and Ciarán Hinds as her older, wiser fiancé who designs corsets and bras, but knows the value of simpler things.

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