Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Bharat Nalluri

Writers (WGA):

David Magee (screenplay) and
Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 March 2008 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Every Woman Will Have Her Day

Plot:

Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Governess | Nightclub | Lingerie | Piano

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Amy Adams	...	Delysia Lafosse
David Alexander	...	Chestnut Seller
Clare Clifford	...	Margery
Christina Cole	...	Charlotte Warren
Stephanie Cole	...	Miss Holt
Beatie Edney	...	Mrs. Brummegan
Shirley Henderson	...	Edythe DuBarry
Ciarán Hinds	...	Joe Bloomfield
Sarah Kants	...	Annabel Darlington
Sally Leonard	...	Woman at Train Station
Frances McDormand	...	Miss Pettigrew
Katy Murphy	...	Miss Holt's Assistant
Lee Pace	...	Michael Pardue
Tom Payne	...	Phil Goldman
Tim Potter	...	Nightclub Patron

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some partial nudity and innuendo.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43967) | Hong Kong:IIA | Finland:K-7 | UK:PG | South Korea:12 | Ireland:PG | New Zealand:PG | Netherlands:6 | South Africa:PG | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Keylight Entertainment Group

Trivia:

Frances McDormand's character Guinevere Pettigrew claims to be raised by a clergyman, when in real life, McDormand's adoptive father is Canadian minister Vernan McDormand.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Delysia Lafosse gets up from the bathtub, her right hand is covered in soap suds. In a close-up shot seconds later, the suds are gone.

Quotes:

[after Delysia has refused to sing]
Michael: She said no.
Nick: What, and she does what you say?
Michael: Never once, as a matter of fact, but that's not the point.

Movie Connections:

References Vigil in the Night (1940)

Soundtrack:

Brother Can You Spare a Dime

brilliant screwball comedy

This type of movie has simply not been done for 40 or 50 years. Comedy based upon timing, script, and coincidence (the "screwball" part) is very rare.

Unlike today's comedy, based on the outrageous, the actors in this genre have to know how to deliver the lines, keep the pace. The resurrection of a genre.

One of the unusual parts of this film worth noting is the score. The music moves the action a great deal of the time. And the composer kept the sound from the era almost flawlessly: big band jazz of the late 1930's. (there are a couple of slips into later jazz styles, very minor - musicologists may be annoyed - but no one else will notice) The music becomes one of the characters of the plot, interacting almost as much as the actors do. That alone is a brilliant device, tried by many, mastered rarely, especially in period.

Amy Adams and Frances McDormand have a wonderful interplay, both sides of the romantic slide: young, desired, older, having past love by.

great movie if you like your comedy a little faster, but with no one who's eating anything disgusting for a laugh.