"Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day".
It may well be as slender and as insubstantial as Paris Hilton's last meal, but I really enjoyed "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day".
"Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" is a very silly, 30's set screwball comedy. Amy Adams (in the best role that Marilyn Monroe never played) is the ditzy, strangely monikered, actress/singer Delysia Lafosse, juggling boyfriends and career choices with the aid of the stoic Francis McDormand, the titular Miss Pettigrew of the title: rubbish, sacked and homeless governess, currently Ms. Lafosse's 'social secretary'. Ms. Adams and Ms. McDormand give two very good performances, in a film full of good performances. Lee Pace, Mark Strong, Shirley Henderson, Ciaran Hinds are all excellent.
My word, I do hate the word, but "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" really is delightful. A lovely little surprise of a movie on a grim Sunday afternoon. It will be gone from British cinemas in a week. I urge you to go and see it while you have the chance.
"Elegy".
Everybody is allowed to do a job just for the money, I know that I do, but when it comes to the acting profession, I irrationally think that I expect a little bit more from our finest thespians. I don't know why. I just do. Take, for example, the actor Ben Kingsley.
Ben Kingsley sometimes annoys the hell out of me. He is one of the best actors in the world, but sometimes plys his trade in the likes of shite like "Thunderbirds", "A Sound Of Thunder" and "The Love Guru". Such a waste. Such a shame. Thank God he occasionally realises how good he is and signs up for a movie as sublime as "Elegy".
"Elegy" is a great movie. Ben Kingsley is supreme in it. He plays David Kapesh, an expat British teacher and writer. Kapesh is selfish. He is a player and a commitment phobe, who takes and drops lovers at the drop of a hat. That is until he meets Penelope Cruz's Consuela Castillo, with whom he begins a pretty standard affair and, against all expectations, and much to his dismay, falls in love with her.
"Elegy" has some seriously good, sure footed performances. Ben Kingsley is on Oscar worthy form. It is as different, but as good a performance, as his Oscar nominated turns in "Sexy Beast" and "House Of Sand And Fog". Patrica Clarkson, as Kapesh's long standing mistress, defines hurt and betrayal, Penelope Cruz completely puts word to the lie of one daft critic who said that she simply cannot act in the English language, but the surprise here is Dennis Hopper: His performance as Kapesh's best friend is light years away from the eye rolling villain that he normally portrays to make a crust.
"Elegy" is erotic, touching and beautiful. I think that it is a cracking movie and deserves a bigger audience.
3 comments:
I've been meaning to see Miss Pettigrew, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Thanks for putting it back on my radar!
You really should. It is a great film.
I am with you on "Elegy" up until the last 20 minutes or so. You know what I'm referring to, but in the interest of not spoiling your other readers, I'll not go into detail. I don't think it needed such a cliche of an ending. It was nice and messy and complex and could have ended that way - there was no need to bring in external forces to make the characters change.
I agree about Hopper - and also think the romance between his character and Kingsley's was in some ways the more interesting one. Their final scene together was brilliant.
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