Movie Review - 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Starring Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, and Ciaran Hinds
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Rated PG-13

Go ahead and point to the recent Oscar nominees, none of which had huge budgets and all of which will come away smelling like roses when the numbers are finally crunched, but Miss Pettigrew just doesn’t have that kind of sizzle. And unfortunately, unless your film is released in October or later, a small, delicious pastry of an independent movie needs to have sizzle. Still, just because audiences will miss the boat, you could hardly call Miss Pettigrew a failure.

Frances McDormand plays the title character, an out-of-work governess in London during the buildup to the Nazi Blitzkrieg. Impersonating another governess – think equal parts maid and personal assistant – she answers a call for help from an American actress (Amy Adams from Enchanted). Calling herself Delysia LaFosse because it sounds more well-to-do, the actress is working her way up the West End theatrical ranks through the usual between-the-sheets methods.

Immediately, each woman sees something in the other that they cling to, not in the traditional way, but rather in an unspoken appreciation for trying to carve out a life or a place to be for themselves in a difficult time. It will probably go overlooked but the characters lean on each other and it’s largely their connection that keeps us interested.

The humor works very well in Miss Pettigrew, from the broadly comic to the more subtle, and you couldn’t ask for more out of these two actresses. McDormand has always been good in quirkier roles where she only has to imply humor because the surroundings are so out of the ordinary, and as the flighty actress, Adams proves once again that there might not be a better choice in Hollywood for buttoned-up, hyperkinetic femininity. Those are not three words you see together very often.

The rest of the cast, like the costumes, the sets and everything else you see, look the part. And considering the time and the place for the events in Miss Pettigrew, it wouldn’t do to have it any other way. There’s a romantic rectangle, which is fun to watch, and director Bharat Nalluri keeps things moving at Delysia’s frantic pace, a trick common for movie comedies of the era, which helps soften the blow that there are no explosions, no profanity and more corsets than cars.