Shirley Valentine (1989)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Willy Russell (play)
Willy Russell (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 August 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

No one thought she had the courage. The nerve. Or the lingerie.

Plot:

Shirley's a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband's chip'n'egg...

Plot Keywords:

Housewife | Self Realization | Husband Wife Relationship | Liverpudlian | Greek Island

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Pauline Collins	...	Shirley Valentine-Bradshaw
Tom Conti	...	Costas
Julia McKenzie	...	Gillian
Alison Steadman	...	Jane
Joanna Lumley	...	Marjorie
Sylvia Syms	...	Headmistress
Bernard Hill	...	Joe Bradshaw
George Costigan	...	Dougie
Anna Keaveney	...	Jeanette
Tracie Bennett	...	Millandra
Ken Sharrock	...	Sydney
Karen Craig	...	Thelma
Gareth Jefferson	...	Brian
Gillian Kearney	...	Young Shirley
Catharine Duncan	...	Young Marjorie

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Littlewoods department store, Oxford Circus, Oxford Street, London, England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Pauline Collins originated the role of Shirley Valentine in the original London production of the play.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After Shirley watches the sunset on the beach, a full moon appears where the sun just set which is impossible. If the moon is this close to the sun only a small crescent will be visible

Quotes:

[first lines]
Shirley Valentine: Hiya Wall.
[to the camera]
Shirley Valentine: Well what's wrong with that? There's a woman three doors down talks to her microwave. Talking to a microwave! Wall, what's the world coming to ?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in A Handful of Summers (1991) (V)

Soundtrack:

THE GIRL WHO USED TO BE ME

The greatest journey leads us to ourselves

Shirley had lost herself in the humdrum lifestyle of a housewife with kids grown and an indifferent husband stuck in his own boring routine. She strikes out on a vacation to Greece to get in touch with the girl she once was. The show worked better as a theatre piece - as a one woman show. Here it gets cluttered up with a lot of characters and Shirley's asides to the camera do not always work. Pauline Collins is as great in the role as she was on stage. Greek men seeing this must cringe at the Tom Conte caricature of a Greek lover. I rated it an 8 for Pauline's performance and the music.