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 | Actress | 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 Guinivere 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 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Keylight Entertainment Group

Trivia:

Winifred Watson's book was published the fall of 1938 and it became a smash hit. Plans were in the works for a Hollywood film version starring Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew, but the start of WWII brought those plans to a halt. The publisher re-released the book in 2000 which lead to it being "found" again by Hollywood after 60+ years.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At Delysia's party, when Michael is playing the piano he leans into the higher notes toward screen right, from Michael's perspective, to the left. The higher keys on a piano are to the right, the lower to the left, so Michael's reaching to the left would result in lower notes.

Quotes:

Guinevere Pettigrew: You people, with your green drinks and your parties and your subterfuges! You're all playing at love. One minute her, the next minute someone else, flit, flit, flit! We'll, I'm not playing. Love is not a game.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-03-08)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Dream

A refreshing retelling of an old story

If you're looking for a compelling, daring, high brow documentary then this is not the one for you. However, if you're interested in seeing good acting, excellent art direction, and fun, whimsical characters then you won't be disappointed. Francis McDormand gives an excellent performance as the lead character. This role plays to her strengths - her presence, facial expressions and perfect timing. Amy Adams stretches a bit to deliver a good performance. She still managed to make her portrayal of the character believable despite her acting limitations. By far the best performance was that of Shirley Henderson as Edythe. Henderson takes the character and fully embraces it, exploiting the opportunity without going over the top. The story line while familiar, is adapted well enough to be make it a refreshing and witty period film without being cliché or taking itself too seriously. Overall the movie was very well done and one of the best refreshingly familiar feel-good films in recent memory.