MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY

Cinderella,My Fair Lady to Pretty Woman and in this incarnation we aren't taken into much new territory, even down to the obligatory transformation scene, but here we are given a middle-aged twist. Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), a penniless and seemingly ineffectual governess, finds herself though chance and subterfuge in the employ of Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams), a young American musical and social gadfly in eve of World War II London. In this position during the day in question she witnesses Delysia's confused partner swapping and her attempts to garner fame on the stage via a turn as a nightclub singer; and an eye-opening look at a level of society and interaction that she finds attractive and somewhat morally bankrupt in equal measure. The frivolity is shallow, the relationships mercenary, but then of course not everything is what it seems... It's a classic farce, seeming to aim for P. G. Wodehouse with sauce (although without his genius for sophisticated plotting), and the cast knowingly play it as such. Amy Adams breezes through her role, taking Enchanted's Princess and mixing her with a chestnut haired Marilyn. Frances McDormand is never less than sympathetic and manages to creates quite an honourable centre out of Miss Pettigrew, even if her English accent does go up and down like the tempo. In fact I half expected a plot reveal in which we discover she's actually from Pittsburgh. Or maybe Latvia. Ruth Henderson as one of the spanners in the works is amusingly slinky, disdainful of almost everything except what's best for herself, an engagement to the ladies underwear designer and object of Miss Pettigrew's unannounced affection, Joe (a typically assured Ciaran Hinds). The rest of the male cast, and Delysia's juggling act, do what's expected with fairly limited roles; Mark Strong as Delysia's keeper and owner of the nightclub she performs at, Tom Payne as the foppish twit theatrical producer and the American Lee Pace as Michael the poor piano player who of course truly loves our younger heroine. Pace actually seems oddly, but enjoyably out of place, not just because of his own variable British accent, but because for most of the film he seems to be channeling his inner Clive Owen, all moody and slightly tarnished. The anti-sparkle to the Adams' candy-floss. Production wise, the set design and an elegantly realised late 1930's London with its classy street shots, all vintage vehicles and architecture, are impressive considering the less than mega-millions budget, but London can be kind that way. The impending gloom of World War II is kept in the background, the odd air raid siren, a flight of RAF bombers, but it's arrival and the not long forgotten Great War do play a limited part in the more 'dramatic' moments. Essentially Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day is a sweet and mostly unaffected film (Tom Payne's ill at ease use of the word 'what' to end his sentences aside), but a true lightness of touch is often missing; an admittedly heartfelt musical interlude at the nightclub, and the interruption of the war showing up an imbalance between the film's farcical heart and it's more dramatic aspirations. But through this eventful 24 hours Miss Pettigrew, Miss LaFosse and all the principal players come to the realisations and situations we all know they will, and that is essentially what Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is, a confection with few surprises but not necessarily the worse off for it.

rating: 3